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The great speed camera cock-upMay 3 2007
By Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail
A SPEED camera put up to catch boy racers tearing along a Birmingham dual carriageway can't be switched on - because bungling contractors have stuck it in the wrong place.
The camera was planned for Watery Lane Middleway, Bordesley to help put the brakes on teenagers using the road for drag racing.
Crowds up to 1,000 routinely gather in the area to show off high-performance cars, perform stunts and race each other.
The gatherings, on Saturday nights, have blighted the lives of residents who have become fed-up with cars tearing up and down their streets and police have fought a long running battle to drive them off the roads.
Err.. and the speed cam will achieve what? Surely prosecuting for racing on the highway .. letting the courts simply ban outright with punitive fines and the odd .. er ASBO ..and jail threats if they persisted .. or perhaps encouraging these kids to attend a proper track day or even an open day as some Forces apparently have to try to knock some sense into these kids might have achieved much more than .. a speed camera
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But contractors hired to install the Gatso camera have placed it behind a giant road sign.
But then that's what they do as the norm ain't it?
Seen loads of attempts to conceal the darned things when in LanCASG££££££re
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Today, red-faced road safety chiefs admitted the distinctive grey and yellow box fell foul of rules which state it should be visible to drivers from at least 60 metres.
The West Midlands Casualty Reduction Partnership has promised the camera will not be turned on until the cock-up is sorted.
When contacted by the Birmingham Mail, Partnership manager Andrew Pearce said: "I've been down and had a look at the site and the camera is in the wrong place. I don't think it meets our requirements.
"We instructed contractors to place the camera where it could be seen by both lanes of traffic. It may be that there is already a plan to resolve the problem anyway.
"The camera is not turned on at the moment and won't be turned on until the visibility issue has been sorted out.
"Until then people aren't going to be photographed by it."
But will it stop the "drag racing which draws crowds of up to 1000 people and if this is the case.. why the hell has this not made the national tabloids before now?
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A cover has now been placed over the camera to inform drivers it is not in use. A second camera erected a few hundreds yards back along the road meets the guidelines and can be used.
The partnership received special permission to erect two cameras along the dual carriageway.
Surely one should do the job .. and if the speed was proven to be one drive.. then they would only get one lot of cash surely?
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Mr Pearce said: "Residents living nearby have been plagued with the problems of illegal street racing and anti-social behaviour and there have been some very serious accidents.
"I have seen it myself and it is quite terrifying."
Since the two cameras were installed last week speed checks have revealed drivers on daily journeys have already begun to slow down.
Hold on.. is the problem the drag racers or the normal drivers who might blip above the 10% +2 on a routine drive?
Are those anti-social yobs even registered?
Surely a policeman should be able to arrest these idiots and deal with them properly with huge penalty and ASBO over it all.
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A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council transportation department said officers had been in contact with the contractors and the Casualty Reduction Partnership over the siting on the camera.
"Engineers are going out to look at the site and the alternatives of either moving the sign or moving the camera," she added
I bet they still get the drag racers all the same.
Or they will move to some other place and the scammers will claim a credit for "saving lives" only to have moved this problem onto another road and nuisance for others.
What a load of b:censored:ks of an excuse to make some cash
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