Safe Speed Forums

I heard through the grape vine that The Police are going to Place unmarked Cars and officers yards from where they are doing a speed trap to try and catch motorists who'FLASH' to warn others of their presence by this means. Is there such an offence? Aren't the resources stretched enough without underhand tactics like this?

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

At least it would put police officers back on the roads. You never know they may even stop the odd idiot with 3 kids playing musical seats in the back.
Whilst they're waiting they may find time to pull the odd middle lane owner for a brief chat or stop the brief chats going on on mobile phones.

Sounds like a good idea to me

They call it "perverting or obstructing the sourse of justice" IG - no doubt - will clarify ...

Bit like the bloke who got banned for holding placard with 30 mpoh sign and speed trp ahead warning .... Daft - since they say they advise of mobile timtables on-line .... and have little rectangular signs to warn ....

How do you prove they were flashing to warn of speed trap anyway.... you could be flashing to warn of your presence like it says in the HC

Money making ......

Hi TinyTim

After the affair with Sergean CASHman (That was her name) and the pensioner with the placard - would not hold my breath on this one... in SCP areas anyway...

Of course, the pensioner's error was to hold the placard. If he'd just displayed it at the side of the road he would have been fine, since they wouldn't have known it was his

bikers flash each other warnings all the time, certainly in north wales where i do most of my riding. i know this is widespread in france, where double or multipe flashes mean speed trap ahead. maybe this idea needs extending to the populace as a whole?

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the day i stop learning is the day i get put in a box

Certainly when driving in Eastern Europe and as far as Russia, headlight flashes mean 'cops ahead'. Often the nice copper will let you off with a cash fine only saving you the delay and paperwork, the snag is you don't get a receipt and the treasury doesn't get the cash Here's a popular joke from there:
Cop stops a car, driver winds down the window and says: 'What have I done wrong now, officer?'. The cop replies, - 'My children can't wait until you have done something wrong'.
Over the last few years I have noticed that people in the UK are flashing their headlights more and more as warning of police trap ahead. I do it, too - old habits die hard
ad

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DO NOT PANIC

I've heard of people being stopped for flashing their lights, and I am pretty sure there have been prosecutions for it. The risk is pretty small though, because there is no FPN that can be issued for it, there needs to be a full court case.

Garet

I thought the whole idea of speed traps and scameras was to cut speed and improve road safety.They claim that they want road users to know they are there, yet intend to prosecute if motorists warn of their presence! If a driver flashes you to warn of a speed trap, what you gonna do? Thats right.....slow down! And thats what they want.....isnt it?

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Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

The idea of painting cameras yellow and advertising their location is a political concession, made to assuage people who would condemn secret camera installations.

The idea is that, if you are zooming along over the speed limit, oblivious to a large yellow box mounted in full visibility on a great pole right next to the road with warning signs and road markings all around it, you must be a member of the 'thumb in bum, mind in neutral' brigade and deserve to be pinged just to rouse you from your stupor.

This ploy seems to have worked because there are plenty of people who want cameras installed in thier villages.

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I stole this .sig

But if you are that unaware then it makes no difference if other motorists flash or not, 'thumb in bum, mind in neutral' brigade aint gonna see it !

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Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

It seems mad that they paint them yellow and advertise them on the Internet, then get bent out of shape when people help out by hoisting further signs and so on. Perhaps TPTB haven’t got the hang of it yet. Where will it all end; mobile phone monitoring to check if warnings have been passed around? A “better” solution is to obsolete cameras entirely using real-time monitoring, where warnings of any sort would be superfluous. I'd like to know more about this pensioner who was banned from doing something - who knows about this? What’s the story? Also, what is this "grapevine" thingy that Derick has been using - he started all this, so is it reliable?

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I stole this .sig

i like the idea of real time monitoring instead of scameras. would that involve some sort of ...

well trained, experienced traffic police?

that's a good idea. maybe we should get rid of scameras and try this instead!

btw, reading some of the more intelligent posts on this website has made me sign up with iam for advanced motorcycling. prob should have done it years ago but better late than never.

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the day i stop learning is the day i get put in a box

It was quite widely reported in the press, check this link out.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... ncam03.xml

And for comparison, have a look at this story (from http://www.farnborough.co.uk/story.asp?intid=498&txtpaper=). BTW this predates the Stuart Harding story.
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Councillor's solo protest against speed cameras

RUSHMOOR councillor David Clifford has held a one-man protest against police speed cameras on the A325 Farnborough Road.
He defied rain to wave a placard by an officer manning the safety camera unit near the Pinewood roundabout in Farnborough on Friday.
Motorists beeped their horns as they saw his poster warning they could be fined for speeding.
Cllr Clifford said: “I am all for keeping to the correct speed limit but this is nothing to do with road safety. It’s about the allocation of resources — why isn’t he out chasing burglars?”
He criticised the police for not listening to public opinion, which he says is opposed to the continued use of ‘hidden’ cameras.
“A lot of people have complained about them but the police only seem to antagonise them.”
Cllr Clifford supports the view of Farnborough’s MP Gerald Howarth, who claims accident figures on the A325 do not justify speed checks there.
Motorist Neil Nicholas stopped his car to pat Cllr Clifford on the back and show his support.
He said: “The accident rate on this road is minute. It’s not as though this is by a school.
This is just getting people going to work.
“You drive down the dual carriageway and they are always there to catch people.”
To Cllr Clifford he added: “A massive thumbs-up to you.”
A mother of three from Farnborough said: “This is just another way of the police making money out of law-abiding taxpayers.
“There’s a pedestrian crossing up there so it’s down to pedestrians to use it. Any accident is down to their ignorance if they don’t use it.”
But a student at nearby Farnborough College of Technology, who wished to remain anonymous, felt speed enforcement was justified. He said: “It’s a busy roundabout with lots of people.
“Two of my friends were recently injured in an accident. The car was travelling at 60mph in a 30mph zone and went straight into a roundabout.”
Cameras came into operation on the A325 last April after it was deemed an accident blackspot.
Fourteen people were killed or seriously injured on its northern part between 1998 and 2000.
Pc Nick Carter, who was carrying out the checks, denied they were a waste of time.
He said; “We don’t persecute. As with any deterrent it’s got to be seen to be doing its job.
“We are trying to get the message across. We won’t stop accidents happening but hopefully the injuries won’t be as serious.
“Motorists who drive in excess of the speed limit have only got themselves to blame. If, however, the next time they slow down, then we have achieved something.
“This is high visibility. What people don’t see is the police going out and making enquiries into assaults and robberies. If something comes in I can pack up the equipment and go.”

Picture: Cllr Clifford makes his stand


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Now, without getting into the pros and cons of the speed limit and the regular appearance of the Talivan along there (though I admit I've not seen 'em recently), the question for me is why the police and CPS were happy to prosecute Stuart Harding but didn't have the guts to go for David Clifford a couple of months or so before, and why the magistrates came down on him so hard by banning him for a non-motoring offence. Both Mr Harding and Cllr Clifford made warning signs, both displayed them on the same bit of road (near as I can tell the two spots are only a couple of hundred yards or so apart) and both severely wound up the plod operating the trap.
Surprise, sur ingprise, it's the powerless old retiree who gets a hammering. Spineless bastards. It's the inequality that really winds me up. Everyone from Tony Blair in the M4 bus lane and Jack Straw's ton-up police chauffeur down to a local politician get no more than a slagging from their opponents, but let Joe Bloggs try it... All equal under the law? What a bag of bollocks!

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein