Are speed cameras good or bad?

Frosty

I agree with David8454. I travel a lot, too, and I've seen several close calls because people try so hard not to get nailed by traffic light cameras at intersections. I know what the published statistics say, but what I see for myself tells me another side of the story. People fear those cameras and are distracted by them. Virginia, for example, used to use them but no longer does. But, yes, they do bring in a heck of a lot of revenue for the local jurisdictions that do use them.

domme me

a simplistic question. obviously they are good for the police and they generate revenue. if they actually deter speeding, and cause fewer accidents is a moot point.
some speed cameras seem to be placed without regard to accidents, and are merely revenue generating (there's a whole slew of cameras along one road close to me, which were placed at the same time the road was built - either the road was badly planned or the cameas were soley for revenue)
I have seen cars which were surprised by camera hidden behind a bridge support almost crash as they slowed down.
A camera will not take account of road conditions, time of day, the volume of traffic or any other variable.
there has been an exponential increase in their use in recent years and this cannot be supported by accident rates
{FYI, I use a tom tom 300 sat nav, with speed camera detector software and have never been caught by a speed cam}

Wendy M

I think most speed cameras are ineffective as they either don't work, or only slow people down for the distance where the camera can catch them. The vulture speed cameras which measure your average speed over a distance are far more effective. Everyone travels within the speed limit along the entire stretch of road covered by the cameras. I would love to see more of these on the roads. It's way past time that people accept that the speed limit is the maximum speed you should travel at.

JAMES

good

Michael B

If you don't break the speed limit, in other words the law, then they aren't a problem.

jadedy04

good they slow people down

scififed

both. they catch more people going thru lights and will save lives in that way, but the bad side of it is people are afraid of running the light so they hit the brakes, instead of going thru, they stop and the driver behind them thinks they are going to go thru the light and rams into them. this has happened here in new york and more tickets for running red lights but also, more accidents at the lights. a newspapers here publishes were the cameras are and people know not to go thru lights at that intersection.

Chis

Well they are good because they could get people to slow down to the assigned speed.

hnz57txn

Interesting that Kytho doesn't think people can be killed by red light runners in the dead of night.
I say to any and all, red does not mean go faster.

GORDON P

I think speed camera's are good and certainly help with keeping speed down, to a point. To many people speed between speed camera's. I would replace the standard speed camera with average speed camera's on all roads, especially in built up areas near schools.
I think also car makers could help by installing cruise control in all new cars, drivers then could set their speed near to the limit without having to constantly be watching their speedo.

tonytucks

They are goodif they save costly accidents and maybe even lives!

PuntaCorvo 66

I personally think they are bad. They have put speed cameras all over London (UK) and people know where they are so they speed up between them and then hit their brakes unexpectedly when they get within range of the next one. This causes more accidents than before.

I like the US model where an officer has to stop you and serve you with a speeding ticket. At least you know what you did wrong and you have a chance of getting away with a warning. They have started putting red light cameras in Houston (TX), so I think it's just a matter of time before we get speed cameras, too. I hope we do not end up like London.

bella

good - i just wish they could stop people from speeding up afterwards. the times people have been killed by speeding motorists is sickening. the fines from speed cameras goes right back into the speed cameras and to implementing other road safety and casualty reduction proceedures. the only people who complain about speed cameras are those who speed and have been caught. at the end of the day you have to be going quite a bit over the speed limit to be caught its not like it just goes off if you'ree 1mph over.

swordman

Bad. They haven't cut down road deaths or accidents, and therefore are only there to generate revenue.

People often mistake speeding for dangerous driving, but they are two completely different things. Speeding can be dangerous in built up areas, but can be perfectly safe on a deserted motorway. Also modern cars have much better brakes than the cars of yesteryear (whichever year the highway code came out - sometime in the '70s I thnk) and can stop better at 100mph than older cars doing 70mph. Even still, reaction times haven't changed, which is why drivers should use caution...

