kdj Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 I understand that these photo tickets have become a huge profit source in the UK and are cropping up on every other corner. I don't think there's any pretense that they are a safety enhancer but they do make a boat load of profit for the companies installing them. There's something fundamentally wrong about this Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer-lock Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 An excellent article from C&D about the use of photo radar. The revenue stream is what is driving (no pun intended) most of this. http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?se...4&page_number=1 geezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgary Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 I just got home from a two week vacation in Scotland, most of which was spent cruising around the country side in a rental-car. I am *very* curious to see how many radar tickets eventually find their way to me through the rental agency, since.... well, radar cameras were pretty much everywhere, and I *can't* have slowed down enough for *all* of them ;-) Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 I recall they did this back in the 90's. The idea is similar to a radar jammer. Except they used a 100w driving light with an IR filter. To continue the little tangent... Before they figured out this active method, when the Lidar guns first hit the scene C&D did tests on passive avoidance, in the form of denying all reflections to the front of the car. This would have been in the '91-93 time range. They took cars and covered up all the shiny spots (front plate, chrome emblems, etc) with black tape, and found that Lidar had a much more difficult time measuring the speed. With some continued work I believe they got a black car to the point where the officer could get no reading at all. While denying all reflections for total avoidance is probably too much work, the use of some coverings (i.e. a car bra) would require the officer to reshoot and aim much more precisely, giving the driver warning enough to slow down before getting to the point where the Lidar unit got enough of a return to measure the speed. As a driver, although I dislike Geico giving these laser guns out to police, I'd pretty much prefer the police to have laser guns than radar guns First, I would know that the officer is most likely tracking exactly me, rather than spurious reflections in the radar's wider beam. Second, the officer must actually work for the score, rather than sitting back watching the numbers jump around. Third, it can't be used from a moving vehicle... As for the original question: Photo radar - bad thing for bad cause Red light camera - bad thing for okay cause Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 Forgot to mention, not everybody likes the speed cameras, at least in the UK . Luckily all the money generated will replaced the destroyed cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 This might be interesting reading for you guys. If you aren't familiar with Rally Car racing, it's basically a point to point race on closed roads. They race around 200 miles total over 3 days. However they have to drive on public roads to get to the race route. They are on public roads up to 400 miles during the race. They are subjected to all the laws of the road. In addition to getting ticketed for speeding or whatever the cop wants to dish out, they also get a penalty added on to their race time. Rally stars hit by speeding fines Great Britain - 10/11/2003 16:19:23 Some of the biggest names in world rallying have received fines and road licence bans after being caught speeding during last year's Rally GB. British aces Colin McRae and Richard Burns were among those fined in a Welsh court this morning (Monday). Daniel Carlsson, Freddy Loix, Kris Meeke and Armin Schwarz all received licence bans after most were caught offending by a speed camera set-up on a two-mile stretch of public road between the rally's service area and the 'shakedown' stage. Those banned will still be able to drive in rallies in the UK but not drive on public roads between special stages, where their co-drivers will have to take over. McRae and Burns were also given fines for similar speeding offences. In total, 17 competitors were caught during last year's event, based in Cardiff in South Wales. Loix was fined £1750 and given a six month ban after being caught seven times at speeds of up to 54mph in the 30mph zone in just one morning. McRae was caught at 51mph, and fined £150 plus three penalty points. Burns was recorded at 83mph on a dual carriageway. He given three points and fined £150. Those hit the most were… Daniel Carlsson – banned for six months, fined £800 Freddy Loix – banned for six months, fined £1,750 Kris Meeke – banned for 12 months (had previous points), fined £300 Armin Schwarz – banned for six month, fined £1,000 Others to be fined and given penalty points were Carlos Sainz, Markko Martin, Tommi Makinen, Martin Rowe and Mikko Hirvonen. The roadside cameras picked up over 2,000 offences in all, most of which were spectators who were following the rally. Magistrates chairman Cliff Jones said: "The area where these offences happened is particularly dangerous for people to exceed the speed limit under any circumstances." Ironically, the man who invented the road-side speed camera, Maurice Gatsonides, was a former rally driver himself. © Copyright wrc.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 ...Loix was fined £1750 and given a six month ban after being caught seven times at speeds of up to 54mph in the 30mph zone in just one morning. McRae was caught at 51mph, and fined £150 plus three penalty points. Burns was recorded at 83mph on a dual carriageway. ... The roadside cameras picked up over 2,000 offences in all, most of which were spectators who were following the rally. Magistrates chairman Cliff Jones said: "The area where these offences happened is particularly dangerous for people to exceed the speed limit under any circumstances." So all these people exceeding the speed limit in a "particularly dangerous area under any circumstances" must have caused a number of serious crashes that day, right? Right? hello? Is this thing on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezer-lock Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 The jamming of lidar/radar has been pretty much laid to rest by local and federal law (never mind the poor performance of the actual devices or methods) and the continuing evolution of various types of police radar. I really became intrigued by this thread because I had just returned from a 1200 hundred mile marathon on I20 this past weekend. While I am no slow-poke I had my doors blown off numerous times by folks running very hot in heavy traffic. I saw 13 vehicles pulled over and 6 of them had something hanging under the mirror that I assumed to be a detector of some sort. Although almost all highway patrol units have radar, pacing is alive and well (and undetectable). I saw beautiful example between Dallas and Ft. Worth. A BMW with TWO detectors in the window was making his way through traffic at a very high rate of speed. The Beemer was so busy changing lanes that he never noticed the patrol enter the traffic stream from the on ramp. Wish I could have seen his face when that red-top lit up. The jamming and detecting references listed below are from the Lidar FAQ which is an excellent discussion of jamming and detecting radar/lidar: http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/FAQonLidar.html Popular magazine articles • Radar Revisited; Road and Track, Nov. 91, pg 106. • 7 Wide Band Radar Detectors; Car Audio and Electronics, Mar. 93 pg. 103. • Radar Wars ....; Car and Driver, Oct. 92, pg 153. • They have Lasers; Car and Driver, Apr. 92, pg 87. • Car and Driver, Apr. 94, (~$300 dollar detectors reviewed) • Car and Driver, Sept. 95, (~$100 dollar detectors reviewed) Craig Peterson Articles: • The Little Radar Jammer that Didn't, Automobile Magazine 1993 • Driving Stealth Part 1. The New Combination Radar/Laser Detectors • Driving Stealth Part 2. Road Testing the Latest in Radar/Laser Jammers, AUTOtronics, March 95 p.36 • Don't Get Zapped: 4 Radar Detectors, Car Audio and Electronics, March 1995, p.114 geezer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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