Woo Hoo: Speed cameras plan may face cost delay

Seth Brundle

Speed cameras plan may face cost delay

20/05/2009 - 18:11:36

The roll-out of speed cameras across the state may be delayed to save costs, politicians warned today.

The Garda’s Policing Plan for 2009 vowed to put the roadside technology in place by the second half of the year and a Co Kerry firm was awarded the tender.

However Fine Gael said in the Dáil that the Government may have long-fingered the speed camera network to save money – even though the number of road deaths is rising.

Fine Gael TD Jimmy Deenihan tried to raise the issue in the Dáil but was ruled out of order.

“Will the Taoiseach confirm whether the scheme is postponed or abandoned?” he asked.

“It is a very important issue. People are being killed on the roads,” he said.

“These cameras were supposed to be the great deterrent for motorists who speed,” he said.

Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said: “Earlier in the year, the number of road deaths was down 20% on the corresponding period last year.

“Now, however, road deaths are at the same level as 2008.”

He also claimed cutbacks in overtime in the Garda Traffic Corps were impacting on the enforcement of offences on roads.

And he called for the mandatory testing of people at the scene of accidents.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen did not reply to the specific questions raised but confirmed a new Road Traffic Bill would be introduced in the Dáil before the summer recess.

Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue called on Fine Gael to raise road traffic issues with the Minister for Transport.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/text/ireland/eykfkfgbkfau/

As a serial speeder (who has never caused an accident, etc.), I'm delighted!

eringobragh

Excellent news - Que the cycling fanatic to wreck this thread :pac:

Well I've always been off the opinion they just don't work. I'm in Australia at the moment and the place is littered with the feckin things. BUT they usually have a sign a few hundred metres before the cams and everyone seems to know where they are anyway and it results in accordian traffic syndrome - everyone drops for the speedcam and speeds up again

Even the car I rented the Sat Nav had speedcamera POIs must have detected at least 8 on a 250km journey which was VERY handy.

eringobragh

Anyone know the kerry firm who won the tender: I guess the spectra group consortium didn't win it.

cyclopath2001

eringobragh wrote: »

Excellent news - Que the cycling fanatic to wreck this thread :pac:

Well I've always been off the opinion they just don't work.
.

I agree with you. GPS-based monitoring is the way to go. Much nore effective as it can operate on the smaller, riskier roads and gives a more comprehensive record of a driver's behaviour, resulting in fairer policing, rather than fining someone for a momentary lapse.

eringobragh

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

I agree with you. GPS-based monitoring is the way to go. Much nore effective as it can operate on the smaller, riskier roads and gives a more comprehensive record of a driver's behaviour, resulting in fairer policing, rather than fining someone for a momentary lapse.

On the ball as always..........

I'd imagine it would be unfeasible to fit in every car in the country but hey i'd be all for it over the speed cameras any day of the week as its easily defeated by a $40 jammer

Anyhow the future for GPS looks bleak

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/21/gao_predicts_gps_failure/

Blanchguy

Consortium was Spectra (who are from kerry), electroautomation, Redflex (aussie speed camera makers) and Egis - French company that operate the port tunnel.

eringobragh

Blanchguy wrote: »

Consortium was Spectra (who are from kerry), electroautomation, Redflex (aussie speed camera makers) and Egis - French company that operate the port tunnel.

Cheers for that

cyclopath2001

eringobragh wrote: »

I'd imagine it would be unfeasible to fit in every car in the country

Start by making it optional in return for steep insurance discounts, while raising insurance for refuseniks.

eringobragh wrote: »

but hey i'd be all for it over the speed cameras any day of the week as its easily defeated by a $40 jammer

Spot checks & a lifetime driving ban whould sort that out.

eringobragh wrote: »

Anyhow the future for GPS looks bleak

That's certainly a worst-case scenario, but GPS is too useful to allow fail.

Anan1

eringobragh wrote: »

Excellent news - Que the cycling fanatic to wreck this thread :pac:

Differing opinions don't 'wreck' threads, on the contrary they encourage debate. Let's play the ball not the man, eh?:)

eringobragh

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Start by making it optional in return for steep insurance discounts, while raising insurance for refuseniks.

Spot checks & a lifetime driving ban whould sort that out.

That's certainly a worst-case scenario, but GPS is too useful to allow fail.

^

A little too '1984' for my liking:

How about punishing offenders by sending them to room 101

eringobragh

Anan1 wrote: »

Differing opinions don't 'wreck' threads, on the contrary they encourage debate. Let's play the ball not the man, eh?:)

LOL True Life would be boring if everyone thought the same

anyway Motors sure would be a dull place without him :rolleyes:

Anan1

eringobragh wrote: »

LOL True Life would be boring if everyone thought the same

anyway Motors sure would be a dull place without him :rolleyes:

Do you think I want a speed limiter in my car?:D

That said, I think we all have to accept that speed limiters would save lives. What we basically have here is a personal freedom vs safety of the community debate - I happen to agree with you, but i'm sure i'd change my tune if my friend or relative were killed in an accident that a speed limiter would have prevented.

E39MSport

kbannon wrote: »

http://www.breakingnews.ie/text/ireland/eykfkfgbkfau/

As a serial speeder (who has never caused an accident, etc.), I'm delighted!

A moderator who 'serially' breaks the law of the land?