PETER F

Good and bad. They are good if they are used correctly but this is seldom the case. When was the last time you saw a speed camera near a school? Never. They are placed in such a way as to make money for the camera partnerships. Forget revenue to the government, they are self funding and the camera partnerships need to catch people speeding to justify their own jobs/existence. This is why they put them in places that they know will make the cash rather than places that they are really needed. I drove to Hull recently (poor me) and there were loads of cameras on the road from York. They had cleverly positioned them on the hills where the side of the road going up split into two lanes to allow people to pass slower moving vehicles. So what if a few people do 10mph or so over the limit to enable them to pass a tractor. It just seemed stupid to me.

My other objection is to speed limits themselves. In many places they are set too low. 70mph is just stupid for a motorway and the number of 60mph roads being reduced to 50 and 40mph is just insane. In my area they dropped a dual carridgeway to 50mph because the residents of a local village complained. The Police even said it would make the road more dangerous but no one listened. Now you see the idiotic residents tring to cross the road. Mind you the safe underpass is at least 100 yards away so it is a huge inconvenience have to use it.

In my opinion the whole issue of speeding has been blown out of all proportion.

Oh and yes I have been caught for speeding, once. It was on a dual carridge way with a normal posted limit of 50mph, which is too low. However they had put a few cones out and a few road works signs and then dropped the limit to 30mph. I got done for doing 38mph.

What really anoyed me was that a few months earlier I had been hit by and uninsured driver. The Police weren't interested. Before that someone nicked my alloys wheels and the police just gave me a crime number and did nothing else. It was the same when my stereo was nicked. However i do 38mph on a dual carridge way that has a 30 limit because some cones have been put out and I get done. The irony is if I had not registered the car in my name they wouldn't have been able to trace me. Maybe we will have more respect for law enforcement if they put as much effort into catching real criminals as they do for catching otherwise law abiding motorsits breaking arbitrary speed limits.

As for the 'They save lives ' rubbish, wake up. There is very little evidence to support this and any that there is, is so dubious it is not true. Anyone can manipulate statistics to tell the story that suits them. The government/police should release the raw data and let ordinary members of the public or even independant statisticians draw their own conclusions. that way they might have some credibility. The speed camera issue is just another story of lies and spin.

Oh and just for the record, Traffic light cameras are not the same as speed cameras. They are a good thing. Speed cameras do not catch you running red lights

david845453

bad very bad .... they are designed as a revenue source and not to save lives.. I travel over 2k per week and every near miss i see is due to traffic hitting the brakes because a camera is approaching even when not speeding.
If you put any other threartening hazard at the side of the road it would be banned.... ANSWER
More police out on the roads not cameras

Veritas

Anything that takes your mind of your driving is bad. Most accidents are not caused by speeding, but by young inexperienced drivers.

hayley50

I'm sorry to say they are good . i don't like them . but have you noticed most people who s*** then off are people who have been caught speeding???

Ollie

good, to stop ppl speeding, bad for the speeders who pay the fine.

Petrol Head

Its a good idea especially when your pulling out of junctions at busy times. They save lives and if you can't see them then you shouldn't be driving.

Dan

A pain but a good measure to prevent unnecessary road accidents and deaths. I could be cynical and suggest that they are a good money spinner but I won't.

Red

Good cos they can prevent deaths and accidents.The problem is most if not all counties use them for extra revenue...

whiskey1

its just a way for the cops to make some quick cash

kytho

For some idiots on the road they are a good thing. But for those drivers who don't want to be somewhere before they have left, they are an infringement on our civil liberties. Especially as they work in the dead of night when nobody else is on the road.

intelligent_observer

Cameras are only a problem if you are driving too fast.
If people have to suddenly brake when they see cameras they are going to fast and breaking the law.
If you collide with someone who has just stamped on the brakes for a camera you were too close.
Keep your distance and watch your speed and then cameras will have no fear for you.

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