Be warned if your, ahem, Speedo is inaccurate

[billinom8s]

They're issuing speed cameras to specials and volunteers who are setting up traps resulting from complaints from locals.

A38 motorist caught speeding at 109mph

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-ne ... ph-8596582

[Tvrv37]

Excellent! Do gooders in Hi Vis can now get you nicked!

[bkingalan]

The police bike in this area spends ALL his time with the camera

[ptolemyx]

When I read the article I thought it was about Special Constables being trained and using the equipment, not retired colonels and apoplectic grannies being given detection equipment on a willy nilly basis

[Jug]

When I read the article I thought it was about Special Constables being trained and using the equipment, not retired colonels and apoplectic grannies being given detection equipment on a willy nilly basis

That's the way I read it too.
As far as I was aware Joe public cannot be used to issue speeding tickets.

[billinom8s]

i thought it was just the journo was a bit old and couldn't remember the term PCSO, either way, the civvies are out there using (non)calibrated tools to get you nicked it would seem.

[TLS-Moose]

i thought it was just the journo was a bit old and couldn't remember the term PCSO, either way, the civvies are out there using (non)calibrated tools to get you nicked it would seem.

PCSO's are full time employed members of the force, they just have slightly less powers than a full police officer.
Special Constables are a volunteer force (unpaid) with even more limited powers.

The article states they have trained the latter to use the latest "infrared/laser" cameras in day or night, and issue notices. This is no different to the camera van people, who have even less status than a special constable, but are paid.
Any equipment used in the prosecution of a speeding offence will have to be properly checked, calibrated and certified or the offence won't stand.

My frustration is they don't have, and can't afford, enough officers to keep on top of general crime with proper police officers which is why they have PCSO's and Specials but now they're taking them off those duties and using them in (suitably media spun but thinly disguised) revenue earning roles now the police get to keep a large proportion of the revenue earned from these fines.
The fundamental problem with accident rates is the concentration on "speed kills" rather than the general shite standard of driving the average motorist seems to possess.......

[Kata]

It's crap driving skills that kill.

[Scotty]

Down here in the New Forest there's a widespread 40 mph limit which I'd largely considered to be advisory - The roads are truly abysmally surfaced and in the Forest proper there are ponies & cattle wandering, plus pigs in places too. The livestock aren't bad, they're pretty steady, but deer can be an issue in the wooded areas due to their unpredictability, though only if the road surfaces are decent enough to permit progress to be made.
One day on my way home from work I'd taken a minor road to stay off the main A326 and the 30mph crawl along it. I was proceeding along a road with an absolute comedy surface - serious subsidence along a few km of it has rendered it laughably bad. I passed a blue Mondeo estate coming out of a side turning and it followed me along the road as I did a bit more than 40, before putting his blues on and giving me a tug. It resulted in nothing more than a mild bollocking and advice to stick to the limits. Fair enough. A couple of weeks later I was a little further down the road when I saw the Daily Mail-reading pensioners in their yellow vests pointing their (uncalibrated?) speed gun at me as I approached."I'm all right" I thought, "I'm only doing 40" before realising "Crap, the limit drops to 30 along here" and I noticed in my mirror as I'd passed that the gun-wielder pointed it at me again, probably to verify that I hadn't slowed down, and her fellow crone scribbled down my registration number. A few weeks later I received a written bollocking through the post, advising that any future indiscretions would likely result in a ticket. Needless to say I've kept a lid on it around that stretch since. I've since heard that the plod are making a big effort on speeding around the Beaulieu area (where there are a couple of long straight approaches, and they like to park camera vans where they can see traffic approaching from the best part of a km away).
I'd be interested to see what happens if the crumblies were to clock me again - they could pass my details to the plod, but without a photo or video it's just their word against mine, and is their equipment calibrated? Possibly not. Maybe all they can do is pass on details of vehicles and numbers to the plod who'll issue a warning, as they did, and if issues persist maybe members of the force (regulars, specials, PCSOs, who knows) will show up to nick people. Were I to get an NIP on the basis of crumblies I'd contest it and demand to see an in-date calibration cert, even if the offence was "Excessive speed" rather than a quantified value, it could still be over-ruled if the kit wasn't calibrated.Whether it'd be worth involving a solicitor (such as Dalton White) depends whether it was on the verge of totting-up reaching ban territory, questionable if it was £100 & 3 points on an otherwise clean licence.

[menzies3032]

The fundamental problem with accident rates is the concentration on "speed kills" rather than the general shite standard of driving the average motorist seems to possess.......

Could not agree with you more, when are they going to figure out that speed does not kill its lack of awareness. And get what if your not aware of what your doing on the road then if you drive quicker then your more likely to die.

Just because your driving quicker, if you have an adequate level of skill and correct level of awareness does not mean your going to die.

[ptolemyx]

Let's not kid ourselves. When an accident happens, regardless of why and how it happened, You are at greater risk of severe injury or fatality the faster you have been travelling.

By focusing on speed the powers that be are copping out, using speed reduction solely to reduce the total number of severe injuries and fatalities. They've given up on tackling the issue of reducing the rate of accidents in the first place by improving the ability of all road users. Since I started riding on the road in 1971 all they seem to have done in that direction is make it harder to get a bike licence. My impression is that the general standard of driving cars and vans has got far worse and the huge increase in traffic has made the roads more dangerous. Oh, and bikes are much faster...

[Scotty]

Let's not kid ourselves. When an accident happens, regardless of why and how it happened, You are at greater risk of severe injury or fatality the faster you have been travelling.

The big issue is found within the equation for Kinetic energy: KE=½ M.V²
In longhand, Kinetic Energy = half the product of (Mass multiplied by the Square of the Velocity) Basically the relationship between speed and kinetic energy isn't linear, it's exponential. Double your speed and you have four times the kinetic energy, and four times the braking distance. When you collide with something at double the speed, your body has to dissipate four times the energy and if the object collided with is solid it won't end well.

[Kata]

If it's an exponential relationship to Velocity and Mass only a multiplier, then eating a few more pies won't make a difference. Good to know.

[billinom8s]

it's not the slide that is the real issue, it's the things you hit during the slide and the (generally) very solid thing you hit to end the slide, that's what does the real damage.