Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 186 posts

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#81

Post by pjc50 »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #71
TomK32 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a cyclist I use as much space of the road as I can just to make sure cars behind me have to use the other lane to overtake or slow down and wait for a good moment. I can't wait for laws to enforce speed limits via tech in modern cars.

> As a cyclist I use as much space of the road as I can just to make sure cars behind me have to use the other lane What are you doing on the road if you're on a bike ? What do you think bicycle lanes are for ?

99% of the time: what bicycle lanes? Even then bicycles aren't legally or morally obliged to stay in them if it's unsafe to do so.

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#82

Post by Aaargh20318 »

TomK32 wrote: post #70
chrisper wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They would make the roads safer if they weren't used so often as money machines. Do they stand at schools? Nope. They stand at the bottom of the hill at the exit of a town.

Those are also the places where you find those little crosses and similar markers at the side. The deadliest stretches of road are the most remote ones which are mistaken for race tracks...

> Those are also the places where you find those little crosses and similar markers at the side.

Usually next to a tree. I would prefer them to be used to prevent kids from being killed rather than to prevent some idiot from auto-darwinating himself.

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#83

Post by johnnyfaehell »

Hoasi wrote: post #50

Welcome to civil non-compliance 2.0: vandalism as a form of protest. So now taxes perceived as unjust warrant the destruction of state property in retaliation. The French government has already stepped back before. But it never seems enough for protesters. It does look like a much bigger movement than the state had anticipated. If enough people stop paying taxes this will get serious.

> If enough people stop paying taxes this will get serious.

Isn't most of the income tax taken directly from the employer. So only a few people will be able to avoid that. Then there is the lovely VAT tax, how are people going to avoid that one?

In fact, I think the majority of taxes are transparent so you know you paid it but you don't really ever feel the pain of handing over the money.

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#84

Post by woodpanel »

TomMarius wrote: post #2

"Some protesters feel speed cameras are solely a revenue-generating measure which takes money from the poor." This is also the case in Central and Eastern Europe. EDIT: Please read what I cited properly. The citation includes the "Some protesters feel ..." part, which is what I meant - that many people in central and eastern Europe feel the same, not that I feel they're right (what I think is irrelevant).

As much I hate speed cameras (and as much as I sympathize with the yellow vests), they are usually more than justified.

As a car driver you experience much less of the negative side-effects of your reckless driving than the rule-abiding drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and people living next to the streets.

Look at speed cameras as police's automation solution for the problem of what to do when road signs aren't working. They are part of an evolution and if evolution has to account for destruction of these cameras then more nuanced models will get their market share (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luc-Z29KUfU).

Or we might end up with more Orwellian ways like autonomous traffic drones or the government having a direct link to your car, monitoring your every move, speed etc.

So, yeah, I don't like em but I'm fine with speed cameras.

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#85

Post by coldtea »

Hoasi wrote: post #50

Welcome to civil non-compliance 2.0: vandalism as a form of protest. So now taxes perceived as unjust warrant the destruction of state property in retaliation. The French government has already stepped back before. But it never seems enough for protesters. It does look like a much bigger movement than the state had anticipated. If enough people stop paying taxes this will get serious.

>Welcome to civil non-compliance 2.0: vandalism as a form of protest. So now taxes perceived as unjust warrant the destruction of state property in retaliation.

A proud history of civil non-compliance, from the French Revolution, 1848, and the Commune to May 68, is what made France what it is, and helped usher us into the modern freedoms and rights.

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#86

Post by lb1lf »

Traster wrote: post #55
eastendguy wrote: post #14

Why the hate for speed cameras? I love speed cameras because they make the roads safer for everyone. (And yes, once in a while I get a ticket as well, which is always a good reminder to drive safely.)

Do they? Because quite simply it doesn't seem like the evidence backs that up - let alone the brutally obvious fact that if you stand next to a speed camera you'll notice all the cars just slow down for the camera. If what you meant to say was 'Speed Cameras make the 30m of road that they're focused on mildly safer than it was before whilst mildly increasing the likelihood of accidents due to unexpected braking in th…

The trick here is to use a pair of speed cameras for measuring average speed over a stretch of road.

Everybody and their dog knows just where the three local speed cameras are, and drive accordingly (sigh).

The average measurement in the subsea tunnel we drive to get off the island? Hard to beat, unless you want to go for less enlightened tactics like driving like a bat out of hell until you approach the next speed camera, then pause until you've waited long enough for your average speed to be under the posted speed limit before proceeding past it...

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#87

Post by sveme »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #71
TomK32 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a cyclist I use as much space of the road as I can just to make sure cars behind me have to use the other lane to overtake or slow down and wait for a good moment. I can't wait for laws to enforce speed limits via tech in modern cars.

> As a cyclist I use as much space of the road as I can just to make sure cars behind me have to use the other lane What are you doing on the road if you're on a bike ? What do you think bicycle lanes are for ?

In some countries, if there's no dedicated bike lane you have to cycle on the road. Germany, for example.

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#88

Post by gadders »

TomMarius wrote: post #2

"Some protesters feel speed cameras are solely a revenue-generating measure which takes money from the poor." This is also the case in Central and Eastern Europe. EDIT: Please read what I cited properly. The citation includes the "Some protesters feel ..." part, which is what I meant - that many people in central and eastern Europe feel the same, not that I feel they're right (what I think is irrelevant).

It's not true. They take from everyone, not just the poor.

Re: Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France

#90

Post by toolslive »

megaremote wrote: post #56
toolslive wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of these cameras are hidden: positioned so that you cannot spot them from afar (and not advertised by a sign neither). If the sole purpose would be to help people to drive safely then you should advertise them, make them really visible aso.

How can anyone say this seriously? This is the stupidest thing I keep hearing from certain people. The idea is to stop you speeding EVERYWHERE. Not just where speed cameras are. It is to penalise people who constantly break the law, and make the road dangerous for everyone.

There are places here in Belgium where everybody is officially 'speeding' (so driving more than 10km/h faster than what's allowed) and where even the police admits the speed limit was set too low. Guess where they put the hidden mobile cameras.

If they were really really interested in making the roads safer for everyone, they would combine driving on the right with the right of way for people coming from the left iso coming from the right. Statistics show (you can measure this because there are countries where they drive left and have right of way from the right) that it lowers the death toll by almost 30%.

Post reply on HN