Speed Camera News

Ban the Cams note:  Another PRIME EXAMPLE of the FACT THAT PHOTO ENFORCEMENT IS NOT ABOUT SAFETY.  PHOTO ENFORCEMENT REQUIRES LONG TERM VIOLATIONS to stay in business!  So if they can't get enough "violations" by 10 km/h (about 6 mph) over or even 5 km/h over, THE VENDORS AND CITIES HAVE NO PROBLEM LOWERING IT TO 1 km/h over!  (THAT IS UNDER 1 mph!)  VENDORS JUST LOWER THE TRIGGER SPEED TO KEEP THE RATE PROFITABLE!    BAN THE CAMS!

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3266.asp

France, Italy: Cameras Burned, Protested
French vigilantes burn camera as Italian drivers protest photo radar that tickets for less than 1 MPH over the limit.

Vigilantes in the town of Dardilly, France set fire to a speed camera on Wednesday. The automated ticketing machine on the RN6 had previously been attacked in July 2007, Lyon Mag reported.  http://www.lyonmag.com/article/18681/radar-incendie-a-dardilly

The frustration of motorists found a less violent outlet in Vergiate, a municipality in northern Italy. Vehicle owners have begun to protest after receiving 45 euro (US $58) tickets for driving as little as 61 km/h (38 MPH) in a 60 zone -- just 1 km/h or sixth-tenths of a mile-per-hour over the limit. The camera in question is positioned just a few yards away from a sign that lowers the limit on the road from 90 km/h (56 MPH) to 60, Varese Notizie reported.  http://www.varesenotizie.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58738:ancora-proteste-su

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3265.asp

Florida, Ohio, Australia, Germany: Photo Enforcement Accuracy Problems Multiply
Photo enforcement camera accuracy flaws uncovered in Florida, Ohio, Australia and Germany.

Garfield Heights, Ohio will refund 984 speed camera tickets worth $98,400 after city officials admitted that they misled the public. In announcing the automated ticketing machines, officials promised that tickets would be issued to those accused of going 11 MPH over the limit. The city's contract with Redflex, the Australian company that actually runs the program, called for tickets to anyone going 10 MPH over the limit. The refunds will go to those caught in the 1 MPH gap during the first six weeks of the program, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.  http://www.cleveland.com/roadrant/index.ssf/2010/09/garfield_heights_to_refund_mon.html

In Troy, New York, motorist Susan White was falsely accused of running a red light on May 20 at 4:32pm by an automated camera in North Miami Beach. The $125 ticket came with a photograph of a dark Chevrolet with an extremely blurry license plate. White drives a light-colored Kia Soul. White explained to the Times-Union newspaper that she has never been to Miami and was at work in Troy on May 20. After the Times-Union got involved, American Traffic Solutions canceled the bogus ticket.  http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Greetings-from-Florida-A-wrong-ticket-562212.php  (Ban the Cams note:  The Florida article was mentioned in a earlier post on Ban the Cams).

A court in Siegburg, Germany found a motorist who had been flashed by a speed camera on the L 333 in Sankt Augustin-Buisdorf not guilty. At trial, an expert was able to show from the camera's photographs that it would have been impossible for the driver to have been traveling at the speed alleged based on measurements of distance traveled over time. A subsequent review of the faulty camera showed one bicyclist was photographed at 70 km/h (43 MPH) and another at 92 km/h (57 MPH). Despite the bogus speed readings, the General-Anzeiger newspaper reports that the device has passed all routine calibration testing.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/index.php?k=loka&itemid=10001&detailid=787460

In Melbourne, Australia toll road officials admitted their automated enforcement system issued 7269 bogus charges to over a thousand drivers because the camera system on the EastLink toll tunnel failed to properly read license plates, the Herald Sun newspaper reported. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/new-eastlink-bills-bungle/story-e6frf7kx-1225925648048 The same optical character recognition technology is used by speed cameras, and the EastLink's photo radar has come under even greater scrutiny after the Herald Sun revealed that maintenance logs showed a camera had taken photos "without targets in beam." Corrupt test data, communications failures, company investigations and other problems were extensively documented, but police officials insisted that the cameras which had generated 237,308 tickets worth $30 million were flawless. 

http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20100917/No-big-driving-changes-since-photo-radar-ended/

Quote: 

Beach said he has not seen an increase in crashes, however.

by Bob Mc

Clay/KTAR (September 17th, 2010 @ 10:47am) 
 
PHOENIX -- The director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety has not seen much of an increase in speeding drivers since the photo radar cameras went off on state freeways two months ago.

