Speed trap van on the R759

WestWicklow1

I know the Wicklow hills like the back of my hand. I have been riding them for a long, long time, sometimes every day in the Summer, certainly 3-4 times every week. I have never seen a speed trap van on the lesser roads EVER.

Today, on the R759 heading from Sally Gap towards Manor Kilbride I came across one. Nobody in the cab so I took it he was working. I took evasive action because I knew I had been 1 or 2 kms over the limit!!

But, tell me, when did this start on such roads?

Here's where it was...

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.1493666,-6.328801,3a,75y,303.51h,79.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqjwXhhFQYsYB9l07I6lEDQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

shaveAbullock

I was going to say that there is no way that location is on the gosafe map. But it actually is!

https://www.garda.ie/gosafe.html

WestWicklow1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

I was going to say that there is no way that location is on the gosafe map. But it actually is!

https://www.garda.ie/gosafe.html

I see it now. Thanks for that.

shaveAbullock

Is there many people driving up there at the moment?
It's more of a sunday drive or tourist location which isn't possible for people right now.

WestWicklow1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Is there many people driving up there at the moment?
It's more of a sunday drive or tourist location which isn't possible for people right now.

No very, very few.

shaveAbullock

Makes it even more odd to pay some lad to sit in a van then.

enrique66_35

A cynic would say they're getting a double whammy - speeding fine and possible Covid-19 restriction fine to follow....

listermint

well there must be some accident evidence to warrant it being there. I know the road well and can imagine there would be collisions on it

Pkiernan

WestWicklow1 wrote: »

..

But, tell me, when did this start on such roads?

Here's where it was...

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.1493666,-6.328801,3a,75y,303.51h,79.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqjwXhhFQYsYB9l07I6lEDQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Maybe started when bikers started speeding there?

BronsonTB

They have changed gosafe vans locations everywhere. It's good they change it up a bit, everyone got use to where they were.

Might not be high traffic in a given spot but if they do catch more speeders, job done... Not all locations are about the money (even though most are)
Some do actually get people to slow down.

dkd21

If you click on the road on the GoSafe locations map it gives fatal and minor collisions for that stretch of road. What constitutes a ''minor collision ''I am unsure . I do remember the fatal collision there at the Sean Kelly bridge is going back quite a number of years

shaveAbullock

enrique66_35 wrote: »

A cynic would say they're getting a double whammy - speeding fine and possible Covid-19 restriction fine to follow....

There is no Covid-19 restriction fixed penaulty. It would take a court case from the Guards with full evidence. A picture from a gosafe van would not be enough.

WestWicklow1

Pkiernan wrote: »

Maybe started when bikers started speeding there?

Nope. There was no such thing as speed traps when road users started speeding there.

castle2012

The go safe vans are certainly not an essential service and should be made come off the road. Set an example

shaveAbullock

Pkiernan wrote: »

Maybe started when bikers started speeding there?

It's a tempting place to speed for all kinds of vehicles.
You can see around most corners so this can lead to overconfidence.

BronsonTB

castle2012 wrote: »

The go safe vans are certainly not an essential service and should be made come off the road. Set an example

They can adhere to social distancing & work in isolation.

They help maintain the rule of law so would deemed essential service.
(The garda have enough to do without adding this to there role if all these vans were removed from everywhere!)

Panjandrums

castle2012 wrote: »

The go safe vans are certainly not an essential service and should be made come off the road. Set an example

How is saving lives not an essential services?

I think the vast majority of people understand what would happen if it was reported that these vans were taken off the road.

shaveAbullock

Regardless of what anyone thinks of gosafe vans.
I don't see how it could be claimed that continuing to deploy the vans would lead to any increased spread of hte virus.

castle2012

Panjandrums wrote: »

How is saving lives not an essential services?

I think the vast majority of people understand what would happen if it was reported that these vans were taken off the road.

Really? With so many off work because of coronavirus. So let's all rush out and speed. I would accept garda, emergency services etc. But not a privately operated company.

shaveAbullock

castle2012 wrote: »

Really? With so many off work because of coronavirus. So let's all rush out and speed. I would accept garda, emergency services etc. But not a privately operated company.

Look at the garda traffic twitter. There is no shortage of people speeding and it would be even worse if there were no speed checks.

Less traffic on the roads seems to give some the impression that speeding is now safer

blade1

Had to laugh this morning at the one that recently started over the road from me.
Orange flashing lights on top of the van.

shaveAbullock

blade1 wrote: »

Had to laugh this morning at the one that recently started over the road from me.
Orange flashing lights on top of the van.

Really? That would probably fool me, I'd expect it to be a maintenance van.

blade1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Really? That would probably fool me, I'd expect it to be a maintenance van.

