Burnt Gatsos!

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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 7:34 pm

http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm

HUGE gallery of vandalised UK speed cameras... and if these aren't scams, i don't know what is Laughing

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

And who is going to pay for the mindless vandalism...... thats right, me the great British tax payer Sad

*** BANNED *** Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 164

Quote:

me the great British tax payer

And the rest of us who decide to work rather than ponce

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:20 pm

Sadly, I think the rest of the Gatso fleet will have no trouble raising the money to pay for the damaged ones, so your taxes shouldn't be too troubled.

I was surprised to see one vandalized in law abiding Switzerland last time I was there.

As much as this mindless vandalism is to be condemned, obviously, I have heard that drilling / finding a small hole and filling them with expanding builder's foam f*cks them up big time.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

Not sure what i'm missing here, if you speed then be prepared to pay the fines or worst case lose your licence, also whats all the hype about UK cameras being hidden?, this is what we have to put up with here in Germany.

The wheelie bin one just sits on the side of the road on bin day.

The tailgate/bootlid on the estate car would be closed and the car parked up at the side of the road.

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:06 pm

We get the car here as well, but ours are marked, so you know what it is. Admittedly you know once you pass it, which is too late, but you will know. The thing that annoys me is people who complain they got caught when they were "only doing 38 in an 30 zone". I'm not going to claim innocence and make out I never break the speed limit, but when people complain they got caught after breaking the speed limit by 25% or more, then I have no sympathy for them.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

I'm with Bombadier on this one.
If you dont speed , in effect if you obey the law, you dont get caught.
Most speed cameras in the UK are brightly coloured, therefore visible. And there's a website giving locations.
You can even do a search of your journey and get warnings as to where the cameras are along your route.

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:43 pm

Does anybody know how to get in touch with these vandals? There is one on the corner of Eastchase and Meadowbrook that I would like taken care of. I swear that the thing is set to photo any vehicle that moves. Shocked

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:47 pm

Post deleted. It's an issue I feel strongly on so I don't really want to get into any heated discussion on it.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

This kind of brings it home

Clicky for short vid

Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:11 pm

Did read about a speed camera in Holland, set in a residential area, which had the speed set at 19mph.
It flashed at 24 mph, when the film was developed, they could not believe their eyes.
The camera had taken a photograph of a low flying duck doing 24 mph.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

Heres a 64 kmh pigeon Laughing

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:39 pm

^^^ duck, not pigeon

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:17 pm

Thats the thing about the good old USA we dont need alot of those speed cameras here because we are such law abiding citizens here Laughing

oops almost sead it with a straight face

Elite Baiter Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 1702

Vandalism isnt the answer, as said we all end up paying for it in the long run.

Someone could get seriously hurt - you can go to jail for life for arson, what if a field goes up in flames or a house? You going to tell someones kids why mom and dad died?

I hate the cameras too, but i dont speed so dont bother with them much, but i certainly wouldnt put people at risk of death - and lets be fair thats what sticking a petrol filled tyre could do - what if a bloody petrol tanker breaks down right next to it and explodes? Its called sods law for a reason, because it can happen it probably will, where will the people who do it be when it does? they may seem like hereos now but in that situation there not going to seem so good.

Think before you act - as my dad always told me - act in haste repent at leisure.

Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:01 pm

i am with mugatu on this one and really dont want to comment

i did once participate in a legal demonstration and got talking to some others
and their way of getting back at the UK government was to go around burning these pieces of art to the ground.

Confused

Master Baiter Joined: 23 Dec 2007 Posts: 126

Is those links just burned ones?
Here in The Netherlands I've seem them with bullet holes in them.. Shocked

Idiots..replacing those things will end up costing them more money then if they just paid the ticket..
I aprove of these things, although some of these cams are put in in ridicilious places *Around here there was one just after the sign that changed the speed from 80 to 60. That one must have paid itself back in triple :S*
I even think they should make them smaller and because of that less likely to get targeted (for example, in signs above the road)

Master Baiter Joined: 30 May 2007 Posts: 101

I'm speaking as someone who still has a clean license but I think the sheer amount of cameras is symptomatic of a bad drift in UK.