"I haven't seen any changes in behavior, I don't see people sort of flying down the highways, although I'm sure it exists some place," says Alberto Gutier.

Read more: No big driving changes since photo radar ended (AZ)

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3259.asp

Italy: Speed Camera Stoned
Vigilantes in the city of Montelupo, Italy pelted a speed camera with rocks just four days after it had been installed. According to the newspaper La Nazione, the automated ticketing machine on state road 67 was pelted on August 20.
   "These acts were accomplished repeatedly by adults who want to show their dissent from the administration's decisions," Mayor Rossana Mori told La Nazione. http://www.lanazione.it/empoli/cronaca/2010/09/10/382520-troppi_vandalismi.shtml
 

Ban the Cams note:  You might recognize the article from Washington Examiner from a earlier post, but THIS IS NOT THE ONLY MISTAKE IN MD of people being wrongly accused by SCAMREA companies!

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3258.asp

Saturday, September 11, 2010
Maryland, Australia, Spain: Traffic Cameras Beset With Accuracy Issues
Motorists in Maryland are outraged after receiving speed camera citations many believe to be wildly inaccurate. WJLA-TV http://www.tbd.com/articles/2010/09/drivers-outraged-over-forest-heights-speed-cameras-miscalculations-8785.html reported complaints about cameras on Indian Head Highway in Forest Heights. The for-profit company that issues the tickets accused Earl Lomax of driving his 40,000 pound RV towing an automobile at 53 MPH uphill, a speed that it could not have reached in the short space available to accelerate before the camera. The Washington Examiner http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Md_-company-investigates-speed-cameras-668936-102186644.html similarly reported that Optotraffic has been issuing tickets to buses in Prince George's County, including one accused of driving 78 MPH in a 35 zone on Bladensburg Road.
   The errors are reminiscent of the bogus speed camera tickets issued to bus drivers in New South Wales, Australia in 2005. Despite assertions from local officials about the accuracy of the cameras, independent testing ordered by the bus drivers' union proved conclusively that the heavy vehicles could not reach the speeds they were accused of traveling. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/01/181.asp Further research discovered that pavement sensors were confused by the vibrations of the heavy vehicles, producing the false readings. The town of Cheverly, Maryland responded to complaints about the inaccuracy of the Optotraffic laser speed detectors by posting a notice about how the Optotraffic unit tests itself and determines itself to be accurate. A Cheverly officer will also occasionally test the laser speed camera reading against a small police car using a handheld laser speed gun to prove the system is just fine.
   On average, red light cameras and speed cameras in Adelaide, Australia go haywire twice a week, according to documents obtained by the Adelaide Advertiser newspaper. Over the course of two years, a total of 213 incidents of the devices breaking down -- sometimes photographing drivers who have done nothing wrong. Police officials insisted that they never allow a bogus fine to be issued, although they were unable to provide any guarantee.  http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/red-light-cameras-snapping-innocent-motorists/story-e6frea83-1225912524543 

Read more: Maryland, Australia, Spain: Traffic Cameras Beset With Accuracy Issues

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/10/1680134/fewest-charlotte-collisions-in.html

Fewest Charlotte collisions in decade
The number of car crashes is way down, but CDOT isn't sure why.
By Steve Harrison
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Posted: Friday, Sep. 10, 2010
More Information
Crash-prone intersections

There were 17,648 car crashes on Charlotte's streets last year - the fewest number of collisions since 2000.

The Charlotte Department of Transportation last week released its annual report on traffic collisions and fender benders, with data on vehicle and pedestrian crashes all generally lower than a decade ago.

The city also said the city's most dangerous intersection -- East Martin Luther King Boulevard and South Davidson Street in uptown -- is now much safer after a traffic light was installed in March. When accidents were studied from 2007-2009, that intersection ranked as the city's most collision-prone when judged on its relatively light traffic.

That intersection had 46 vehicle crashes over the three-year period. Its accident rate was far higher than the second-most accident-prone intersection, which was Camden Road and East Park Avenue in the South End.

"Since the installation of the signal (at MLK and Davidson), we have had zero crashes," said Debbie Self, a special projects manager with the Charlotte Department of Transportation.

The intersection with the most collisions during the three-year period was Albemarle Road and E. W.T. Harris Boulevard, which carries more than 90,000 cars a day. There were 163 crashes there from 2007-2009.