Anan1

E39MSport wrote: »

A moderator who 'serially' breaks the law of the land?

Not one, but two.;)

E39MSport

missed that - dammit

Mossy Monk

E39MSport wrote: »

A moderator who 'serially' breaks the law of the land?

Strip him of his moderatorship post haste

Saab Ed

This is the best morning ever ....It was always going to happen. FF being as dumb as as they are are sawing the bo**ox out of funding for everything ,even the stuff that might have made them money.:D Great news

unkel

How can not implementing it save money? Surely the government would award the license to a private firm (based on best tender as in percentage of the revenue that the government gets). The private firm will implement and operate the system and pay the government their monthly stake? This doesn't cost the tax payer anything - quite on the contrary!

Hopefully it will be forgotten about or they will keep putting it off. If they do put in speed cameras I wish they would use fixed ones as its easy to remember where they are and we can just slow down and speed up again.

It would be a sad day for driving if any form of nanny state GPS speed monitoring was introduced.

E39MSport

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Strip him of his moderatorship post haste

I know, I know. Was hanging.

AugustusMaximus

I think we should start by installing devices on all bicycles so that cyclists are automatically fined every time they run a red light.


And since when are road deaths on the rise. That is completely bull****.

Sandwich

Crumbs.

bushy...

These have got smaller and more clever , won't be long before something similar ends up in cars :






http://www.digital-tachograph.com/document.php?id=31

cashmni1

The cost to the gov is probably admin cost, research and development, project managers and some more good old top heavy expenses that usually come with any gov project launched.
I think that the current bunch in Dail Eireann could give lectures in inefficiency to the rest of the Europe.
As said before, contract out the work with the usual (private sector) contract rules and it costs the taxpayer very little. But alas, this is not the place to dwell on such matters of the Gov.
I'm just delighted as one of the serial offenders that this will not be forced upon us - for the time being anyway.

Del2005

Anan1 wrote: »

Do you think I want a speed limiter in my car?:D

That said, I think we all have to accept that speed limiters would save lives. What we basically have here is a personal freedom vs safety of the community debate - I happen to agree with you, but i'm sure i'd change my tune if my friend or relative were killed in an accident that a speed limiter would have prevented.

I think mandatory speed limiters based on GPS could be more dangerous. People will just drive with the foot to the floor and not pay attention to the road conditions as they aren't breaking the limit and will think they are the safest people on the road.

Seth Brundle

E39MSport wrote: »

A moderator who 'serially' breaks the law of the land?

What is your point? How has me being a moderator got anything to do with me obeying the law or not?
Incidentally, how frequently do you speed?

cyclopath2001

Romeo Cool Recipe wrote: »

It would be a sad day for driving if any form of nanny state GPS speed monitoring was introduced.

The true sadness is that of the people whose lives are ruined by the antics of speeding drivers. Motorists have brought this possibility upon themselves.

AugustusMaximus wrote:

I think we should start by installing devices on all bicycles so that cyclists are automatically fined every time they run a red light.

Explain why this should be a higher priority?

del2005 wrote:

I think mandatory speed limiters based on GPS could be more dangerous.

I'm not sure if this is proposed by anyone. Monitoring should be enough to weed out the persistent law-breakers. Indeed, it might be sufficient just to record in a black box, without reporting or automatic fines. The knowledge that the data could be extracted in the event of an incident might be enough incentive to get motorists to control their behaviour.

Seth Brundle

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

The true sadness is that of the people whose lives are ruined by the antics of speeding drivers. Motorists have brought this possibility upon themselves.

You are confusing speeding with driving at an inappropriate speed methinks!

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is proposed by anyone. Monitoring should be enough to weed out the persistent law-breakers. Indeed, it might be sufficient just to record in a black box, without reporting or automatic fines. The knowledge that the data could be extracted in the event of an incident might be enough incentive to get motorists to control their behaviour.

Suggesting that previous history could dictate whether someone is guilty of a particular offence?

AugustusMaximus

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Explain why this should be a higher priority?

Because it might soften your cough somewhat.



7% of road deaths are caused by speeding. 90% of cyclists in my expierience run red lights. I've witnessed one person getting knocked down running a red light another close one. I have yet to witness a car accident and obviously never a car accident therefore in relation to excessive speed for the situation at hand.

bladebrew

what happened to the fixed speed camera on the r129/r127 the dual carriage way just beyond blakes cross on the way to dublin,why would they just take it away??

L1011

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Spot checks & a lifetime driving ban whould sort that out.

Spot checks how, exactly? Guard stops driver, driver deactivates jammer. Guard has no court order on him to check log from his tracker and no ability to show that there is a jammer anywhere near him. Unlike cheap radar detectors, even the cheapest GPS jammer is going to be completely concealable.

Also, the abysmal state of GPS mapping in Ireland means any such system is literally science fiction at the moment. Many of the most dangerous roads in the country are unmapped or appear as speed unlimited / 98km/h (old NSL) on the latest available maps, while new motorways often appear at 100km/h or just don't appear at all.

towel401

bushy... wrote: »

These have got smaller and more clever , won't be long before something similar ends up in cars :






http://www.digital-tachograph.com/document.php?id=31

that would be alright, they don't take any control away from the driver so i cant really complain. much less invasive than any GPS based system or speed limiters