I don't mind cameras where they are placed at bad spots but they even are sticking them on motorways - the safest roads in the country.

However, I drive so little I have trouble getting worked up over issue ... SOCPA legislation is my soap box subject.

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:45 pm

IMO these cameras are a money making/saving device rather than actually being an aid to road safety.

They make a stack of money by fining far more people than the cops ever could (and WIDR anyone that says that they never break the speed limit is either fooling themselves or about 70 years old), and as a by product making some people lose their licences and possibly jobs. I know a couple of stretchs of road in London where you could potentially lose your licence in the space of 10 miles. One of these roads in particular (Yes I'm talking about you, Mr A40) has speed limits that seem to change randomly from 40 to 50mph and back again with little prior notice and many of the cameras are just after where it changes.

They save a stack of money for the police who no longer have to worry about enforcing speeding laws. So they can reassign the men to other duties (like filling in forms that are almost lad-like in their complexity Mad

). Fewer cops on the roads = fewer drunk and uninsured drivers caught.

Break em all

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:50 pm

Fo'andles wrote:

Did read about a speed camera in Holland, set in a residential area, which had the speed set at 19mph.
It flashed at 24 mph, when the film was developed, they could not believe their eyes.
The camera had taken a photograph of a low flying duck doing 24 mph.

Mythbusters once tested radar and lidar gun myths (as in supposed countermeasures) and to finish off, tested to see if a radar/lidar gun would pick up a passing falcon. It did, several times.

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:07 pm

(rorschach sead)"anyone that says that they never break the speed limit is either fooling themselves or about 70 years old"

HEY im only 45 but ill always drive the speed limit, witch drives my wife up the wall Very Happy

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:45 pm

I don't understand peoples' beef with speed cameras. If you don't want to pay a speeding ticket, stick to the speed limit. It's not like it's an unreasonable law, or like they're trying to catch you out. They're bright yellow and there's signs telling you where they are. If you're a bad enough driver to get caught with all that warning, you deserve a ticket.

Clarkson really annoys me with this. He's got a completely clean license, so he clearly doesn't speed. What's he complaining about?

Master Baiter Joined: 30 May 2007 Posts: 101

^^ ^^ for starters -

1) The powers that be are dishonest in their reasoning for having them - i.e. officially only used in traffic blackspots but in practice on motorways.

2) Preoccupation with speed means other causes of serious accidents are ignored - the result of all these speed cameras was removal of traffic police. Dangerous driving (eg tailgating, over taking) no longer is an issue as the cameras don't see it. Cars without MOT's no longer an issue nor even having a driving license.

3) the huge growth in number of cameras means most feel this is a revenue raising exercise rather than a genuine exercise to prevent accidents

4) they can cause a dangerous over-reaction in drivers (e.g. excessive braking when seen) causing more accidents than they are saving.

and so on ...

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:12 pm

after loseing my licenes for 6 and a half years due to a DWI and a couple driving after revocations i follow the traffic laws to the letter because a NEVER want to be without my car again

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:20 pm

M1d0r1 wrote:

1) The powers that be are dishonest in their reasoning for having them - i.e. officially only used in traffic blackspots but in practice on motorways.

The only motorways I've seen them on are those with variable speed limits, but even so I don't think they're a bad idea on motorways. Whatever the statistics for accidents are, if you're breaking the speed limit an accident's more likely than if you aren't, since the increase in your stopping distance is exponential.

M1d0r1 wrote:

4) they can cause a dangerous over-reaction in drivers (e.g. excessive braking when seen) causing more accidents than they are saving.

That's more to do with bad drivers than speed cameras. There's plenty of warning when one's coming up, so plenty of time to slow down if you need to. If you've got a driving license you should be able to make yourself aware of the speed limit and stick to it so the problem if slowing down doesn't arise.