Has anyone else noticed...

Ave Sodalis

That speed vans seem to always be behind speed zone signs coming into towns and never in accident blackspots? We have multiple accident blackspots in the area and I've never seen a speedvan in a single one. Any time I have seen one, it's sitting waiting to catch people who don't slam on the brakes at a change in speed limit.
Maybe it's a country wide thing, maybe it's just in my locality but I had thought the point of speed vans were to save lives, not make as much money as possible. I would have thought that, in a county with as high an accident rate as us, there would be more emphasis on targetting the areas where there's repeated accidents.
Now I know this is ancedotal, but knowing someone who has been driving twenty years without an accident and has points because of this and also knowing people who have died in speed related accidents in a spot that has claimed several lives but never seems to have a van near it, it's just frustrating and stinks of greed.

NIMAN

Can't agree, might be just your locality.

Our speed vans are always in the same spots, and not hidden. Along the same stretch of road, and never in new places.

Probably not the best tactic to combat speeding, as you learn where they will be and can speed outside of these locations (if you are that way inclined).

ednwireland

NIMAN wrote: »

Probably not the best tactic to combat speeding, as you learn where they will be and can speed outside of these locations (if you are that way inclined).

its no about combating speeding its about raising revenue

alchemist33

The ones I see arent hidden but arent in black spots either. Usually on straight stretches where the speed limit is less than you'd expect e.g. the church in Termon or approaching Arena 7 from Ramelton (it's 60k here which is too slow for the road)

muffler

ednwireland wrote: »

its no about combating speeding its about raising revenue

I cant see how anyone could think that when the vans are very visible and even their locations are posted on the Garda website. They are primarily there to act as a deterrent and normally found at or near accident black spots.

If people drive within the legal speed limit how could they be raising revenue?

Ave Sodalis

muffler wrote:

They are primarily there to act as a deterrent and normally found at or near accident black spots.

I just noticed that that doesn't seem to be the case.

NIMAN

sup_dude wrote: »

I just noticed that that doesn't seem to be the case.

They are where I am.

And always at the same 2 spots, regular as clockwork. If you get caught by them you are stupid as they never move.

muffler

sup_dude wrote: »

I just noticed that that doesn't seem to be the case.

What part of the county are you referring to?

I know that on the Letterkenny to Lifford, Letterkenny to Ballybofey and the Stranorlar to Lifford roads and generally everywhere in that triangle they are always parked at the usual spots. So, in my neck of the woods, I havent noticed anything different.

And as stated above if anyone is foolish enough to exceed the legal speed limits then they deserve all they get which is normally a fine and a couple of points on the license.

Ave Sodalis

muffler wrote:

I know that on the Letterkenny to Lifford, Letterkenny to Ballybofey and the Stranorlar to Lifford roads and generally everywhere in that triangle they are always parked at the usual spots. So, in my neck of the woods, I havent noticed anything different.

Ah, I'm South Donegal

muffler wrote:

And as stated above if anyone is foolish enough to exceed the legal speed limits then they deserve all they get which is normally a fine and a couple of points on the license.

Absolutely, and this isn't an anti speed van thread. It's more of a "put the speed van where there's been deaths and a lot of accidents so they may save lives like they're meant to" thread.

muffler

sup_dude wrote: »

Absolutely, and this isn't an anti speed van thread. It's more of a "put the speed van where there's been deaths and a lot of accidents so they may save lives like they're meant to" thread.

If the vaans arent parked where they are supposed to be then maybe a letter to the local TD may (may not) get an explanation as to why they are being used other than for the purpose of being a deterrent.

From looking at the Garda website I see that there are now 355 new locations around the country so maybe that might solve the mystery.

Map showing locations of vans

Ave Sodalis

muffler wrote: »

If the vaans arent parked where they are supposed to be then maybe a letter to the local TD may (may not) get an explanation as to why they are being used other than for the purpose of being a deterrent.

From looking at the Garda website I see that there are now 355 new locations around the country so maybe that might solve the mystery.

Map showing locations of vans

I was going to see if anyone else has noticed this too, just in case in coincedience. I'd love to get a map of accidents, and line it up with a map of convictions, just to be sure.
The map in the link is great, but it seems to just show where they are supposed to be and not where they actually are.

0lordy

sup_dude wrote: »

Absolutely, and this isn't an anti speed van thread. It's more of a "put the speed van where there's been deaths and a lot of accidents so they may save lives like they're meant to" thread.

I don't think the location of the speed vans is the root cause of fatalities and blaming their location avoids the main issue which I think is the stupidity and recklessness of a lot of drivers.

buckfasterer

To be honest, instead of the speed vans, they'd have been better installing solid speed cameras like they have in the UK. If the idea is to get people to slow down, then learning where they are and going slower isn't a bad thing. It would have been a hell of a lot cheaper too instead of employing all these ex garda to sit on their arse in a van for hrs on end during the day.

Ave Sodalis

0lordy wrote:

I don't think the location of the speed vans is the root cause of fatalities and blaming their location avoids the main issue which I think is the stupidity and recklessness of a lot of drivers.

It most likely is, but if that's the case, why bother with the saving lives campaign at all?

muffler

buckfasterer wrote: »

To be honest, instead of the speed vans, they'd have been better installing solid speed cameras like they have in the UK. If the idea is to get people to slow down, then learning where they are and going slower isn't a bad thing. It would have been a hell of a lot cheaper too instead of employing all these ex garda to sit on their arse in a van for hrs on end during the day.

Couldnt agree more.

People all across the world must be laughing at the idea of these so called Gosafe vans.