Police have a new camera which can spot drivers using mobile phones or speeding nearly a mile away

Police have unveiled their new weapon – a camera that can produce clear images of people inside a car almost a mile away

The massive camera dubbed 'The Long Ranger' has been showcased at the launch of a pilot project called Operation Indemnis.

Police in Gloucester are using the camera to tackle various motoring offences including speeding, tailgating and using a mobile phone while driving. 

Previous Speed guns have been able to detect how fast cars travel but the new camera produces clear video footage and still photographs of the people inside them. 

Martin Surl, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire where the kit is being tested, said he hoped that it would catch people using their mobile phones.

What is the law on using a mobile phone while driving? 

•  It’s illegal to hold a phone or sat nav while driving or riding a motorcycle. Access must be hands free. 
• 6 penalty points and a £200 fine if you use a hand-held 
• You’ll also lose your licence if you passed your driving test in the last 2 years.

• The device must not block your view of the road and traffic ahead.
• You can get 3 penalty points 

• You must stay in full control of your vehicle at all times.
• You can get 3 penalty points

 Source: www.gov.uk

Officers will use the long-distance camera and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to check on what vehicles are on the roads and how they are being driven.

If the pilot is successful, it could be applied to any road in the county.

Source, to read more please visit  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Traffic warden photographed parking on double yellow lines

Workers in an industrial estate were left shocked after a traffic warden parked on double yellow lines before proceeding to check the parking of others. 

 

A passer by photographed the car after seeing a warden in uniform, with ticketing machine, get out and lock his car to begin his rounds.

The photographer joked: “We were wondering whether his was going to be the first ticket he issued or the last.”

He continued: “We could not believe it when he pulled up, got out of his car and walked off, presumably to do his rounds, bold as brass. The county council put double yellow lines all over the industrial estate because of the parking problems, yet it seems that doesn’t apply to traffic wardens. I guess that if you are the warden there is no one who is going to ticket you. We were just so struck by the irony. He was parked there for around three-quarters of an hour and then left. I don’t know whether he gave it up as a bad job or had a very lucrative trip. Either way he should have some questions to answer.”

The photo of the car was sent to Nottinghamshire County Council, to which Mr Gary Wood, of the highways team replied:

“Although we haven’t had a direct complaint made to the council, we have been made aware of a Civil Enforcement Officer parking on double yellow lines on Wednesday afternoon (of last week) along Brunel Drive, so will be following this up and carefully looking into the circumstances.

“While most Civil Enforce-ment Officer work is carried out on foot, occasionally a car is necessary so they are exempt from most parking restrictions while carrying out their duties.

“This includes double yellow lines, as alternative parking is not always practicably possible.”

For more on this story visit:

https://newarkadvertiser.co.uk/news/2018/03/03/traffic-warden-parks-on-double-yellow-lines

Mum makes fake road camera to tackle speeding cars

A mum has erected a fake speed camera because she was worried about the threat to her children's safety from speeding cars.

The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, told the BBC: "The speed limit here is 30mph but we have cars and lorries speeding through here all the time."

She added: "We looked at what people had done in other villages with the same problem and realised that if it's on private land it's not illegal."

Speed camera camouflaged as a bin could be coming to Britain

An innovative 'super speed camera' dubbed a car driver's worst nightmare could be making its way to Britain's roads after successful initial tests.

The speed camera created by Belgian company SecuRoad utilises infrared lights and can be hidden in different locations such as rubbish bins or vehicles.

The speed camera, named 'NK7', can be used without anyone operating it and will cost about €50,000 (£42,000).

The use infrared lights by the camera means that drivers do not notice if they are caught on camera. Whats more just one of the devices can simultaneously monitor three driving lanes in each direction.

Belgian authorities have already put the camera into active use and currently have 30 of them at their disposal. They hide them inside rubbish bins and put on the pavement next to a street where they want to enforce a speed limit.

Germany is said to have also started to use similar speed cameras, and Deerlijk-based SecuRoad has plans to use the devices in other countries in Western Europe.

Earlier this week it was revealed that British motorists face being stung with fines of up to £640 for speeding in Europe under a controversial change to EU law.

But European drivers caught breaking the limit in the UK will not be hit with the same penalties because of a difference in motoring laws in Britain.

