I thought that plod took a very dim view of people using GPS speedtrap warning systems, so what will they make of it potentially being built into the car, as reported in todays news article www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/index.htm?news_id=1113
And what will the French Police make of it? I thought that it was illegal to have such a thing over there, or is that just radar detectors?
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It's not a detector, it's a GPS receiver which purely determines the co-ordinates of the vehicle by receiving signals from 3 or more satellites and compares it to a database of co-ordiantes which might be near to a speed camera.
Nothing illegal there.
The positions of speed cameras are obviously known, as someone planted them in the ground.
All the device does is comapres the position of the vehicle with the publicly-known position of the speed camera.
I'm sure Cyclops and other devices will be available on SatNav equipment sooner rather than later.
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Yes I realise that it is a GPS based system and not a detector. I have had one myself for the past 18 months, a clip on unit for my Palm PDA. It even knows about SPECS and regular mobile trap locations.
My point was that the police seem to take a dim view of them. I have been stopped twice because the stopping officers had caught sight of it. I think that I recall a lot of debate when these things first hit the streets about the legality of them.
As Growler says, if the cameras are there for safety reasons then where is the problem in supplementing the cameras with an audible beep in the car too, so that you are aware that you are in an accident blackspot?
Am sure we all know the answer to that one.
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Speaking as a complete naïve outsider here, but having followed this subject at length through the plentiful postings, I can't help but observe that the authorities' insistence on speed cameras as contributors to saving lives coupled with an antipathy towards devices which detect them in advance, and thus would appear to enhance, rather than detract from the touted rationale and claims to safety fame of such cameras, is a hypocrisy at worst and a contradiction in terms at best.
This seems to breathe further life into the myth that cameras are not there for safety reasons at all but are presented as a thin veneer for a systematic process for lining the pockets, perhaps I should say coffers to be more PC, of the local police force.
Where I live we are inured to police corruption. It seems you have it too, it's just more sophisticated.
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If this just displayed the current speed limit and bleeped when you exceeded it surely that would be a useful addition to road safety? If your intention is to stay within the law as opposed to dodging fines, why do you need to know where the cameras are?
Anyway, once this technology is standard it won't be long before it phones plod and they are waiting for you on your doorstep. Or something like that. Still, habitual speeders have only themselves to blame if this happens.
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If this just displayed the current speed limit and bleeped when you exceeded it surely that would be a useful addition to road safety? If your intention is to stay within the law as opposed to dodging fines, why do you need to know where the cameras are? Anyway, once this technology is standard it won't be long before it phones plod and they are waiting for you on your doorstep. Or something like that. Still, habitual speeders have only themselves to blame if this happens.
Most of the current GPS based camera location systems can indeed to be set up to display the speed limit for that road and bleep if you exceed the limit. The newer versions also warn you of accident black spots.
Happy now?
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>>>>>If this just displayed the current speed limit and bleeped when you exceeded it surely that would be a useful addition to road safety? If your intention is to stay within the law as opposed to dodging fines, why do you need to know where the cameras are?
But if I understand so many posts on this correctly (and after talking to my sister in UK just now and I paraphrase her remarks here), speed limit signage and enforcement has become so confusing that the average driver spends more time looking at his speedo than keeping his eyes on the road and is for ever in fear of committing an offence or gaving an accident. That usurps attention away from the driver's foremost responsibility for the process of safely commanding a motor vehicle to one of nervous distracted anticipation of doing something wrong. I thought she made this point rather well.
If this is the case, this device surely has great value.
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Yes I think it does have great value if that sort of thing worries you. But like many "worries" we Brits seem to obsess about (let's not forget that a few years ago, according to the tabloid press, just about every single man was a child abuser) the problem of speed limit signage is greatly overplayed in my opinion. The vast majority of drivers have no problem reading those little round signs with the numbers and the red borders while still being able to see the road ahead, and plenty of them understand exactly what the limits are and where--and break them. Your sister is right to say that such worry is a distraction but I'd argue the cause of the worry is more from the press and our weird "worry of the month" culture than the signage/cameras. It's a watercooler topic that everyone likes to complain about and that just perpetuates the problem. Meanwhile, someone at Peugeot has figured out how to make money from it... and good luck to them.
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The vast majority of drivers have no problem reading those little round signs with the numbers and the red borders while still being able to see the road ahead
The big problem is on roads through urban areas where the speed limits vary up and down. I can name a number of roads where the signs to indicate that the default of 30 does not apply are missing or so faded to be unreadable.
