Safe Speed Forums

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... rive21.xml

New road signs put brakes on speed cameras

By David Millward , Transport Correspondent

The relentless march of the speed camera is being slowed by vehicle-activated signs telling motorists to slow down.

The signs are seen as a more "driver friendly", cheaper and more acceptable alternative to the cameras, which are being ripped out in some places.

In Brighton, the signs warning drivers if they are breaking the limit are being placed between existing cameras. In Northumbria, they are being used at mobile camera sites.

The manufacturers of the signs say that authorities in South Wales are also interested in the new approach.

The switch from enforcement to encouragement has been triggered in part by a change of Government policy earlier this month.

Under new arrangements, the 38 safety camera partnerships can keep only £110 million of the money raised in fines, with the surplus going to the Treasury.

With cameras costing £35,000 to £40,000, the partnerships are seeking cheaper options.

Vehicle-activated signs that tell motorists how fast they are going cost between £1,600 and £6,000. Manufacturers claim they have had a dramatic impact on drivers.

The trend will be welcomed by the Department for Transport which has a target of cutting road casualties by 40 per cent by 2010.

By relying on speed cameras, the Government ran into huge political difficulties and wants partnerships to adopt a broader approach, examining anything from chicanes and road humps to the electronic signs.

Ministers hoped that the move away from cameras would take some of the political heat out of the issue, without weakening the safety campaign.

"We are seeing a number of councils and safety partnerships removing cameras and putting in vehicle-activated signs," said Roger Stainforth, the director and deputy chairman of VMS, one of the manufacturers.

"I don't think motorists believe the cameras are anything other than a revenue raiser.

"The signs are intended as a reminder to motorists that they are speeding and our records show that they are effective."

Rob Gifford, the director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, said the signs had several advantages over cameras.

"They can be set to come on at the speed limit, rather than the higher figure which is set for the cameras by the Association of Chief Police Officers," he said.

"They can also be put up in a variety of places and are particularly effective on dangerous bends and on the approaches to villages."

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I wonder who's pulling the strings here? I definitely smell a rat, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's obvious that we'll get more VAS than cameras in the future, but, well I don't know what. There's a smell...

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Oh I see, they've moving to hidden scamera vans at selective sites with these signs so drivers will have to slow down at those signs or risk no other warning of a scamera van.

or maybe they will use CCTV to film a car going through a VAS only to be caught by a scamera van further down the road then they can claim continuity of evidence

....
There's something wrong with that. Like, they assume that motorists will be 'speeding'? So... eh?

VAS which displays your speed are a good way to show how (in)accurate radar is.

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Andrew.

There is one on Gravel Hill near Croydon. It gives a speed reading when approaching it above the posted limit at a constant speed (indicated by car speedo). I have seen it jump up and down by as much as 10 mph.

There is one of these on one entry to my village, which is fine but it triggers at 30 (it used to be at 25), so it gets ignored, nearly every vehicle illuminates the sign and there are no sign of brake lights.

I think it would be more effective if set to trigger at the prosecution threshold as those that are driving at around 30 have seen the 30 limit sign and are aware of the bend and the possibility of hazards beyond (Housing estate entrance, bus stop and pedestrian crossing).

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It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.

Upton Sinclair

We seem to have acquired a couple of VASs in the valley here.. Problem is that the stupid things are set to trigger at 30mph. One would have thought that they'd get more effect if they triggered at about 34-35, because at present they flash at just about everyone - other than the odd grockle crawling round at 20mph, totally lost and not looking where they're going.

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"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

The right way to use VAS is as a warning of a specific local hazard (or hazards, I suppose) and never as a speed limit reminder.

I am certain that VAS are useful and effective when used properly.

But the problem is that there's rising misuse and soon they will just be another bloody distraction that we need to wilfully ignore.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Don't we already have the word slow painted on the road?

All we need is more campaigns to teach drivers to slow down when they see these if they don't already have previous experience in the road and well trained policement to make sure people are actually looking out for hazards.

However as you mention it, there is a VAS sign that only responds to lorries on the dock spur roundabout of the A14 which reminds lorries not to go too fast round and topple over. Cars would be better off going into the roundabout at normal speed so the VAS works well.

I get the feeling that the slow signs painted in the road are more likely to be ignored these days thanks to speed limit cuts. For example, near me there's a rural road which, like many others has had the speed limit reduced from NSL to 40. But because of the speed limit cut you no longer need to slow for the bends (assuming you're driving at the limit) where the "slow" words are painted.

Where I live there is a road which has two of these signs by a school for the disabled. Fair enough, but they are both placed on the straight by the school. On one end of the road you come round a blind corner which has a junction on the opposite side and a hidden driveway (hidden by the house it belongs to) virtually opposite each other and 30 metres before the VAS.

I've also noticed that VAS seem to have problems with determining a faired motorcycles speed

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Prepare to be Judged

Like the poster above, I've come across some that are triggered when doing the posted limit according to your speedo, so in practice probably a few mph below.

Trouble is this 'brings the sign into disrepute' to an extent, as people above have mentioned. Once I realise I am going to trigger the sign even when fastidiously sticking to the limit, I lose an element of my desire not to do so.

Interesting, I find they read between 2mph and 5mph lower than indicated on my cars speedo. It does over read but only by about 2mph so I thought maybe they were designed to make you think your speedo was way out so you would get nicked by the next scamera.

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Driving fast is for a particular time and place, I can do it I just only do it occasionally because I am a gentleman.
- James May