Easily fooled so.

Maintaining what?

shaveAbullock

blade1 wrote: »

Easily fooled so.

Maintaining what?

Electric, gas, internet ect......
A maintenance van on the side of the road is far more common than a gosafe van.

blade1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Electric, gas, internet ect......
A maintenance van on the side of the road is far more common than a gosafe van.

Never in my 48 years passing was there a maintenance van there.
At 6:30 where the gosafe van parks.

Oh so he was undercover to catch the easily fooled like yourself. :pac:

martingriff

Ya the amount speeding and getting caught with no tax or insurance is nuts. Do people not know checkpoints are all over the shop. If I ever have to go out I find myself going a few km slower and a longer route just so i can spend less time indoors

shaveAbullock

blade1 wrote: »

Never in my 48 years passing was there a maintenance van there.
At 6:30 where the gosafe van parks.

Oh so he was undercover to catch the easily fooled like yourself. :pac:

Would most passing cars know about this 48 years of history?

Anyone who drives even semi frequently will encounter far more maintenance vans compared to gosafe vans.
In recent years a van with no amber lights parked on the side of the road is more suspicious than one that has them.

blade1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Would most passing cars know about this 48 years of history?

Anyone who drives even semi frequently will encounter far more maintenance vans compared to gosafe vans.

Passing cars are mostly ones going to work so they'd have some bit of history yeah.
Anyone that drives this road semi frequently should be fairly sure it was a gosafe van.
I must have super powers, knew it was the go safe van straight away.

PCeeeee

martingriff wrote: »

Ya the amount speeding and getting caught with no tax or insurance is nuts. Do people not know checkpoints are all over the shop. If I ever have to go out I find myself going a few km slower and a longer route just so i can spend less time indoors

Them are the boys to whom laws don't apply. They're at it with years, have rakes of convictions and don't give a fk. They're out wholesale now cos lockdown doesn't apply to them and they no longer have the cover afforded by the rest of us going about our business.

shaveAbullock

PCeeeee wrote: »

Them are the boys to whom laws don't apply. They're at it with years, have rakes of convictions and don't give a fk. They're out wholesale now cos lockdown doesn't apply to them and they no longer have the cover afforded by the rest of us going about our business.

The annoying thing is that they probably won't pay the fines but may eventually jailed for this. However it's a small non violent crime so most will be processed and out of prison in 6 hours with a free bus ticket home.
They can buy another car for very little money and be driving again the day after being caught.

Even if some of their cars are confiscated, over the years they will save a significant amount of money over anyone who does it by the book.

PCeeeee

shaveAbullock wrote: »

The annoying thing is that they probably won't pay the fines but may eventually jailed for this. However it's a small non violent crime so most will be processed and out of prison in 6 hours with a free bus ticket home.
They can buy another car for very little money and be driving again the day after being caught.

Even if some of their cars are confiscated, over the years they will save a significant amount of money over anyone who does it by the book.

Spot on. Fines do not apply either. They're only for people who mind doing a few days inside. Look at the number of serious criminals in the paper who have avoided serious convictions until they're caught for somthing right. Many of them have an extraordinary amount of 'traffic' convictions.

WestWicklow1

Ok, to get this back on topic....

You come across that particular van. You realise 100 meters from it that it is a speed trap van and you know you were probably breaking the speed limit so you stop. The front of the van is facing you on the other side of the road. You're stopped on your side of the road on a motorcycle.

What would you do next to avoid points and a speeding fine? Is stopping for a couple of minutes enough before continuing on your way?

shaveAbullock

WestWicklow1 wrote: »

Ok, to get this back on topic....

You come across that particular van. You realise 100 meters from it that it is a speed trap van and you know you were probably breaking the speed limit so you stop. The front of the van is facing you on the other side of the road. You're stopped on your side of the road on a motorcycle.

What would you do next to avoid points and a speeding fine? Is stopping for a couple of minutes enough before continuing on your way?

No point stopping at all. The radar will be focused on a particular point on the road you are either above or below the speed limit when you cross that point. The front of the van has nothing to detect speed. I would think the camera on the front that can get the plate of the bike no matter how long you wait.

maybe if you wait for him to go home.....

blade1

WestWicklow1 wrote: »

Ok, to get this back on topic....

You come across that particular van. You realise 100 meters from it that it is a speed trap van and you know you were probably breaking the speed limit so you stop. The front of the van is facing you on the other side of the road. You're stopped on your side of the road on a motorcycle.

What would you do next to avoid points and a speeding fine? Is stopping for a couple of minutes enough before continuing on your way?

You slow down before you get to it.

shaveAbullock

blade1 wrote: »

You slow down before you get to it.

