Speed cameras ticketed 3,500 to real cops average of 6

[Raineyrocks]

http://www.infowars.com/?p=3914 


Speed cameras ticketed 3,500 to real cops average of 6

Frank Greve | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The leafy capital suburb of Chevy Chase Village is a great place to live but you wouldn't want to visit there.

At least not by car. Easy-to-miss automated speed cameras on its half-mile main drag, where the speed limit is 30 mph, caught 3,500 speeders on their first day of operation last fall. Before that, the norm was six tickets a day.

Many speeders first learn they've been caught when citations, along with photographic evidence, show up at the addresses that match the violators' license plates.

Be forewarned: More than 300 U.S. communities use automated "cop cam" systems like Chevy Chase's. They're after not just speeders but also red-light violators and railroad-crossing jumpers.
   
   
   

In the works are bus-mounted cop cams that ticket bus lane intruders, cop cams to punish speeders in highway construction zones, even cop cam systems that ticket motorists based on a car's average speed over a mile. They catch drivers who brake for known camera sites, then resume speeding.

Want to fight a cop cam ticket?

The same software that processes violations lets drivers view the five seconds before and after their alleged offenses on their home computers.

"It's very compelling evidence," said Cristina Weekes, the executive vice president for sales and marketing at Redflex Traffic Systems Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., a leading cop-cam maker.

"It's almost a no-win," admitted Horace Bradshaw, Washington's best-known traffic court defense lawyer.

When polled, substantial majorities approve of cop cams. When ticketed, however, lots are outraged.

"It's like Nazi Germany!" sputtered Dan Bradley, 41, a federal personnel investigator who routinely runs the six-lane Chevy Chase gantlet. "They ticket you for speeds that aren't dangerous."

FULL ARTICLE

[doobie]

Are speed cameras legal in NH?

[Pat McCotter]

Are speed cameras legal in NH?

No. Highway cameras for traffic monitoring are also not allowed.

Cameras are allowed at toll plazas to catch toll evaders.

[Sovereign Curtis]

Most communities are actually getting rid of their speed and red light cameras because they have had their intended effect. Thats right, they are being removed because they are actually making the streets safer (and costing the communities revenue). People get that first ticket, know it is there as a result, and start driving slower, or not running red lights, in order to not get ticketed. So communities are having them removed to encourage citizens to break the law again, so they can go back to writing tickets and funding their bloated government.

[ByronB]

I couldn't find the article but here in the Chicago area they keep putting up red light cameras... however, to make more money they shortened the yellow light times so that they could catch more people "breaking the law".

Another interesting event (again, no article) I heard was that in Bolingbrook (essentially Chicago) there was a red light camera that kept ticketing people that were making a right-on-red (legal here) and they kept complaining about it but were still being forced to pay the tickets, that is until the Mayor himself got a ticket then they shut the camera down.

[Pat McCotter]

From our camera hating friends across the pond.
http://www.speedcam.co.uk/index2.htm

There is no date on this press release. The group has been around since 2000.
====================================================================
MAD PRESS RELEASE

A Summer of MADness?

Motorists Against Detection, the vigilante anti-speed camera group have announced a summer of MADness which will see them target for destruction all speed cameras in the UK. It's now going to be a period of zero tolerance against all speed cameras, said their campaigns director Capt Gatso.

The group claims speed cameras are just money-making machines and they have given the authorities long enough to prove their worth. The first camera to fall in the summer campaign is in south east London on the A2 at the Sun in the Sands roundabout on-slip heading northbound towards the Blackwall Tunnel.

Capt Gatso, the group's campaigns director, said: "We have completely pulled it out of the ground, it is now lying flat. You can see some of our handiwork posted on www.speedcam.co.uk. He added: In many areas the cameras have not saved one life - the statistics for road deaths haven't gone down. In some areas they have actually gone up - in Essex, for instance, which has a high density of cameras there are more people being killed. We are now planning to target any and all cameras until the Government sees sense and rethinks its road safety policy. Before we had speed cameras we had the safest roads in Europe - since their introduction this is no longer true.

The announcement will surprise many in road safety circles since the group has publicly declared it would not attack cameras outside schools or on high streets. But Capt Gatso said: We need to focus attention on what the cameras are about. We've said we wouldn't attack the ones in built up and urban areas but that's not where most of the cameras are. There are a lot of frustrated people among our members who have seen the number of cameras increase while road safety levels have fallen. Indeed, the only thing the cameras have done successfully is to reduce the number of traffic officers patrolling our roads and lose a lot of decent people their driving licences and their livelihoods.

