Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Bigron on 02 February 2018, 19:38:43
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Do YOU believe it?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/5412914/drivers-will-now-be-fined-24-hours-a-day-by-smart-motorway-speed-cameras-even-if-theres-no-variable-speed-limit-displayed/
Ron.
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In a word Ron, NO!
Presently the police have discretion when catching a driver going just over the limit, and certainly if the traffic is light and you are driving safely in a legal car you can travel at up to 80 mph without penalty. But this new approach takes all that away and even if the motorway is virtually empty at 0230 in the morning, with excellent visibility and a limited risk to anyone else you are going to be penalised without any commen sense brought to the decision by a human being. Our motorways are known to be the safest roads, so why this targeting of motorways?
This is a money making scheme >:(
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Yep, and they have the moral high ground on this, because if we challenge this and accuse them of revenue collection, they will play the "safety" card and call us dangerous speed merchants, regardless of circumstances.
70mph is merely an arbitrary line drawn for no sound reason. How come 70mph is "safe", yet 71mph is evil?
I hope my cruise control is accurate!
Ron.
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My bus lane fine from Bradford was issued at 22:01. The place was dark and deserted, not even sure the buses were still running on that route.
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That was bang out of order, STEMO.
So now we have to carry chronometers as well as have certified accurate speedometers too? >:(
Ron.
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When the[temparory]70mph limit was introduced back in the mid '60s[a couple of years later it became permanent]most family cars would struggle to get much past it and fewer still would hit three figure speeds.Given that even modern car speedometers are not totally accurate[nor so I've heard are sat navs]the cameras make for easy income without the expense of police officers/their vehicles.If they were that interested in safety they'd bring back more officers to pull the drunk drivers/phone users/all other such things that cameras don't pick up on,after all you can be as rat faced as you like but as long as you don't stray 1mph above the limit that's ok as the cameras will say you're driving like a good citizen and not causing accidents with your reckless speed.
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If anything over 70mph (even my just 1mph) were dangerous in the extreme and worthy of being fined, how come there isn't daily carnage on German Autobahns?
Ron.
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Not disagreeing with you Ron.I can't comment on the German aspect as I've never been let alone driven there.Speed as such does not kill[otherwise why are all the astronauts or even fast jet pilots dead?]it's the inappropriate use of speed which does the damage,sadly the driving standards in this country appear to be deteriorating at a frightening rate.
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Ah yes, driving standards. If we all drove as well as you and I there would be no problem, but there are always the BMW/Audi drivers.....
From what I hear about driving in Germany, their lane discipline is exemplary, unlike ours, which may well be why they are allowed to get on with it, free from nannying, on their mororways?
Ron.
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The daily cull on our roads is sadly averaging 5 ppl daily :(
Not surprising really that urban speed limits need to be tightened up.
I really think more needs to be done about the hoons & their driving antics >:(
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) on road policing, has called on police forces to scrap the 10% buffer currently in place. So 1 mph over the limit means your breaking the law.
THe NPCC see themselves as law enforcers & not educators.
I suppose the camera is just another tool to help the enforcers ::)
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Yes, I readf that NPCC news item. Just how is safety helped when we all have to watch our speedometers much more than the roads?
I would rather ignore arbitrary speed limits and concentrate on road conditions and hazards - does that make me a bad person?
Ron.
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If anything over 70mph (even my just 1mph) were dangerous in the extreme and worthy of being fined, how come there isn't daily carnage on German Autobahns?
Ron.
Actually, sometimes there is. I've driven a lot in Germany, and quite frankly when you're doing 130+ mph and there's someone tailgating flashing their lights, it's bloody terrifying. Well for me it is. A pile up in Germany is VERY serious, and it does happen. The only reason Germany still has roads with no speed limit is pressure fromn the German car industry, if there were speed limits what would be the point of high end (expensive & profitable) BMWs etc ?
I blame the Germans for a lot of the carnage on our roads. BMW actually promoted aggressive driving at one stage in the 80s with "TURBO" written backwards on a front spoiler. And look at the " I'm a clever smartass" advertising over the last few decades (not just BMW). If you drive a BMW the responsiveness and power encourages bad aggressive driving. And . . . it sells cars. A humble somethingorother with 90BHP or whatever gets you from A to B, why more ?
Dull ? Yes of course. But transport is just that. It used to take me 8 hours to drive from Wales to London. I can now do it in less than 4 hours. So what ?
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Far from a bad person Ron. it proves that you have more common sense than the knobs that run the asylum.
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If anything over 70mph (even my just 1mph) were dangerous in the extreme and worthy of being fined, how come there isn't daily carnage on German Autobahns?
Ron.
Actually, sometimes there is. I've driven a lot in Germany, and quite frankly when you're doing 130+ mph and there's someone tailgating flashing their lights, it's bloody terrifying.
Yes driving a HGV on a unrestricted Autobahn can be bloody hairy! :o
Many of the Autobahns are dual carriageway and if you pull out to overtake, that little speck in your mirror rapidly becomes a BMW or Merc flying up behind you at stupid speeds! :o
They always seemed very friendly to me though and flashed their lights, beeped and waved when eventually I was able to pull in and let them go by! Maybe they were pleased about the fuel they saved by having to slow down to 56mph for a while? :-\ ::) ;D
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That might explain the introduction of the overtaking ban for hgvs from 06-1800... ::)
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If they were totally seriuos about making roads safer, every set of traffic lights would have a red light camera.
But, the numptys have chosen the easy option.
Does this mean that car manufacturers will have to now make a totally accurate speedo now?