Sorting stats

CDOT uses the list to study where and how it should spend money to make intersections safer.

In 2000, the city estimated that there 17 million miles driven on its streets. That includes federal highways such as U.S. 74 and state roads like N.C. 51, but interstates.

That year, there were 24,856 crashes and 79 fatalities.

The crash rate per million miles traveled was 1,458. The fatality rate per million vehicle miles was 4.63. Self said in 2000 there were more people killed in vehicle crashes than were murdered in the city.

After 2000, the number of crashes and fatalities generally began to fall, as did the crash rate. Last year, the crash rate was 868 crashes per million miles driven, the second-lowest rate in the last decade.

In 2009, there were 40 fatal crashes, and the fatality rate was 1.97 -- the third-lowest rate this decade. The fatality rate was 4.63 in 2000.

Self said she couldn't explain the general trend towards city streets becoming safer. The city's red-light cameras that automatically sent tickets to red-light runners were used from 1998 to 2006. And speeding cameras were used from 2004 to 2006.

Crashes didn't tick up once the cameras stopped catching scofflaws.

Read more: CRASHES DROP after SCAMERAS ARE GONE in Charlotte, NC

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3255.asp

Australia: 18,944 Inaccurate or Illegal Photo Radar Tickets Refunded
New South Wales, Australia admits 18,944 speed camera tickets were improperly issued in less than three years.

In less than three years, officials in New South Wales, Australia have been forced to refund 18,944 faulty or illegally issued speed camera citations. Between July 2007 and May 2010, the state government has returned A$3,788,885 worth of citations issued by automated ticketing machines that were not operating properly, according to freedom of information documents obtained by the NSW Liberal Party, which used the figures to attack the party in power.

"With the Keneally Labor Government increasing the number of speed cameras in use, it needs to assure motorists they aren't being fined incorrectly," Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell said in a statement. "It's simply unacceptable to have law abiding motorists fined incorrectly. This high level of repayment will cast doubt in motorists' minds about the fairness of speed camera fines and that doubt must be cleared up as soon as possible."

Faulty camera sensors http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/30/3063.asp were responsible for the second largest refund as a camera on Pittwater Road in North Narrabeen produced false readings and resulted in 996 innocent motorists being forced to pay $173,251 in fines. Other problems involved cameras used in ways that violated state policy and laws. The speed camera on Kingsway at Miranda applied lowered school zone speed limits at times when the limits did not apply, forcing $32,881 in refunds. The documents show a total of 148 incidents each with as many as 5279 wrongly issued tickets to as little as one.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/31/3182.asp

In NSW, camera citations that range in value from $90 to $1865 each. For fiscal 2011-12, the state expects to bring in $570 million thanks to a new mobile speed van program.

The accuracy of Australian speed cameras first became an issue in July 2003 when a camera in Victoria accused a 1975 Datsun 120Y of driving at 98 MPH, setting off a chain reaction of events that ultimately cost the state government $26 million in refunds. Even after the thirty-year-old Datsun was tested and found to be capable of reaching speeds no greater than 73 MPH, police dug in their heels and insisted the photo enforcement system was accurate and that the fine would stand. Intense publicity from the case forced independent testing which showed faulty in-ground sensors and electromagnetic interference had been responsible for generating bogus speed readings. A total of 165,000 camera tickets were canceled.

Accuracy problems are common with speed cameras and red light cameras. View TheNewspaper's worldwide coverage of this topic.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/related.asp?S=16

Read more: Newspaper.com: Australia: 18,944 Inaccurate or Illegal Photo Radar Tickets Refunded

Ban the Cams note:  Any bets ATS will sue over "voting rights" on this one too??????

http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13105212

A vote to ban photo traffic enforcement?
Video Gallery 
Possible vote to ban photo traffic enforcement
2:02 
Reporter: Craig Smith

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Photo enforcement cameras have never been popular with some drivers but now there's a growing movement to put an end to the cameras once and for all.

If one group that opposes photo enforcement has a successful petition drive, you'll be able to vote to ban photo enforcement in Tucson and Pima County.

Police say automated enforcement really does cut down speeding and red light running.

But a lot of drivers would still like to see them go away.

A group called Arizona Citizens Against Photo Radar was working toward an election to kill state photo enforcement when Governor Brewer killed it first.

Now organization chairman Shawn Dow is working on elections against photo enforcement in the 14 Arizona cities that use it.