Meanwhile drivers caught well over the speed limit from next week face a fine amounting to 150 per cent of their weekly earnings.

The higher fines came in to force yesterday and mean any motorists found guilty of the most serious speeding offences may have to cough-up one-and-a-half times their weekly pay to cover the cost of their excessive speeding.

 

For more images of the camera in use please visit the article Source BBC

Drunk electrician tried to cut down speed camera

An Electrician attempted to cut down a speed camera in Poole with a saw, a court has heard.

Stuart Langley was spotted sawing at the camera in Bournemouth Road by a police officer who was passing in a marked car shortly before 11pm on Wednesday, March 8.

The camera enforces a 30mph speed limit on the hill down into Ashley Cross.

Langley, of Harvest Close in Tilehurst, Reading, appeared at Poole Magistrates' Court on Friday to admit a single charge of causing criminal damage to the camera.

Prosecuting, Lee Turner said the police officer saw a red Mercedes van parked on the hill next to the camera.

"As he drives past, he sees a male standing by the speed camera holding a large object against the raised arm of the camera," Mr Turner said.

"It looks like he's sawing."

The man was seen putting something into the van as he was approached by the officer.

"He identifies himself as Mr Langley. The officer believes the defendant is drunk," Mr Turner said.

"The officer inspects the camera and can see saw marks on the metal strut of the camera in the same place he saw the sawing motion taking place.

"[The defendant] was clearly trying to cut down the arm of the camera."

Mitigating, Holly Huxtable said: "The saw used, on Mr Langley's own admission, would not have managed to bring something like this camera down.

"This is a rather silly incident."

She said Langley, 30, had downed whiskey before trying to damage the camera.

"At the time of this offence, he told me he had found out his granddad had passed away," Ms Huxtable said.

"He bought a bottle of whiskey and consumed the whole lot.

"There was no real intention to do significant damage.

"He was drunk and it was a stupid act.

"He doesn't quite know what he was hoping to achieve."

No significant damage was caused to the camera, it was heard.
Sentencing Langley to a 12-month conditional discharge, as well as £105 in costs and fines, presiding magistrate Mike Davis said: "What a stupid thing to be doing under the influence of drink."

Source

Irony of the lib dem candidate caught speeding by camera he secured funding

A Lib Dem parliamentary candidate was caught speeding by a camera he admits he "secured the funding for".

Stephen Gilbert's solicitor pleaded guilty on his behalf to speeding in his Kia car at 40mph in a 30mph zone on the A390 at St Blazey, last August.

Mr Gilbert, 38, of Beach Road, Newquay, was fined £430, ordered to pay costs of £85 and given three penalty points.

A charge of failing to give information relating to the driver's identity was withdrawn at Bodmin Magistrates' Court.

Mr Gilbert is defending the St Austell and Newquay seat in Cornwall.

The politician tweeted that the speeding conviction was "ironic" as he had "secured the funding for the camera 15 years ago".

.@tamsinmelville ... and isn't it ironic since I secured the funding for the camera 15 years ago! @BBCCornwall

— Stephen Gilbert (@stephen_gilbert) April 22, 2015

One camera dishes out 1,600 fines in just ONE MORNING

Shortly 1,600 people will get Fines in the post for being caught speeding through roadworks on the M6 on Tuesday 10th March.  The fines will generate upwards of £160k for the government.

The camera in question is located  on the M6 at junction 17, the speed limit has been lowered to 50mph on that stretch while roadworks are carried out.

NW Motorway Police tweeted: “The speed cameras on the M6 J17 in the road works are working, the limit is 50mph. In one morning 1600 offences have been recorded. #noticket”

The Car That Outsmarts Speed Cameras

If the new Hyundai Genesis has its way speed camera fines could become a thing of the past. The luxury sedan is capable of outsmarting speed cameras with a combination of GPS and braking technology.

At the launch of the Hyundai Genesis, company spokesman Guido Schenken told journalists that the car could identify speed cameras and slow down if drivers are going too fast. The feature works for fixed speed cameras and average speed cameras, although it will not give drivers an advantage over mobile speed cameras or handheld police speed guns.

"It knows there is a speed camera there, it knows where the speed camera is and it will adopt the correct speed," he says.

"It will beep 800 metres before a camera and show the legal speed, and it will beep at you if your speed is over that."

