Private Cameras acoming...

Sizzler

Ahem, might as get this line out of the way now as it never ceases the amount of Mother Teresa's on this thread who love to post "if you don't speed you won't have to worry about it" :rolleyes:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/signs-to-warn-motorists-of-new-mobile-speed-cameras-2388839.html?from=dailynews

wrote:

LOCAL councils are to put up hundreds of signs across the country to alert drivers where the new network of mobile speed cameras will be located.

But the camera vans will move from location to location every couple of hours, so speeding drivers won't know the exact spot where they are likely to be caught breaking the law.

Thousands of speeding motorists face the prospect of being caught on camera from next month when the new system goes live.

Assistant Garda Commissioner John Twomey said yesterday that up to 1,500 roads across the country were being designated as speed enforcement zones as part of the roll-out of the mobile speed camera network.

Private company the GoSafe consortium will provide 6,000 hours of filming by the cameras every month, and the system will go live in November. But each zone will have a sign erected to warn motorists they face the prospect of being caught.

Hundreds of roads will be clearly identified as a location where the cameras may be located, and the list will also be available on the garda website.

"An analysis of data over five years shows the locations where speeding is a problem," Assistant Commissioner Twomey said.

"The cameras will be there at times and days when the accidents are happening. The sole reason for this is to keep people alive, and the best way to do that is to slow people down.

"They'll be rolled out in the third or fourth week of November. It's important the message goes out that this is in addition to the existing cameras we have. These will be visible. There will be no shock or surprise. You won't just see a flash, they will be clearly marked.

"Road signs will be erected at roadsides to inform drivers they are entering a speed enforcement zone.

Zones

"There's no excuse, you're being told to slow down. We'll tell you the location, but not the time or date (when the cameras will be there)."

GoSafe will be given a list every month of the locations where gardai want the units deployed. They will also be obliged to carry out surveys to find stretches of road where 85pc of vehicles drive above the speed limit. These areas will be added to the list of speed enforcement zones.

The cameras are operational 365 days of the year, and there will be a special focus at night-time and over the weekends when the most fatal and serious incidents occur.

Countries where mobile cameras have been deployed have seen a 50pc increase in compliance rates.

The commissioner insisted that the cameras were not a revenue-raising exercise, and that the GoSafe consortium was being paid by the hour.

"We're talking about saving lives. It's not a revenue gathering exercise. We want people to look at the website. We want to change behaviour and for people to stay alive."

The new cameras will be augmented by more than 100 garda vehicles which are already in place and the new traffic corps vehicles which were put into operation last year.

The sad thing here is its quiet obvious that within a week of 'go live' we know there will be examples of these vans in situ in blatant revenue generating areas, road safety will not be primary. Of course I stand to be corrected but this is Ireland.