Getting a vote will require a successful petition but he thinks that'll be easy.

"Far fewer signatures than were needed in the statewide initiative.  Most of the cities are only gonna require about anywhere from a thousand to two thousand signatures in order to put it on the ballot."

Drivers say a vote sounds appealing.

Charles Mitchell says, "I think it's always better if the people have a right to vote on anything. So if they choose that they don't want them that's the way it should be.  Some judge better not tell them their vote doesn't count."

Scott Richards says, "We should be able to decide whether we should have that system in there.  That should be decided by the public.  And everybody I've talked to right now they're not liking the idea of that."

Organizers have already missed the deadline to be able to get the issue on the November ballot.  That means if they get enough signatures, May would probably be the earliest possible election date and they say they'll file for a special election if they have to.

They are not actually running petitions in Tucson yet but plan to as soon as they get the petition language locked down.
 

http://www.kswt.com/Global/story.asp?S=13109172

Speed cameras coming down on Arizona freeways

Associated Press - September 7, 2010 6:04 AM ET

PHOENIX (AP) - The speed enforcement cameras that Arizona used for two years to ticket drivers on state freeways will begin coming down this week.

The state ended its groundbreaking enforcement program in July after it allowed its contract with Scottsdale-based Redflex Traffic Systems to expire.

The program was panned by critics who said it was intended more as a way to generate revenue than improve safety. The program was supported by those who said it slowed motorists driving at unsafe speeds.

The Arizona Department of Transportation says cameras on Interstates 17 and 10, State Route 51, Loop 101 and U.S. 60 will be dismantled starting this week late at night. The job should be done by November.

Arizona had 76 fixed and mobile cameras at the program's peak.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 

Ban the Cams note:  Don't think this is a "isolated case"

1.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2778.asp  New Zealand 2009.
2.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2506.asp  Another from Md 2008.

Personal favorite:

3.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/01/181.asp  Quote:  One driver was accused of driving a bus at 87 km/h on a flat stretch, yet the maximum speed of this vehicle -- downhill -- is 82 km/h

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Md_-company-investigates-speed-cameras-668936-102186644.html 

Md. company investigates speed cameras
By: Hayley Peterson
Examiner Staff
September 3, 2010  
A Lanham-based speed camera contractor is investigating whether its cameras miscalculated the speeds of large vehicles. (Andrew Harnik/Examiner) 

A Maryland speed camera contractor is investigating whether its cameras have been miscalculating the speeds of large vehicles in Prince
George’s County.

Lanham-based Optotraffic is analyzing a dozen citations that recorded buses and trucks exceeding the speed limit by more than 25 mph, Optotraffic CEO Marcos Sirota told The Washington Examiner.

Sirota began investigating citations when a camera on Rhode Island Avenue and 38th Street in Brentwood caught bus driver Kathleen
LaFortune driving 58 mph in a 25 mph zone.

“I was absolutely devastated when I saw the ticket,” said LaFortune, who told The Examiner she drives past the camera 11 times daily on her bus route — which she has driven for the last year. “I have never broken the speed limit. There is just no way this is possible.”

Read more: More SCAMERA MISTAKES, INJUSTICE for drivers in MD!

http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/photo-unit-cop-caught-forging-documents/

Photo Unit Cop Caught Forging Documents

A former officer with the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s now-defunct Redflex “photo enforcement unit” was allegedly caught forging documents and using “state” resources — a DPS airplane — to stalk an ex girlfriend.  http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/07/former_state_trooper_claims_br.php

According to AZCentral, “[Geoffrey] Jacobs wrote a fake obituary regarding another ex-girlfriend and sent it to Hawaiian Airlines, along with a letter detailing how Jacobs was trying to cope with the “huge loss” of his fiancee. The letter was sent so Jacobs could transfer his ex-girlfriend’s ticket to another woman…”  http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/05/20100905arizona-dps-lawsuit-geoff-jacobs.html

If this officer was corrupt enough to forge documents for an airline ticket change, did any of the members of the public stand a chance when their citations were in his hands?

But wait, there’s more… This one’s for the “if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about” crowd:

He also was found to have abused DPS resources when he flew a state-owned plane over the neighborhood where he believed an ex-girlfriend lived in an attempt to locate her new home.

