speed cameras

[madaboutyou]

Speed cameras, oh what a great invention that was. Yeah it was, until the thieving ******* government got their hands on them. Does anyone really think that they are being used responsibly? It's all one big money scam-catch you out doing 5mph over the already stupidly slow limit-in a place which isn't going to harm anyone-take a few points off your licence- and wham-welcome, you have just entered NAZI Britain. God it makes me sick.
The government and police force are nothing more than criminals.
Do they put them in dangerous places of high death rates? -I think not. They put them in places where they know people with speed. That doesn’t save lives! And to those who think I'm going over the top, a high ranking Thames valley police officer spoke out against it the other day, telling us what we already knew- they are put their just to raise money to buy the dickheads in the government mercs and jags.
So the next time you go out, make sure you carry a shotgun and blow them to pieces.

And it gets worse. Their fantastic new scheme to track anyone without a tax disk by checking your name against the database will only hit the decent citizen who has merely forgot to pay. The ones that will get away with it are the real criminals who steal and don't register the cars.

[Faulkner]

heh heh, too bloody right!

[DippyHippy]

RE Tax discs... reminds me of what I heard about the TV Licence vans a few years back...

People here in England think there are lots of these little TV vans around, listening in to find out if you're watching the telly without having paid your licence... apparently not... I was listening to a phone-in show a few years back and someone who worked for those people called in and said there's only about 7 or 8 in the entire country and different areas have to book time to use them. They're only used in extreme circumstances, as a last resort, when they need proof that someone is watching their television illegally.

RE speed cameras... yep, just an excuse to stiff motorists and coin it in...

[Cambo]

Speed cameras! Urgh!
At least in Britain they measure in miles per hour, here in Oz it's kilometres. At 60 kph you get booked doing 63kph. That's about 1.5 mph over.
Don't complain.
Got one yesterday for 66 in a 60.
Now here is where I rant and rave, ***** and moan about the injustice of it all and how everyone's to blame but me, who happened to be the driver. And really no-one really cares, you just sit back and smirk saying, "Thank God it wasn't me"
Hey it's what I did reading the original post a few days ago.

[Peter Canuck]

Originally posted by madaboutyou@Feb 14 2004, 09:40 AM
Do they put them in dangerous places of high death rates? -I think not. They put them in places where they know people with speed. That doesn’t save lives! criminals who steal and don't register the cars.

Its good to rant... Keeping all those emotions inside just makes you old and grey. YOU ARE OLD AND GREY?!?!?! ... go figure!

We don't have the speed camera's here where I live but our municpal law does allow for red light camera's. While I admit it's more than a little bit of a tax grab, they put the camera's here at the 5 or 6 intersections that have had the highest accident rates.
They bought two camera's a few years ago so you never know which intersection is currently being checked out.

The cameras only take the photo when there is a car in the intersection on red. I can also tell you they are timed to the front of the intersection where cars enter the camera's field instead of the back end.

I tried to find a link to the local police stats but couldn't. I'm sure I heard or read on the new that they have seen a decrease in accidents at those particulat sights.
I can tell you I don't step on teh gas on yellow anymore.

The local police are usually asking for the right to use speed camera's too, but so far none of the politicians have been willing to say yes.

[Peter Canuck]

Originally posted by DippyHippy@Feb 16 2004, 06:10 PM

People here in England think there are lots of these little TV vans around, listening in to find out if you're watching the telly without having paid your licence... apparently not...


TV licenses.... I laugh at that one. You folks sure are getting hosed there.

My wife lived in London for a few year and she's the only person I know who doesn't complain about the commercials here at home.

[DippyHippy]

I'd say the ad breaks in the UK are more varied... I know you're Canadian, but whenever I've been in the US, they seem to just repeat the same 9 or 10 ads over and over and it gets dull.

Something else I noticed was that - generally - US ads are more direct and to the point. Or at least they used to be LOL Over here, you'll get an ad that's all black and white, very stylish, looks good, cool soundtrack... but you have no idea what the hell it's about. And when you do find out, you don't care and you soon forget it. Car ads are the worst.

In the US, it used to be that car ads were "It's *this* big, it costs *this* much, it does *this* to the gallon, it comes with *these* features and it's great if you've got a family"

Lately though, I've noticed the reverse happening... ads in the US becoming more arty, whereas UK ads becoming more to-the-point. They're selling the lifestyle, not the product. Truth is, the kind of person who'll buy those things has already got that lifestyle and the rest of us can't afford it!

Also, here in the UK, it's not a legal requirement to list the side-effects of pharmaceutical products... that always cracks me up in US ads... I'm just waiting for the day when they say "may cause sudden death"

Lastly, if I were advertising my product, I'm not allowed to say it's better than a specific brand... for example, in the US, McDonalds and Burger King are always slagging each other off, likewise with Pepsi & Coke. You can't do that here... you can only say something like "contains 20% more beef than our nearest competitor" even though everyone knows who you're talking about LOL

To be honest, I prefer that because some of the ads I've seen have just been poorly disguised excuses to rubbish another product. Sometimes they're like kids calling each other names in the playground.

[Peter Canuck]

You are right about the North American content getting a little more ... creative. Thats due the fact the viewers are quicker to switch if it doesn't catch their eye.

Sometime I have no idea what is being advertised until the very end when they flash the logo. 'That was for bottled water?!? What the heck did an empty swingset and Grandpa looking for his dentures have to do with bottled water?!?'

As to the attack ads or slagging as you put it. They still need to have a bit of truth in their comaprison or lawyer A calls lawyer B and so on. Not quite as bad here in Canada, but you can't live next to the elephant without trying to blend in. I wouldn't miss it if it were suddenly taboo to mention the competition.

Interesting that you note you advertising is taking some elements of North America and ours are definitly bringing in European elements. Even some of the folks I deal with in business have a Euro Series in their product line and carry alot of clean lines in their new items. 10 Years ago I couldn't find that stuff here.

[johnm]

Interesting enough, The college town near me - Chappel Hill, NC - has just removed the "red-light" cameras they were testing. They even didn't even finish out the testing time period.

[Matthew]

The speed cameras here in Victoria, Australia are sometimes off by over 80 km/h. They have been so bad they have accused cars of going faster than they can go under the best of conditions.