All IMO
Keith ABS
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IF they were serious, Keith - and that is a big "if"!
They would also remove a major safety hazard on almost every road (no, not cyclists this time!) - potholes. Aside from watching the speedometer every driving moment, we also have to try to avoid suspension damage and steer round these things.
Who was it who said he would "end the war on motorists"?
Why should they wage war against us anyway: we are not the enemy..... :( >:(
Ron.
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The motorists ar'nt the enemies, we are the easiest to tax, and get money from, it's called indirect taxation, people's want to pay less income tax,(vote winner), so the only way to increase taxation indirectly is increases elsewhere, and motorists are an easy target, as is a very small rise in council tax every year by £1.00--2.00 every year.
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Talking about the autobahns ..........
I remember tonking down the 61 at a steady 80 ish in sausage land back in 89.
Came up behind a trabbant kicking out a bit of smoke so floored it and pulled out to pass.
I got within about 50 yards and the idiot pulled out in front of me without warning :o :o
Lets just say the brakes worked very well or I would have probably just gone through his little 2 stroke, cardboard car ;D
As yes, its just a money making sceeme >:(
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That might explain the introduction of the overtaking ban for hgvs from 06-1800... ::)
When did they introduce that? ???
There were always stretches where HGV's were banned from overtaking, but that law must have been introduced in the last 10 years or so. :-\
I remember once getting stuck in a queue of HGV's on a no overtaking stretch somewhere in East Germany. We were going really slowly, about 40mph or so and there was a haze of black smoke in the air. When we got to the point where we could overtake we all pulled out and sped up to 56 mph and the hold up was an old Iranian bull nose Merc wagon and drag that was belching out black smoke, and had 6 or 7 blokes in the cab! ::) ;D
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Sever times I've been driven by Germans on Autobahns when visiting German companies and if they could get a fag paper between their front bumper and the rear one on the car in front, they weren't close enough. :o :o :o
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I blame Brexit........................and Trump. :D
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Once again easy targets us motorists, my cruise will be set at 5mph lower than the limit, bastards won't get another penny out of me.
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The other night I discovered that the M5 between Avonmouth and the Almondsbury Interchange (M5/M4) at Bristol has become a smart motorway, when I was diverted because the M49 was closed for road works. I havn't been on that stretch of the M5 for a while and only realised when I saw that the gantries had the white dashes painted on the road beneath. :( :-[
I'm half expecting some envelopes to drop through my letter box. :-X
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The other night I discovered that the M5 between Avonmouth and the Almondsbury Interchange (M5/M4) at Bristol has become a smart motorway, when I was diverted because the M49 was closed for road works. I havn't been on that stretch of the M5 for a while and only realised when I saw that the gantries had the white dashes painted on the road beneath. :( :-[
I'm half expecting some envelopes to drop through my letter box. :-X
That’s ok. You just tell them it was Dave from the Philippines. ;D
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Did you get flashed? If not, you’re fine. Remember, most forces still give you 10%+2mph, that’s 79.
Plus, most speedos will give you another 3-4mph, so a reading of 82 should be okay.
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I blame Brexit........................and Trump. :D
Communist :P
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The other night I discovered that the M5 between Avonmouth and the Almondsbury Interchange (M5/M4) at Bristol has become a smart motorway, when I was diverted because the M49 was closed for road works. I havn't been on that stretch of the M5 for a while and only realised when I saw that the gantries had the white dashes painted on the road beneath. :( :-[
I'm half expecting some envelopes to drop through my letter box. :-X
That’s ok. You just tell them it was Dave from the Philippines. ;D
Ha ha yes I could pin all sorts of shite on him! ;D
Did you get flashed? If not, you’re fine. Remember, most forces still give you 10%+2mph, that’s 79.
Plus, most speedos will give you another 3-4mph, so a reading of 82 should be okay.
Not sure those gantry cameras flash do they? :-\ They say that the gantry cameras on the M4 by Newport are active, but I've never seen one flash when people zip by. :-\
I should be OK..... :-\ ::)
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The ones on overhead gantry flash like Gatsos.
The newer ones on the South end of M1, that are halfway up the gantry's left hand support do not appear to.
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The newer ones on the South end of M1, that are halfway up the gantry's left hand support do not appear to.
I've definitely seen those flash at night
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The newer ones on the South end of M1, that are halfway up the gantry's left hand support do not appear to.
I've definitely seen those flash at night
Ah, maybe they only flash when dark then :y.
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The newer ones on the South end of M1, that are halfway up the gantry's left hand support do not appear to.
They flash all right, seen them go off, regularly in the early hours, it's like a thunder flash, without the bang.
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Now he has retracted the statement that he gave out and now says that we will not get nicked for going over the 70mph limit by 1 mile an hour.. ??? ???
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He has? Public outcry, no doubt!
Where is the threshold now, then? There was nothing wrong with "10% + 2 mph over", if we MUST have speed limits.
As we all know, it isn't speed per se that is the problem, but inappropriate speed, regardless of any posted limit: for instance, 30 mph outside schools at going in/coming out times, or fog/icy roads (unless you have the magic eyes that all BMW drivers have that can see clearly through fog!).
The limits are purely arbitrary, set many decades ago, and do not take into account road conditions or anything else - just a blanket limit. Still, they do help in revenue collection - not that would be a factor, of course?
Ron.
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It keeps the do-gooders happy, like the retards from BRAKE...
...until I get voted in, and cure the housing crisis, the NHS crisis and every other crisis.
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Er, don't forget that I'm handling motoring issues, TB..... :y
Ron.