And who better to help run the accident-increasing photo enforcement scheme than an officer who had great first-hand experience causing accidents:

Jacobs joined DPS in late 2002. Less than one year later, he was served with his first letter of reprimand for an October 2003 wreck in Tucson. The next year, Jacobs was in another wreck and lost eight hours of vacation pay.

Read more: Camerafraud: Photo Unit Cop Caught Forging Documents

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3252.asp

9/5/2010
Italy, Latvia: Speed Cameras Swiped, Shot
A speed camera was damaged by gunfire in Latvia and removed in Italy.

In Macerata, Italy vigilantes grabbed a speed camera from the side of the provincial road 571 at around 6am this morning. Police arriving on the scene found glass shards on the ground from smashed lenses and the radar equipment removed from the housing, ANSA http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/regioni/marche/2010/09/05/visualizza_new.html_1786339013.html reported. Officials have no idea who was responsible.

Vigilantes in the former Soviet Republic of Latvia shot a speed camera on August 12. The automated ticketing machine had been located in Daugavpils, the second largest city next to Riga. The device, the country's only speed camera, will be repaired, TVNET http://www.tvnet.lv/auto/satiksme/96233-daugavpili_sasauj_vienigo_parvietojamo_fotoradaru reported. Police have no idea who is responsible.

Roadside speed cameras may bite the dust!
Published Date:
04 September 2010
By RORY O'KEEFFE
Political editor

SPEED cameras could be removed from Portsmouth's roads, if a government proposal is enacted later this year.
Portsmouth City Council believes the government is set to make what it feels are unreasonable demands on local authorities, which would see the removal of the city's cameras on grounds of cost.

Council leader Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson said:ADVERTISEMENT'The government has plans which look likely to be enacted later this year, which would see us totally liable for all upkeep and maintenance of the speed cameras. Under those circumstances, they'll be impossible for us to afford to operate, so we'd get rid of them all.'

The city council's seven fixed cameras are run through the Hampshire Safer Roads Partnership, which also includes councils across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

But it pays almost £250,000 per year for membership of the group.

Each year, the council hands over all the fines it collects to central government, which then redistributes the cash to councils and groups across the country.

But new government proposals, which could be introduced as early as next month, are expected to change the rules so the cash is not handed back to councils, or is used to 'top up' the annual grants each authority receives.

Cllr Vernon-Jackson said: 'The policy just makes the cameras unaffordable, and it's hard to see how we could keep operating them under those circumstances. They would have to stop running. In the past, we have received help from the government, but this would be a cut and we wouldn't be able to afford them. '

Earlier this year, the government demanded budget cuts from all local authorities, which caused some councils, including Oxford, to pull out of their road safety partnerships, and turn off their cameras.

But Portsmouth City Council's head of street management Simon Moon denied the council would leave the partnership.

He said: 'We're committed to the safer roads partnership and have no plans which would change our involvement at this point in time. In year funding cuts by central government have been absorbed and we can continue in the partnership until the end of this financial year. Beyond this, the situation remains unclear and as with any financial commitment it will be reviewed when funding sources are known.'

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/fixed-cameras-proving-futile/1919984.aspx

Fixed cameras proving futile
MICHAEL INMAN

22 Aug, 2010 12:00 AM
FIXED speed cameras are failing to reduce accidents at Canberra traffic hot spots, with accident rates actually increasing since nine new cameras were installed in 2007-08.

But ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has defended their use and flagged the possibility of installing more fixed speed cameras throughout Canberra.

Figures obtained by ACT Liberal MLA Alistair Coe showed accidents at eight camera sites increased from 58.7 per year prior to installation to 67.9 after while pumping an extra $7million each year into government coffers.

Data for the ninth camera was unavailable.

The largest increase in the number of accidents occured at two camera sites along the Tuggeranong Parkway.

Accidents jumped from an average of 20.3 to 24.4 per year at the camera placed near the Cotter Road underpass.

To the south, accidents leapt from 21.4 to 31 per year at the Hindmarsh Drive overpass.

Figures show the two cameras reaped almost $125,000 in the three months from October to December 2008.

However, the number of accidents declined slightly at several sites.

Mr Coe said the increased accident rate, paired with fines, shows revenue-raising was the driving force behind the expansion.

''[This] evidence suggests that the current methodology, the current strategy the ACT Government has, is much more about revenue than about making our roads safer,'' Mr Coe said.

''What we're seeing here is road safety being used as a cover for a revenue-raising method for the ACT Government because of its inability to manage expenditure.''

