Was I Caught?

DMC

The other night was was travelling on the N3 going for Kells, when I came upto where I know there is a fixed speed camera. As I was just just touching 60 before it, I eased up a wee bit. Out of nowhere, a northern reg-ed Vauxhall overtook me, as I was going across the white markings on the road for the speed camera. As I was doing 58mph (according to my speedo) and as he was passing me out, the fecking camera flashed twice.

He travelled on into the night, whereas I am left to wonder....
Who did it flash for? Did it get me? As I was doing under 60mph, he had to have been doing more... so did it flash for him? If I get a fine in the post, should I contest? Have I grounds?

ondafly

its meant to flash twice - and the photos will show you being passed out, so i wouldn't worry about it. If you do have any trouble from it - I don't really know what to say.


read this though

(Irish Independent)

ONLY three fixed speed cameras are working in the entire country, despite a government promise five years ago to instal them countrywide.

While there are 20 fixed speed units - boxes erected at roadsides in Dublin, Louth and Meath - they only ever contain three working cameras. That means that each day 17 units have no cameras inside.

Gardai rotate the cameras between the units, it was confirmed yesterday by the Garda and Justice Minister.

This means that speeding motorists, unaware of which boxes have a camera and which are empty, have a three-in-20 chance of being caught.

It is understood gardai remove the cameras from the units regularly and put them into three others.

A garda source said: "There are only three ever working at one time. But motorists don't know which ones are working."

Last night the revelation was greeted with deep disappointment.

Fine Gael transport spokesman Denis Naughten said the news was "shocking". And the Automobile Association feared it would lead to more drivers taking more chances. Its public affairs spokesman Conor Faughnan told the Irish Independent: "If you don't have credibility among drivers then you are crying 'wolf'."

The Garda Press Office said that gardai operate a range of speed detection equipment in the form of laser and radar devices, in car and motorcycle detection cameras as well as unmarked mobile speeding units called Gatso vans. They also operate a programme involving three fixed speed cameras rotated around 20 sites in the Louth-Meath and Dublin Metropolitan regions.

A Department of Transport spokesman said the fixed camera units were on the N1, N2, N3, N4 and M50. The whole issue of fixed cameras was the subject of a study which had gone to the Government's high level group on road safety. Based on its recommendations a decision would be taken as to whether to extend the fixed system or to continue a mixed enforcement strategy involving mobile and fixed units.

Mr Naughten, who obtained the information about the missing cameras, described the disclosure as "shocking".

"How on earth can the Government claim to be enforcing the penalty points system and reducing road deaths?" he asked. "There are only 20 speed camera boxes and all are in counties Dublin, Louth and Meath. It proves that the Government's promise to extend speed cameras across the country was another empty commitment to the Irish public."

"This is a typical example of the Government's failure to address the ongoing carnage on our roads," said the Fine Gael deputy.

"This is another example of where new laws, minus no enforcement, equals no law." He said research in other countries has shown clearly there was a need to increase the level of enforcement of a penalty points system in order to have a long term impact on driver attitudes and accident statistics. Garda manpower has been affected because of Government cuts, Mr Naughten claimed.

"When you add this to the problem of bureaucracy in the penalty points system, and with the failure to roll out fixed speed cameras across the country, it's no wonder that the carnage on our roads is increasing."

According to the Peter Bacon report on road safety, for every €1 spent on road safety and enforcement, a total of €8 will be saved in reducing road accidents.

BrianD3

The fixed cameras are supposed to flash twice. Two pictures are taken and the time delay between the pics is known. The cops examine the pics and can tell the distance you travelled in this time interval by looking at the position of your car relative to those lines you see marked on the road. Your speed can then be calculated (distance/time)

Obviously, since you were doing under the speed limit, it was the other guy who triggered the camera. You were just an "innocent bystander". Both cars will probably appear in the photos but you won't be done for speeding because using the calculation I described, the cops will determine that you weren't speeding and that it was the other guy who triggered the camera.

So relax

BrianD3

DMC

Nice one, guys, thanks!

Chimaera

"How on earth can the Government claim to be enforcing the penalty points system and reducing road deaths?" he asked. "There are only 20 speed camera boxes and all are in counties Dublin, Louth and Meath. It proves that the Government's promise to extend speed cameras across the country was another empty commitment to the Irish public."

"This is a typical example of the Government's failure to address the ongoing carnage on our roads," said the Fine Gael deputy.

Once again, people are jumping on the speeding bandwagon when it comes to reducing road deaths. I'd like to know when they're going to place cameras at bad bends to catch the idiots who overtake on them and cause far more carnage. They'd also do well to enforce urban and suburban limits before addressing motorways and national routes - roads where the accident rate has been shown time and again to be far lower than for any other type of road.

STaN

Do the non-camera'd fixed sites flash if they detect you speeding?

I was doing 75 or so in a 70 zone, i hope they won't notice

Victor

Originally posted by Chimaera
They'd also do well to enforce urban and suburban limits before addressing motorways and national routes - roads where the accident rate has been shown time and again to be far lower than for any other type of road.

Dublin City Council area in particular, already has a very low rate (but still too high, by my reckoning) 14 in 495,000 people (national 411 in 3,917,000) in 2001 - about a quarter of the national average.

Overall the national death toll for May 2003 (at 12/5/2003) has already reached the total death toll for May 2002.

Guy:Incognito

as far as i can tell from experience they flash anyway, technically ive been caught speedind 3 times ( once in my own car and twice in my dads) but only got 1 fne. the 2 i didnt get fines for i istinctely remember getting caught ( outside the spa hotel in lucan coming home from mullingar at around 2am and heading for the airport around the same time) on both occasions i was the only car on the road within seeing distance so it had to be me that was being caught. the 3rd time i was caught by a guard and his gun on the tallaght bypass

ButcherOfNog

na, you won't get pulled, same happened to me coming into dundalk on the newry road, some northern eejit tore past me and the camera went off. i never heard anything bout it.