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

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

#181
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have very mixed feelings about this. I have been caught by a money-making camera myself(middle of a forest in rural Poland, far away from any houses, and yet it was still a "built-up" area with speed limit of 50km/h, because technically there wasn't a sign ending it after leaving the last town few km back), but on the other hand, there's so many people speeding in cities, frequently doing 100km/h or above on very b…

yes, it's a mixed bag. In some places the cameras are signaled up to 500m before, and are very visible with yellow reflective stripes. There is often one at the entrance of towns to force drivers to adapt their speeds, and it works. Then some are clearly placed with malice, it really depends. > Unless someone can prove a connection that someone poor is more likely to speed, then I don't see how that's true. I think a…

> anecdotaly almost everyone speeds way over the limit, some big highway feel like the autobahn sometimes

Yes! I don't understand why the government doesn't accept the reality and doesn't (try to) raise the speed limit. Now everyone is speeding and when they see something remotely alike an undercover police car they brake hard, creating very dangerous situations for all people around; you could argue "it's their fault, they're speeding" - yes, but why keep the limit low?

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

#182
post #141
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 c…

Highways are exactly where a little higher speed makes the least difference in safety. I'd rather that drivers match each others' speed than have congestion enforced by cameras.

A bit late to reply, but today the Norwegian Broadcasting Co. ran a story on how effective average speed cameras were; they are currently deployed 27 places, and overall, the number of deaths and severe injuries is halved compared to the situation prior to average cams being deployed on those same sections of road.

I guess it could be argued that the increased safety of highways is taken into account when the speed limit is determined - and perhaps also that the idea that safety is excel leads people who speed to exceed the posted limit by a larger margin?

Edit: also, the average speed ones perhaps unsurprisingly led more drivers to observe the limit - on average sections, 1 driver in 7000 was caught speeding; single cameras? 1 in 1680.

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

#183
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, it's a mixed bag. In some places the cameras are signaled up to 500m before, and are very visible with yellow reflective stripes. There is often one at the entrance of towns to force drivers to adapt their speeds, and it works. Then some are clearly placed with malice, it really depends. > Unless someone can prove a connection that someone poor is more likely to speed, then I don't see how that's true. I think a…

> anecdotaly almost everyone speeds way over the limit, some big highway feel like the autobahn sometimes Yes! I don't understand why the government doesn't accept the reality and doesn't (try to) raise the speed limit. Now everyone is speeding and when they see something remotely alike an undercover police car they brake hard, creating very dangerous situations for all people around; you could argue "it's their faul…

I guess it's specifically because the police know that people will speed, but also that most people are speeding only a bit(10-20%). So instead of setting the limit at 100km/h, they set the limit to 80km/h knowing that most people will do 100km/h anyway. If they set the limit to 100km/h at least some people would be doing 120km/h.

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

#184
post #43

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.

They used to be positioned like this in the UK but all the ones I’ve seen like this have been removed or moved over the years to places where they could be regarded as more for safety than easy money making.

I've never seen a UK camera moved or removed.

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

#185
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Sticking to the speed limit or asking the tree to move aside, what's easier?

A chainsaw.

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

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> anecdotaly almost everyone speeds way over the limit, some big highway feel like the autobahn sometimes Yes! I don't understand why the government doesn't accept the reality and doesn't (try to) raise the speed limit. Now everyone is speeding and when they see something remotely alike an undercover police car they brake hard, creating very dangerous situations for all people around; you could argue "it's their faul…

I guess it's specifically because the police know that people will speed, but also that most people are speeding only a bit(10-20%). So instead of setting the limit at 100km/h, they set the limit to 80km/h knowing that most people will do 100km/h anyway. If they set the limit to 100km/h at least some people would be doing 120km/h.

That would make sense in the past, but now there are speed radars everywhere. Isn't now the time to change the approach?
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