Read more: Fixed cameras proving futile

http://camerafraud.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/paradise-valley-town-council-a-simple-solution/

Paradise Valley Town Council: A Simple Solution
Paradise Valley Town Council is holding their normally scheduled meeting on Thursday Afternoon, starting at 3 pm. If you’re wondering, the address is 6401 E Lincoln Dr, Paradise Valley, Az 85253. CameraFRAUD volunteers will be there to collect signatures for the initiative to ban photo ticketing in Paradise Valley.

Oh and what a coincidence, it seems that very initiative is on the the slate for the meeting:

We have a very simple solution to this issue: Let’s do the right thing and take the cameras down in Paradise Valley. That would save the most time, money and is the safest option. However, if it needs to go to the voters, we’ve already seen how popular our initiative is at the polling places. 1,500+ signatures isn’t that far away!
 

(Ban the Cams note:  Go to the read more and see the Maps provided by StopBigBrotherMD showing what Mount Rainier did to CHURN TICKETS!)

Before

 
After

http://www.stopbigbrothermd.org/2010/08/mount-rainier-brentwood-lowered-speed.html

Sunday, August 15, 2010
Mount Rainier, Brentwood Lowered Speed Limits at Camera Sites
The town of Mount Rainier recently began using a speed camera on the 3700 block of Rhode Island Avenue (US Route 1). StopBigBrotherMD has discovered that the speed limit at that camera site was recently lowered by 10mph, from 35mph to 25mph. Photos taken in the first week of August by a concerned citizen show the 25mph speed limit just north of 37th street. The speed limit north of the current camera site is 35mph, with the camera site located about 45 yards south of the 25mph sign (marked on the photo below, partially concealed by trees and other obstacles).   An image extracted from Google street view shows the same site taken before the camera deployment. Notice that the 25mph sign is not present in these legacy images.

 
Before 
 

After

A 25mph zone did exist previously on Rhode Island Avenue southbound, but started south of 37th street, approximately 500 feet south of the point where it is at now. Before the new 25mph sign the speed the limit in the section around the camera was still posted as 35mph.

We also discovered that there was previously a 35mph speed limit sign just south of 37th street in the northbound lane, marking the (former) end of that 25mph zone. Now that sign was removed and has been replaced by a 25mph sign a short distance away.
 

Read more: MD: Games Speed Camera Vendors and Cities Play, ALSO TOWN DENIES FOIA AT SCAMERA SITE!

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1315435_road_safety_expert_in_storm_over_speeding_joke?all_comments=1

Road safety expert in storm over speeding ‘joke’
Deborah Linton

August 30, 2010

The man in charge of re-educating speeding drivers has been slammed for joking on Facebook about breaking the speed limit.

Lee Davies, manager of the Greater Manchester Driver Improvement Scheme, made the quip on the social-networking website where he posted pictures of himself on a quad bike during a trip to the Canary Islands.

When a pal asked if he kept within the speed limits, he replied: ‘Got it to go 63kph in a 40kph zone!’

Mr Davies has now apologised and said his comments had been a joke. But drivers’ groups said his words were ‘foolish and stupid’.

Mr Davies is in charge of speed awareness courses, which are offered to drivers caught flouting road laws as an alternative to penalty points or fines.

He used Facebook to share pictures of himself with two quad bikes during his holiday.

When confronted by the M.E.N, Mr Davies said he had hired only one of the bikes and had never driven on the highway.

He claimed he had not broken any speed limits and said his comments had been ‘foolish and thoughtless’.

He said: "I can confirm that during a holiday in Fuerteventura I hired a dune buggy for private use on sand dunes, within the resort I was staying.

Read more: "RE EDUCATION" (More like Brainwash to me) chief busted by the PC police for "joking" on speeding.

Ban the Cams note:  Thanks to Camerafraud Facebook for the link!)

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/196218/Ambulance-driver-could-lose-job-for-speeding-to-save-a-life

AMBULANCE DRIVER COULD LOSE JOB FOR SPEEDING TO SAVE A LIFE 

Paul Bex was carrying a liver when he was flashed by a speed camera in Lincolnshire
Sunday August 29,2010
By Chloe Thomas AMBULANCE drivers risk being charged for speeding because of a legal loophole that means their role in transporting organs is not recognised.

Paul Bex was carrying a liver from Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, to the North East when he was flashed by a speed camera in Lincolnshire.

He was driving at 112mph after being told by a surgeon that the liver was needed within three hours on July 7.

