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A couple of weeks ago I was travelling on a busy dual carriageway when I noticed someone a few cars ahead start to weave from lane to lane with his hazard lights flashing. We all slowed down to about 50, but a few drivers in the outside lane seemed to resent being held up and as soon as he got out of the way they accelerated past at great speed.
The reason for his antics was revealed around the next bend as there was a mobile speed van sat on a bridge above our carriageway. It's likely he thought he was doing us a favour, but I have no doubt the drivers who had zoomed away would have been caught speeding.
I thought his actions were irresponsible, especially as it co-incided with a busy slip road junction where there has been a number of accidents in the past.
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I have heard of this too. I'm not sure what a driver who flashes his lights to warn of a speed camera van can be charged with - obstructing a police officer, or something?
What can't you argue that giving such a warning is simply encouraging other motorists to obey the law?
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"What" should be "why". Not on form this morning.
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There have been a number of court cases over the years of well-intentioned drivers/pedestrians being prosecuted for warning of a speed trap, and I honestly can't remember what the state of play is right now. It seemed to turn on whether the accused was discouraging someone from possibly committing a crime in the future, or preventing the authorities from gathering evidence of a crime in progress.
Some years ago, one police force was happy to rent out fully-liveried "retired" patrol cars to the proprietors of petrol stations that had lost a lot of money through drivers driving off without paying. This goes back to a distant, long-forgotten time when there were large numbers of police cars on the roads which served to catch some offenders and act as a visual deterrent to many others. The Jaguar XJS trialled by Warwickshire Police one year had a magnificent deterrent effect on traffic on the M6 back in the day...
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Apparently it’s obstructing a police officer in the execution of is/her duty.
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Apparently it’s obstructing a police officer in the execution of is/her duty.
A speed camera is not a police offficer though, is it?
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There have been a number of court cases over the years of well-intentioned drivers/pedestrians being prosecuted for warning of a speed trap, and I honestly can't remember what the state of play is right now. It seemed to turn on whether the accused was discouraging someone from possibly committing a crime in the future, or preventing the authorities from gathering evidence of a crime in progress.
Some years ago, one police force was happy to rent out fully-liveried "retired" patrol cars to the proprietors of petrol stations that had lost a lot of money through drivers driving off without paying. This goes back to a distant, long-forgotten time when there were large numbers of police cars on the roads which served to catch some offenders and act as a visual deterrent to many others. The Jaguar XJS trialled by Warwickshire Police one year had a magnificent deterrent effect on traffic on the M6 back in the day...
Why is it “well intentioned”? Anyone not breaking the law doesn’t get caught. Anyone too arrogant to care or too unobservant to know what the speed limit is deserves to be caught.
Not long before my accident I was driving the Boxster within a 30mph limit, the BMW driver following was so incensed / wanted to put a Porsche in its place that he overtook and falied to notice the Police car that I was following, overtaking both of us at more than 50. Guess he enjoyed the chat ¼ mile further on down the road.
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"Guess he enjoyed the chat ¼ mile further on down the road."
There's nothing to beat instant karma, is there?
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Cameras don’t cause acccidents, drivers of vehicles do.
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It might help reduce "worry braking" if they put the speed limit on the rear plate of the camera.
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Not only speed cameras but the highway officer 'wombles' regulary cause a dramatic slowdown in the motorway traffic on my route.
They sit perched on the emergency vehicle ramp off the hard shoulder and you often see the panicked drivers slamming the brakes on,causing an instant tailback. I'm sure its part of their daily amusement to park there and watch the fun ;-)
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Not only speed cameras but the highway officer 'wombles' regulary cause a dramatic slowdown in the motorway traffic on my route.
They sit perched on the emergency vehicle ramp off the hard shoulder and you often see the panicked drivers slamming the brakes on,causing an instant tailback. I'm sure its part of their daily amusement to park there and watch the fun ;-)
That takes me back to the days of commuting J13 to J5 on the M1 in the eighties when CB was in vogue.
"Smokey on his perch 2 miles of J 9 southbound side doing his paperwork" ( that was if the driver wasn't watching the traffic but looking down)
"Smokey in a plain wrapper cruising in lane 1 a couple of miles north of J 10 southbound it's a maroon Granada two up reg is ABC123"
You knew where they were, what direction, what they were driving!
Back to the present day and the locals here in Brittany have developed a smartphone app that allows them to report where les flics are with their latest speed trap.