If it is an unfamiliar road you may think you know what the speed limit is, but there is always that nagging doubt that you missed that sign dropping the limit just as you approach the next camera.
I found this when I drove into Coventry earlier this week (for the first time ever), and found that due to the varying speed limit, missing /faded signs and large number of cameras, that I was spending too much time trying to work out what speed they didn't want me to exceed, rather than concentrating on the unfamiliar roads I was driving on.
At times all I could do was drive along doing 30 until finally spotting the next faded 40 sign, while the drivers behind who know the road, think I am a *&^% for going too slow (in the rush hour).
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Exactly the point PM. I found myself in exactly the same situation last week. Knowing that I was in a Scamera van county as well I proceeded at 30 mph in a 40 mph much to the annoyance of the local drivers. It's getting worse the A140 now has speed limits of 30,40,50,60 and 70 mph with Gatsos ans Scamera vans between Ipswich and Norwich. The rules have been changed on speed limit repeater signs as well, they no longer have to be a statutary distance apart just a "reasonable distance". So you have to go to court if you think the repeater signs are an unreasonable distance apart. Combined with this some speed limits are actually illegal because the local council has used the wrong traffic order. Are they refunding peoples fines in these circumstances and owning up? Not likely.
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some speed limits are actually illegal because the local council has used the wrong traffic order. Are they refunding >> peoples fines in these circumstances and owning up? Not likely.
In the event of the wrong traffic order being used, is there a default speed limit set on road, or are they unlimited? If the wrong order had been imposed for a 30 limit could you do 120mph without fear or does the NSL kick in?
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The presence of street lighting not more than 200 yards apart creates a 'resticted road'(S82 RTRA 1984) the speed limit of which is 30 mph.
If there are no lamps and the speed order says 30 then there has to be signs.
If no street lights in a wrongly signed 30 then NSL will apply.
Wrong orders are rare in my experience. It is the content as to length involved and signing that creates a problem.
DVD.
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Wrong orders are not so rare as you would think DVD see:
www.abd.org.uk/
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Agree - I have no problem with anything that alerts drivers to the fact that they're going too fast. Road signage is in general becoming more confusing and the array of different speed limits can be confusing. Having said that, when I'm drivbing on a road and not sure what the limit is I slow down a bit just to be safe - it's not difficult. People seem to forget that the speed limit in force on any road is supposed to indicate the MAXIMUM speed allowable in normal conditions. Many people, however, seem be under a different impression and drive as if the limit set indicates the MINIMUM speed allowable IRRESPECTIVE of weather and traffic conditions!
This is, I believe, the cause of many problems and accidents - drivers kidding themselves that they're entitled to do 70 (or more) no matter what the prevailing circumstances and we all see that sort of driving every day don't we.
What's needed is NOT more speed limit signs and what's desireable is NOT more speed cameras.
What's really required is a change in driver attitude. Drivers need to pursue that activity safely, sensibly and within the law. If everyone did this we wouldn't need the sort of draconian measures which are being implemented and there'd be no money to be made by anyone from fines.
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My C5 has an overspeed warning device which beeps when you reach a preset speed. I have it constantly set at 60 mph. This actually works quite well - it's an annoying beep and after a bit of time using the system, you become programmed into lifting off the foot. If cruise control is on the problem doesn't arise anyway. On dual carriageways and motorways you tend to cruise over 60 anyway so it doesn't beep very often. Fortunately, we don't have many dual carriageways in our neck of the woods (no motorways!) so the 60 warning is ideal.
Mind you the C5 also has an annoying beep every time you change into reverse. I've never worked out why. It's not even as if it's easy to hit reverse accidentally. You can't turn it of either!
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People seem to forget that the speed limit in force on any road is supposed to indicate the MAXIMUM speed allowable in normal conditions. Many people, however, seem be under a different impression and drive as if the limit set indicates the MINIMUM speed allowable IRRESPECTIVE of weather and traffic conditions!
I don't want to drive at the maximum speed, I just want to know what the maximum speed I am allowed to drive at.
At the moment when driving down dual carriageways in strange towns I seem to have two options:
1. Drive at 30 mph irrespective, concentrating on my driving and annoying everybody else around (who then do stupid things to get past).
2. Attempt to work out what the speed limit is on this 100 yard section of road is, because it it is probably not the same as the last 100 yards.
To be honest I am tending to go with option 1 more and more as I simply cannot be bothered with the stress that option 2 causes. Although you do tend to see some interesting hand signs when doing 29 in a 40, 50, 60, or even 70 limit.
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