Seems like an obvious application of technology - if they do exist already, never having seen such a thing myself, how do they work, and if not, how might they?
I'm imagining some vertically mounted thing over the road that looks for clear space between vehicles. Needs some intelligence to differentiate between something on tow and the next vehicle vehicle, but that doesn't seem insurmountable.
£60 fine if too close twice in a row over 100 yards or something perhaps?
If such a thing happened, would you be pro or anti, and would that be the same as your view on Those Other Cameras?
I think I'd be pro.
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I believe they have these in Israel already. Timed for a 1 second minimum gap or something like that.
I guess the only flaw with these is in multi-lane roads - if someone pulls out sharp in front of you, before you get chance to slow down you could get snapped for "tailgating", even as the streaks of black rubber appear from under your tyres and brake lights glow wildly!
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They do exist in (I think) Germany.
I can recall a recent posting on this forum that tailgating cameras are to be tested on a section of the A34 near Oxford.
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Correct they are used in Germany but also in the UK they are mobile units mounted on top of motorway bridges they are multi tasking ,taxation,insurance,speeding and distance.They are used at the moment soley for trucks and buses.
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What a good idea. Have some numpty cut you up then you get the £60 fine for tailgating them :>-( Much better to have traffic cops to stop generally bad drivers rather than having the paranoid constantly panic braking everytime they think they're a tiny bit too close to the car in front, panic brake everytime they think they see a gatso, a specs gantry or a white van. Smoothly flowing traffic is the safest and least accident prone so introducing reasons for interrupting people's flow and concentration isn't going to help.
teabelly
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Yes, that's a good point, the constant braking when you think you're too close. Not such a brilliant idea after all then. I wonder how German and Israeli drivers cope though?
An allied technology is the adaptive cruise I've mentioned before - when Mrs Dipstick and I test drove a 2006 Honda Accord with it on a week or threre back, we both loved it, she especially - she felt safer (which says too much about my driving perhaps) when we just couldn't unwittingly get too close to the vehicle in front..
For me - I know others don't agree - this gadget is a must have on my next car - which whittles my list of even potential cars down to almost nothing, at present, and all of them huge money.
But it does help to prevent tailgating!
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Would be interesting to know how well it is working on the A34?
The problem I sometimes see on the M1 is the odd dumb driver automatically braking when they see a matrix sign light up, when all it says is "Don't Drive Tired". With matrix signs flashing up reg. numbers every couple of seconds it could be chaos, with people having a good rubberneck to see who/ where the offending driver is.
IMO if they want to better police the roads they should get more traffic cops back on the roads not more cameras.
Then again, if they could also be set up to tell middle lane hogs to move over then I might actually be in favour...
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there is another problem..........it seems as though there is a general driving etiquette that has evolved which doesn't feature in the Highway Code etc.......... which is........
when there's a someone ahead of you and you would wish to drive faster than them i.e. overtake if given the opportunity........you look ahead of them and if they can't do anything about it e.g. congestion etc then you drop back and leave a decent gap....
when they do get a gap and don't pull in for whatever reason( which is wrong, but happens so often nowadays it's inevitable)........your decent gap might suggest you're not that bothered about making progress, so you pull forward closer than you had been, which shows your intent...
anyone reasonable would then get the hint and let you through, if not you'd have to fall back again to maintain a decent gap....and let's face it you're only going to do it when you can see ahead & it's reasonable to do so (if you've got any sense)
however a camera would zap you and you're prosecuted........but the person who was 'lane hogging' wouldn't be
i know two wrongs don't make a right and the above is wholly unofficial, but it happens and generally works
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I would have thought a cheaper and quicker trial would be to get Oxfordshire cops to issue instant fines for tailgating for a given period and see whether incidents dropped off as word got round.
But that would be quick easy and logical so it's got no chance as an idea when the alternative to common sense involves clever technology at huge expense.
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As mentioned above, these things have been used for many years on the Autobahns in Germany. The system consists of a camera which takes the pictures of tailgating vehicles, including registration number, and a video camera which is synchronised to the still camera.
The police then check the incidents recorded by the camera and look at the video sequence to see what actually happened, e.g. lane changing, emergency braking or anything else that could have incidentally reduced the distance between two cars.
If no mitigating event is established they issue a penalty notice and it's basically bye bye driving license for upwards of a month. The penalty itself is based on a combination of speed and distance from the car in front.
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That's why we don't use it then - too much effort to prove the offence. The Safety Partnerships *cough* like to just look at the photo and issue the NIP. Nice and easy.
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So, if you don't like someone, get in front of them and slow down to a government-approved slow speed, and you become the hero, and the person behind gets a £60 fine. Could only happen here (or Israel)
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I think they are a good idea, I'd be much more supportive of these cameras than speed cameras as tailgating is always dangerous were as speeding is not.
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It's bad enough having cars tailgating you, never mind cameras....:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Where is Cool Hand Luke when we need him?
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