Les flics are not happy about it and went to court to get it banned but the judge gave them a "Non"!
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Cameras don’t cause acccidents, drivers of vehicles do.
Quite, and the original story was based on the need for planning consents for structures like cameras at the roadside as inappropriate structures may hinder road safety.
It’s all a symptom of the ‘what can I get away with?’ culture where no cameras, no police, no patrols seems to equate to driving at whatever speed a person wants (and woe betide anyone who drives a mph slower). Drive within the speed limit, pay attention and there is no need for this ‘panic’ approach to driving.
But the driver distraction devices, hands free calls, sat nav...... are all ar more interesting than simply getting from A to B safely, legally and without harming, harrassing or intimidating others.
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Drivers cause crashes, no question (although large potholes, slicks of diesel, sudden torrential rain, badly maintained roads, poor signage, poor road design, escaped animals (and people!) and many more factors all contribute to the dangers. It is my view that we drivers need a bit of a helping hand (of the carrot rather than stick variety) from time to time, such as clear and minimal signage (a "40" sign is better than the ubiquitous "SLOW" sign, for instance, which doesn't even exist in other countries), and longer stretches of a single speed limit rather than limits yoyoing up and down, which drives even the best drivers to distraction. Sneaky practices such as removing "40" decals from a stretch of road with street lights, which automatically trigger a 30 limit and turn normally law abiding motorists into offenders, are simply not on - some 30 signs should be put in place for a couple of months at least IMHO.
Warning devices and jammers for speed detectors are banned in France, but warning signs of "speed detection/high accident rate" zones (which theoretically coincide, unless I'm missing something...) are a fair compromise. All speed cameras in the Spanish Basque Country bear a speed limit decal and are painted bright yellow, so drivers' goodwill is high as no one can cry foul.
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Drivers cause crashes, no question (although large potholes, slicks of diesel, sudden torrential rain, badly maintained roads, poor signage, poor road design, escaped animals (and people!) and many more factors all contribute to the dangers. It is my view that we drivers need a bit of a helping hand (of the carrot rather than stick variety) from time to time, such as clear and minimal signage (a "40" sign is better than the ubiquitous "SLOW" sign, for instance, which doesn't even exist in other countries), and longer stretches of a single speed limit rather than limits yoyoing up and down, which drives even the best drivers to distraction. Sneaky practices such as removing "40" decals from a stretch of road with street lights, which automatically trigger a 30 limit and turn normally law abiding motorists into offenders, are simply not on - some 30 signs should be put in place for a couple of months at least IMHO.
Warning devices and jammers for speed detectors are banned in France, but warning signs of "speed detection/high accident rate" zones (which theoretically coincide, unless I'm missing something...) are a fair compromise. All speed cameras in the Spanish Basque Country bear a speed limit decal and are painted bright yellow, so drivers' goodwill is high as no one can cry foul.
Having driven in far more countries than I’d like to think about, I will agree with you that while we seem to have more signs than most countries we also seem to provide the least information. I don’t subsbribe to ‘sneaky’, more ‘incompetence’ through the myriad of councils, agencies and departments responsible for the roads here.
However, take Monday as an example. The road through a local village is closed (for a week) for major works. There are signs everywhere and a one mile signposted detour. At school run time drivers still managed to Ignore them all, and the construction vehicles, and the workers, and..
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It’s all a symptom of the ‘what can I get away with?’ culture where no cameras, no police, no patrols seems to equate to driving at whatever speed a person wants (and woe betide anyone who drives a mph slower). Drive within the speed limit, pay attention and there is no need for this ‘panic’ approach to driving.
Without doubt some drivers are inattentive. However, when I drive in London for example, I become totally confused. There are so many lanes, so many signs, so many road markings, and so much traffic, that it's a nightmare. Many of the road markings are peculiar to London, or large cities, so I don't know what they mean. It does suggest a lack of planning. "Hey, we need a sign, let's just bung it in." I also find that road signs can be quite poorly thought out, and it is easy to get lost when you don't know the road.
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I used to drive in the West End a lot and absolutely agree that it's incredibly confusing unless you know the road layout in advance. One minute you'll be in the inside lane when it suddenly becomes turn left only and you need to move across.
I feel that a lot of city road signs don't give drivers adequate warnings, so everything happens at the last minute.
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And a lot of lane signage is painted on the road which is not a lot of use if traffic in front of you is on top of the signage.
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