MAD is the UK's only direct action anti-speed camera group and it's been going since summer 2000. In that time they have taken out just over 1,000 cameras. Their membership who are normally law-abiding people - vary in numbers but there is a hard core of around 200 people throughout the UK who use Internet chat forums, encrypted email and pay as you go phones to keep in touch and plan campaigns.

The group says it has perfected a new and quick way of destroying speed cameras which will enable them to destroy a roadside camera in just a few seconds. Capt Gatso added: The Government and the camera partnerships have failed to spin out via their PR campaigns to convince people that the cameras are there for road safety. Motorists know that they aren't. All it's done is further damage the police/public relationship and further alienating communities which they desperately need onside at this time. Many cameras have gone up on busy roads without any history of accidents despite that being the main criteria for installation.And all the time the partnerships and the Treasury rake in millions of extra revenue.

Capt Gatso pointed out that the group is not encouraging dangerous driving or speeding on Britain's roads. He said: We have said from the beginning that drivers should drive according to the conditions of the road. The police say we need more training and patrols but the Government says we need more fines. But not everyone is paying the fines. Drive a foreign registered car or alter your number plate slightly and you'll get away with it too. One of the future PR exercises for the shadowy group is for drivers to participate in a day of action called 'National Cover-Up Your Number Plates Day' to frustrate parking, bus lane, anpr, congestion and speed cameras. Capt Gatso told us: It will be pandemonium for the authorities. What are the chances of being stopped? We have by default, in the form of number plates on the front and back of our vehicles, a mobile ID card. Now we've declared open season on the cameras just keep an eye open for what happens next. This will be civil disobedience on a grand scale covering all areas and people of the country. One thing drivers might consider is that when there's a police car behind you with its blue lights and sirens on think about family members or friends getting points for going marginally over the limit and don't let the police past if you don't think it is safe to do so. Our members don't. We are always straight out of the way for ambulances and fire engines because we admire the sterling work they do.

Capt Gatso is a family man from north London. He's in his 40s, a professional he owns a BMW M3 and is a keen motorcyclist. He said: Most of the organising group are just ordinary blokes with families who are sick of us heading towards a police state. He added that the group's members were all good drivers, most have a professional driving qualification or ride powerful motorbikes on a regular basis and their aims are to encourage the partnerships to clamp down on speeding in built-up areas and near to schools and hospitals. Capt Gatso, the motorists' friend, said: What we ultimately want to see is all the UK camera partnerships dissolved into a central ticket office which only concentrates on serious and serial offenders. Each case should be treated as a proper crime and properly investigated. We should be stopping the idiots who get behind the wheel of a car who will speed anywhere but won't get caught if they avoid main roads and motorways. We want to see a higher police presence of trained officers patrolling the roads and put Britain back at the top of the road safety league where it was before the introduction of these infernal cameras.

[Raineyrocks]

From our camera hating friends across the pond.
http://www.speedcam.co.uk/index2.htm

There is no date on this press release. The group has been around since 2000.
====================================================================
MAD PRESS RELEASE

A Summer of MADness?

Motorists Against Detection, the vigilante anti-speed camera group have announced a summer of MADness which will see them target for destruction all speed cameras in the UK. It's now going to be a period of zero tolerance against all speed cameras, said their campaigns director Capt Gatso.

The group claims speed cameras are just money-making machines and they have given the authorities long enough to prove their worth. The first camera to fall in the summer campaign is in south east London on the A2 at the Sun in the Sands roundabout on-slip heading northbound towards the Blackwall Tunnel.

Capt Gatso, the group's campaigns director, said: "We have completely pulled it out of the ground, it is now lying flat. You can see some of our handiwork posted on www.speedcam.co.uk. He added: In many areas the cameras have not saved one life - the statistics for road deaths haven't gone down. In some areas they have actually gone up - in Essex, for instance, which has a high density of cameras there are more people being killed. We are now planning to target any and all cameras until the Government sees sense and rethinks its road safety policy. Before we had speed cameras we had the safest roads in Europe - since their introduction this is no longer true.

