The decision not to pre-warn motorists of speed cameras is shortsighted. Road painting, pre-warning motorists with visible signage, fluorescent yellow-painted cameras and penalty points for driver's licences are the main elements that make cameras wo
rk at slowing people down in the UK.
I amassed quite a few kilometres in Britain recently and my simple motorist's view from that experience is that not only are most speed cameras there visible enough to be seen well before you reach them, they also appear to represent entirely reasonable speed limits.
I'd go further than that and say that the legally allowed speeds in some narrow, doors-on-the-pavement villages are rather in excess of the velocity I'm personally comfortable with.
We could learn a lot from the Brits. You don't get a death-per-capita rating of less than half our own on faster, tighter, less well-finished roads than ours without knowing what you're doing.
The difference between our speed camera culture and Britain's is that in New Zealand, if a camera makes no money then it's moved somewhere where it will. In Britain a successful speed camera deployment is one that is visible enough to slow people down so that it takes no revenue at all.
Continuing to use cameras the way we do will do nothing to help the already fragmented relationship between the police and the public unless the units are made extra visible, like those in Britain.
rk at slowing people down in the UK.I amassed quite a few kilometres in Britain recently and my simple motorist's view from that experience is that not only are most speed cameras there visible enough to be seen well before you reach them, they also appear to represent entirely reasonable speed limits.
I'd go further than that and say that the legally allowed speeds in some narrow, doors-on-the-pavement villages are rather in excess of the velocity I'm personally comfortable with.
We could learn a lot from the Brits. You don't get a death-per-capita rating of less than half our own on faster, tighter, less well-finished roads than ours without knowing what you're doing.
The difference between our speed camera culture and Britain's is that in New Zealand, if a camera makes no money then it's moved somewhere where it will. In Britain a successful speed camera deployment is one that is visible enough to slow people down so that it takes no revenue at all.
Continuing to use cameras the way we do will do nothing to help the already fragmented relationship between the police and the public unless the units are made extra visible, like those in Britain.
With increasing numbers of drivers staring constantly at their speedometers instead of at the way ahead, roads are not as safe as they could be.
The only well-known instant influence on our road speed in New Zealand is the flash of a warning motorist's headlights. So effective are these people that the police are prosecuting them for the rather thin and little-known misdemeanour of "unneccessary use of headlights".
This is because they know darn well that by actively slowing motorists down these "criminals" are denying our speed cameras their intended revenue.
The only well-known instant influence on our road speed in New Zealand is the flash of a warning motorist's headlights. So effective are these people that the police are prosecuting them for the rather thin and little-known misdemeanour of "unneccessary use of headlights".
This is because they know darn well that by actively slowing motorists down these "criminals" are denying our speed cameras their intended revenue.
No comments:
Post a Comment