Really? would that work? :pac:

blade1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Really? would that work? :pac:

It wouldn't work for you because you'd be after assuming it's a maintenance van.

shaveAbullock

blade1 wrote: »

It wouldn't work for you because you'd be after assuming it's a maintenance van.

Not if it forgot to turn its amber lights on though.

PCeeeee

blade1 wrote: »

You slow down before you get to it.

:pac:

blade1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Not if it forgot to turn its amber lights on though.

That would be stealth mode to you :pac:

WestWicklow1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

The front of the van has nothing to detect speed.

Can anyone else verify this for sure?

Panjandrums

WestWicklow1 wrote: »

Can anyone else verify this for sure?

Sure even if it did, what's done is done.

I'm surprised someone hasnt come out and asked why were you out on the road on a motorcycle during a lockdown.

shaveAbullock

WestWicklow1 wrote: »

Can anyone else verify this for sure?

I can



It's fairly obvious that the equipment for detecting speed is fairly sizeable and you can see it out the back window. There is nothing like that on the front side of the van


This is a very long thread but there is loads of info here too on how it works.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin//showthread.php?t=2056091811

WestWicklow1

WestWicklow1 wrote: »

Can anyone else verify this for sure?

shaveAbullock wrote: »

I can

You're not "anyone else".

shaveAbullock

I guess so but at least I can verify it beyond doubt. Especially with the info in the thread I linked to.

WestWicklow1

shaveAbullock wrote: »

I guess so but at least I can verify it beyond doubt. Especially with the info in the thread I linked to.

Very big thread. Any idea where in the thread it's mentioned?

shaveAbullock

WestWicklow1 wrote: »

Very big thread. Any idea where in the thread it's mentioned?

Well the first post might help.

How do they work?

In a nutshell there is a person inside viewing a camera. The camera is linked to a radar system and based on this radar system they can work out a vehicles speed. The system can work with the car going towards and away from the rear doors. They cannot work while the vehicle is in motion.

There is some really interesting info hidden in there too but since I read it years ago I have no idea what pages that would be on.

This other thread may give you more of what you are looking for and even has info on how far away they can catch people from. It's surprising how close you have to be but that is the trade off of a system designed to catch people across several lanes.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057633648&page=1

Also this is a good video if you want a visual idea of range.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=40&v=eRS7ev_efxc&feature=emb_title


There are many pictures online if you want to see what equipment they have in the back.
You will never see that equipment in the front, there is no room to set it up.

Ohio9

Panjandrums wrote: »

How is saving lives not an essential services?

I think the vast majority of people understand what would happen if it was reported that these vans were taken off the road.

Public transport is much safer then motorbikes. If all motorbikes were banned then all the yearly deaths from motorbike accidents would be reduced to 0. Motorbikes are not essential transport, everywhere you can use a motorbike, you can also use a car or public transport.

Many major chinese cities banned all motorbike travel and they are flourishing.

So to save lives, I recommend to ban motorbikes because I can guarantee you that it would save many lives. China proves that it can be done, even in massive cities with populations of many millions they do well without any bikes. Use a bus or a car as last resort.

shaveAbullock

Some cities in China banned them because it's considered a sign of poverty. They have tier levels for city where appearances are one of the big factors.
Now look at how horrific their traffic jams are because of banning 2 scooters and motorbikes.

Ohio9

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Some cities in China banned them because it's considered a sign of poverty. They have tier levels for city where appearances are one of the big factors.
Now look at how horrific their traffic jams are because of banning 2 scooters and motorbikes.

Doesn't matter, using China as an example that it works. One city in China has many times the population of all of Ireland. There are very few bikes in Ireland and even fewer commuters, the difference would be negligible but many lives would be saved.

shaveAbullock

Ohio9 wrote: »

Doesn't matter, using China as an example that it works. One city in China has many times the population of all of Ireland. There are very few bikes in Ireland and even fewer commuters, the difference would be negligible but many lives would be saved.

Ok so we start to apply Chinese policy to roads here and then fatality rates jump by more than 4 times(per capita) to match Chinese rates.
It could be a difficult sell but you have piqued my interest.

Ohio9

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Ok so we start to apply Chinese policy to roads here and then fatality rates jump by more than 4 times(per capita) to match Chinese rates.
It could be a difficult sell but you have piqued my interest.

What are you talking about? I'm talking about banning motorbikes. The fatalities would increase by 4 times automatically as soon as motorbikes are banned? Your post makes no sense.

Whatever the case, it's all about saving lives. Just like with covid 19. Millions stay at home to save lives, even with massive economic downturn. A minor inconvenience of not being able to use a bike would outweigh the lives saved.