The announcement will surprise many in road safety circles since the group has publicly declared it would not attack cameras outside schools or on high streets. But Capt Gatso said: We need to focus attention on what the cameras are about. We've said we wouldn't attack the ones in built up and urban areas but that's not where most of the cameras are. There are a lot of frustrated people among our members who have seen the number of cameras increase while road safety levels have fallen. Indeed, the only thing the cameras have done successfully is to reduce the number of traffic officers patrolling our roads and lose a lot of decent people their driving licences and their livelihoods.

MAD is the UK's only direct action anti-speed camera group and it's been going since summer 2000. In that time they have taken out just over 1,000 cameras. Their membership who are normally law-abiding people - vary in numbers but there is a hard core of around 200 people throughout the UK who use Internet chat forums, encrypted email and pay as you go phones to keep in touch and plan campaigns.

The group says it has perfected a new and quick way of destroying speed cameras which will enable them to destroy a roadside camera in just a few seconds. Capt Gatso added: The Government and the camera partnerships have failed to spin out via their PR campaigns to convince people that the cameras are there for road safety. Motorists know that they aren't. All it's done is further damage the police/public relationship and further alienating communities which they desperately need onside at this time. Many cameras have gone up on busy roads without any history of accidents despite that being the main criteria for installation.And all the time the partnerships and the Treasury rake in millions of extra revenue.

Capt Gatso pointed out that the group is not encouraging dangerous driving or speeding on Britain's roads. He said: We have said from the beginning that drivers should drive according to the conditions of the road. The police say we need more training and patrols but the Government says we need more fines. But not everyone is paying the fines. Drive a foreign registered car or alter your number plate slightly and you'll get away with it too. One of the future PR exercises for the shadowy group is for drivers to participate in a day of action called 'National Cover-Up Your Number Plates Day' to frustrate parking, bus lane, anpr, congestion and speed cameras. Capt Gatso told us: It will be pandemonium for the authorities. What are the chances of being stopped? We have by default, in the form of number plates on the front and back of our vehicles, a mobile ID card. Now we've declared open season on the cameras just keep an eye open for what happens next. This will be civil disobedience on a grand scale covering all areas and people of the country. One thing drivers might consider is that when there's a police car behind you with its blue lights and sirens on think about family members or friends getting points for going marginally over the limit and don't let the police past if you don't think it is safe to do so. Our members don't. We are always straight out of the way for ambulances and fire engines because we admire the sterling work they do.

Capt Gatso is a family man from north London. He's in his 40s, a professional he owns a BMW M3 and is a keen motorcyclist. He said: Most of the organising group are just ordinary blokes with families who are sick of us heading towards a police state. He added that the group's members were all good drivers, most have a professional driving qualification or ride powerful motorbikes on a regular basis and their aims are to encourage the partnerships to clamp down on speeding in built-up areas and near to schools and hospitals. Capt Gatso, the motorists' friend, said: What we ultimately want to see is all the UK camera partnerships dissolved into a central ticket office which only concentrates on serious and serial offenders. Each case should be treated as a proper crime and properly investigated. We should be stopping the idiots who get behind the wheel of a car who will speed anywhere but won't get caught if they avoid main roads and motorways. We want to see a higher police presence of trained officers patrolling the roads and put Britain back at the top of the road safety league where it was before the introduction of these infernal cameras.

Good for them!  I wonder what they mean in the article about not getting rid of them on high streets?

[Pat McCotter]

Good for them!  I wonder what they mean in the article about not getting rid of them on high streets?

High streets in Britain are the equivalent of Main streets in America. They are the principal retail district of a city/town.

[Pat McCotter]

Another thing to know about British articles referring to toads is the A- and M-road designations. The A-roads are like our US highways and the M-roads are like our Interstates.

Also, Gatso is a brand of speed camera.

[Raineyrocks]

Good for them!  I wonder what they mean in the article about not getting rid of them on high streets?

High streets in Britain are the equivalent of Main streets in America. They are the principal retail district of a city/town.

Oh okay, thanks!

Another thing to know about British articles referring to toads is the A- and M-road designations. The A-roads are like our US highways and the M-roads are like our Interstates.

Also, Gatso is a brand of speed camera.

Very interesting!

[Raineyrocks]

Wow, I just figured out how to split the quotes and comments!  All of this time I thought I had to put every quote up at the same time now I realize after I put 1 of Pat's up, then comment, then put Pat's 2nd one up and then comment!

It's going to be a great day for me, I hope!