Pictured right in his vehicle, Mr Bex, 51, from Cambridge, was sent a letter by police telling him he would be prosecuted for speeding. Despite an appeal by Lifeline, his employer, he will have to appear in court.

Anyone caught speeding at over 100 miles per hour faces a 12-month ban.

Mr Bex, who has an unblemished 34-year driving record, said: “If I am charged I will lose my licence, which means I will not be able to work.

“The idea of going to court is very upsetting when I haven’t done anything wrong. I was merely doing my job.”

Dave Cooper, operations manager at Lifeline, said: “All our drivers have been trained to drive to the same standard as the police. Although I am confident that the magistrates won’t charge him, I cannot be certain.”

The law defining an ambulance hasn’t been updated since 1946, despite the fact that organ transplants have been common since the 1960s and 2,500 are now carried out every year.

It still refers only to “the carriage of sick, injured or disabled people”. That means a vehicle used to relay organs cannot be registered as an ambulance.

Even though cars used for the purpose are fitted with flashing lights, they are not exempt from speed limits.

Don Williams, president of the Ambulance Association, the drivers’ union, said: “The law as it stands is making life impossible for our drivers.

Read more: UK NEWSAMBULANCE DRIVER COULD LOSE JOB FOR SPEEDING TO SAVE A LIFE

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3245.asp

France, Germany: Speed Cameras Burned, Boxed, Bashed, Blown Up
Two dozen cameras attacked in France while a photo radar unit in Leipzig, Germany explodes.

In Savoy, France over twenty speed cameras were covered last weekend by white cardboard boxes painted with the Cross of Savoy and the slogans "Free Savoy" and "Treaty Abrogated." A separatist movement believes that the French government has no right to set up speed cameras in the region. The group's members vow to continue the attacks on speed cameras, Caradisiac Moto reported.  http://moto.caradisiac.com/Radars-la-Savoie-libre-denonce-des-radars-illegaux-966

In Bel Air, France vigilantes set fire to a speed camera at around 4am Tuesday. This marked the sixth time that the automated ticketing machine on the N134 has been destroyed since being installed in the spring of 2009. The last attack in May cost officials 20,000 euros (US $25,000), Sud Ouest reported. Police have no idea who might be responsible.  http://www.sudouest.fr/2010/08/25/le-radar-automatique-qui-attire-les-foudres-168515-4140.php

In Charente limousine, a photo radar unit that failed to prevent an accident was destroyed when it was hit by a Polish truck. The device on route 951 was destroyed, Sud Ouest reported.

In Leipzig, Germany vigilantes used explosives to destroy a speed camera last Sunday at around 12:30am. The device had been located in the Sudvorstadt district between Paul-Gruner and High Street. Police have no idea who was responsible, Leipziger Volkszeitung reported.
 http://nachrichten.lvz-online.de/leipzig/polizeiticker/lauter-knall-schreckt-anwohner-in-suedvorstadt-auf--blitzer-gesprengt/r-polizeiticker-a-45761.html

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3242.asp

Photo Ticket Firm Redflex Approaches Zero Profit
Australian red light camera giant blows $137 million in photo ticket revenue.

Despite collecting A$137 million in revenue from automated traffic ticketing, the Australian photo enforcement giant Redflex Traffic Systems yesterday announced its net profit before tax had fallen to a mere $442,000 for the first half of 2010. Redflex remains the number one player in the US market with US motorists providing 79 percent of the company's ticket revenue. Redflex management, however, blamed recent losses primarily on "considerable public opposition" to photo radar and red light cameras in the US.

Earlier this year, public protests organized by the group CameraFraud.com helped convince Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) to shut down the statewide photo radar program run by Redflex. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3202.asp This cost the company $13.1 million in expenses and write downs. Similarly, as cities elsewhere in the country have decided to cancel their photo ticketing programs, Redflex has been forced to write down another $2.8 million in canceled contracts. http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3216.asp

"Citizen-led ballot initiatives at both municipal and state levels are potential threats," the company warned.  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/27/2769.asp

Redflex explained to Australian investors that it would fight back against the public through a "managed media interface." In Arizona, the company cited the creation of the Safer Arizona Roads Alliance as a front group to advance the firm's corporate agenda in the guise of a non-profit "grassroots" organization. Redflex highlighted a similar effort it is undertaking in Illinois through a "group of advocates."

Read more: Newspaper.com: Redflex profits down, HAS FRONT GROUPS IN AZ AN IL