The Genesis is designed to be a cut price alternative to models sold by Mercedes-Benz and BMW, it features a suite of high-tech driver aids that include an automated emergency braking technology that will stop the car to prevent a collision and cruise control that will preserve a safe distance from the car in front by applying the brakes.

Source: stuff.co.nz

Average Speed A9 Cameras Already Curbing Drivers Before Switch On

One of Scotland's most notorious roads - the A9 has newly installed cameras that are not due to be switched on till October, however they are already helping to cut down on the number of speeding drivers. The number of motorists speeding on the Perth to Pitlochry stretch of the A9 has fallen from one in three to one in ten

The busy single carriageways statistics for fatal and serious road accidents are significantly higher than the national average. Installation of the cameras from Perth to Inverness began just last month, and the scheme is just one of a number of planned measures to improve safety on the main route connecting central Scotland with the Highlands by the A9 Safety Group. They are also trying to encourage safe overtaking on the route and improve driver awareness of speed limits.

Mike Burns, who is a spokesman for campaign group A9 Average Speed Cameras Are Not the Answer, said: "The SNP and Transport Scotland are deluding themselves that slowing down a road is a solution to resolving frustration and preventing overtaking where overtaking is the root cause of over 50% accidents.”

A petition calling for the average-speed camera scheme to be scrapped was recently dropped by the public petitions committee. The Scottish Government group decided nothing more could be done as the cameras are already in place.

The Scottish Government plans to create 80 miles of dual carriageway between Perth and Inverness by 2025.

Sources: STV News

Hadsec3 Cameras to Enforce 70mph Limit on Motorways

New stealth speed cameras (Hadsec3 - Highways Agency digital enforcement camera system) are to be fitted along motorways for the first time. The motorways included in the plans are the M25 the M6 and the M1 with the busiest sections being targeted. It is believed that the cameras will be grey in colour rather than the bright yellow that is used for current SPECS camera systems that monitor average speed. The grey colour will make them harder to spot which critics say will do little to slow drivers down. The plans propose that the cameras will be running along more than 100 miles of motorway within two years, with the further roll-out eventually covering at least 400 miles.

The new speed cameras will be designed to catch people driving their vehicles in excess of the 70mph motorway speed limit. Previously speed cameras on the motorway have been situated mainly on stretches undergoing roadworks, in order to enforce variable speed limits for safety reasons. Some ‘safety camera partnerships’ have also used them from vans which have been parked on bridges over carriageways.

The Highways Agency who are the ones looking at the widespread introduction of the cameras say they will prevent jams and allow better traffic flow by controlling speed limits, this will work in combination with opening hard shoulders to traffic during busy periods. Motoring groups claim the introduction of cameras is not about road safety but about generating income through fines. They also insisted that the cameras were ‘not stealth cameras they are more visible that they were before. These motorways are not about speed limits. They are about smoothing the traffic flows and increasing capacity.’ They added that new cameras would be signposted and added: 'The onus is on the driver to abide by the speed limit.’

A recent poll in Autocar found that 94.6 per cent of motorists admitted driving in excess of 70mph while on the motorway. So it could be a great revenue stream!

It recently came to light that the Highways Agency launched a consultation regarding the speed limit on a section on the M1 between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. It could see its speed reduced to 60mph for 12 hours a day - between 7am and 7pm - because of fears that congestion is reducing air quality and would be policed by cameras and police patrols.

Roger Lawson, of the Alliance of British Drivers (ABD) , said: 'We are opposed to speed cameras in general. The evidence of their success in promoting safety is not good and in reality what is happening now is that the police are using speed cameras to fund their other activities through speed awareness courses. If these cameras are grey rather than yellow they are going to be harder to spot and so will have no impact in slowing traffic down. If there is a good reason for the traffic to be slowed down then the cameras need to be as visible as possible.' The ABD has called for an increase in the upper speed limit on motorways to 80mph, it was considered by ministers but appears no nearer to becoming law.

Since 2010, some police forces have cut back on their use of speed cameras because the tickets can cost too much to process. However digital technology has made it substantially cheaper and easier to install, monitor and collect information from cameras.

Please visit our website to look at devices that will warn you about the presence of speed cameras www.Radar-Detectors.co.uk

Sources: Mail Online