Speed Camera News

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4045.asp

France, Italy, UK: Vigilantes Take On Speed Cameras
Spraypaint, construction equipment, fire and chains take out speed cameras in France, Italy and Scotland.

In Wintzenheim, France vigilantes used heavy excavator machinery to rip apart a speed camera on the D417. According to L'Alsace http://www.lalsace.fr/haut-rhin/2013/03/04/le-radar-arrache-avec-une-pelle-volee, the massive piece of construction equipment was taken from a work site a few hundred yards away from the automated ticketing machine. The vigilantes left the excavator claw smashed into the camera. On Monday, a newly installed camera in Ostheim on the N83 was also pulled down with a rope or chain.

At 1:20am last Sunday, a speed camera in Vouharte was set on fire. Tires were placed around the automated ticketing machine on the D737 and ignited, Charente Libre http://www.charentelibre.fr/2013/03/03/vouharte-le-radar-automatique-incendie,1142176.php reported.

In Rochefort, a speed camera was set on fire just before midnight on Monday on the D137. Sud Ouest http://www.sudouest.fr/2013/03/06/un-radar-brule-et-repeint-985634-1504.php reported a gasoline-soaked tire was placed on the back of the device and ignited, though the blaze was put out before it could do much damage. The camera remains disabled, however, since the vigilantes also covered the camera lenses with white spraypaint.

In East Lothian, Scotland a speed camera was set on fire early Wednesday, the East Lothian News http://www.eastlothiannews.co.uk/news/local-headlines/speed-camera-blaze-in-east-lothian-1-2822090 reported. A burning tire was used to fuel the blaze on the A1 between Bankton and Gladsmuir.

In Piedimonte Matese, about 50 miles outside Naples, Italy, vigilantes took out a trio of newly installed speed cameras. According to Il Mattino http://www.ilmattino.it/caserta/raid_vandali_autovelox_velocit_multe/notizie/256570.shtml, the orange "Velok" brand automated ticketing machines were knocked over on Thursday, four days after they were activated.

UK Drivers IMPROPERLY CITED BY SPEED SCAMERA ON VARIABLE SPEED LIMIT SIGN ON MOTORWAY!

Ban the Cams note: in the UK they sometimes "lower" the speed limit on "congestion" while at the same time citing by speed scamera for the temporary low speed limit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21719322

Sign error on M42 motorway may mean speeding let-off

Thousands of motorway speeding convictions could be overturned because the font used to display the numbers on some variable speed limit signs may not have complied with traffic regulations.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the signs showed mph numbers taller and narrower than they should have been.

The signs are used to reduce congestion on busy stretches of motorway.

The CPS alerted Warwickshire Police last November of the irregularity of the signs on the M42 west of Coventry.

Some lawyers and traffic consultants now want any penalties which were handed out over the course of the six years the signs were in place to be quashed, arguing they are not legally enforceable.

The Highways Agency, which installed the signs, said it believed they were the right size and were clearly visible to motorists.

The signs were on two stretches of the M42, between junctions 3a to seven and junctions seven to nine.

Cases dropped
 
As a result police took the decision to stop using the signs as a means of enforcement and dropped prosecutions it was intending to pursue on the stretches of road affected. 
 
However, by then thousands of motorits had already received fines and convictions built up since the first of the signs went into operation in 2006.

At least 11,000 fixed penalties were issued to motorists breaking the variable speed limit between junctions seven to nine of the M42 last year.

Richard Bentley, a traffic management consultant and former police officer, thinks it is only fair that previous speeding fines, points and driving bans be reconsidered.

"There should be a situation where cases are opened in the magistrates court to have the cases reheard and the convictions quashed," he said.

"If there are no traffic signs the Act of Parliament prohibits the conviction and these are definitely not traffic signs."

The regulations governing variable speed limit signs are set out in a government document called Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.

 
Traffic consultant Richard Bentley says he believes cases should be reviewed If a sign fails to comply with the document's specification then it needs separate approval from the Department for Transport before it can be used as a means of enforcement.

That did not happen in this instance.

'Fully illuminated'
 
The BBC has spoken to one solicitor who is challenging a conviction for a client caught speeding on the M42 last April.

"Unfortunately the client received a six-month disqualification from driving," said Hojol Uddin.

"But then the cases that came in a week later, they all got off, they were completely in the clear - no further action was taken - so I think it's not equal," he said.

Warwickshire Police admit there was an issue relating to the shape of the numerals in the signs but said the variable speed limit signs were fully illuminated and clearly showed what the correct speed limit should be.

But the force's camera enforcement unit manager Gary Hollis said, "Motorists who have already had their cases dealt with by the courts, conditional offers of fixed penalty or speed awareness courses are advised to take independent advice regarding how this affects their individual cases."

Remove uncertainty
 
The Highways Agency said it was first made aware of concerns about three years ago but believed they did conform to the regulations.

"When it was first brought to our attention in 2009, we felt it was quite clear what these numbers were and how visible they were to the road user," said Ginny Clarke, director of network services for the Highways Agency.

Despite that four months ago the Highway Agency applied to the Department for Transport seeking permission to use the signs in their current form.

In doing so it revealed that a number of similar signs had also been used on other variable speed zones including stretches on the M40, M6, M1, M20 and M25 although it is unclear what the issue was with these signs.

"We felt certain that it didn't make a difference, but because there was some uncertainty we wanted to remove any of the difficulties by having this additional authorisation," said Ms Clarke.

The Department for Transport has since granted authorisation for all the signs and Warwickshire Police says it started enforcing variable speed limits again on those sections of the M42 on 1 Jan 2013.

http://www.cleveland.com/roadrant/index.ssf/2013/03/traffic_camera_ban_sought.html

Traffic camera ban sought by some Ohio lawmakers: Road Rant
 By John Horton, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer
on March 08, 2013 at 8:00 PM

Some state lawmakers want to ban the controversial red-light and speed cameras that ticket thousands of motorists a month in Cleveland and more than a dozen other towns in Ohio.

Legislation introduced last month would prohibit communities, counties and the State Highway Patrol from using photo-monitoring devices to enforce traffic laws.

State Rep. Zack Milkovich, a Democrat from Akron, said the cameras siphon money out of people's wallets. Milkovich is a cosponsor of the bill, which has bipartisan support.

"They're oppressive to folks just trying to put food on the table," said Milkovich, who added that he regularly hears complaints about the devices. "It's a little bit too much."

Cleveland officials believe the proposed legislation is unconstitutional given a city's right to home rule, said Maureen Harper, the communications chief for the mayor's office.

The city's photo enforcement program began at the end of 2005. Annual reports and court records show that Cleveland's cameras clicked out more than a half-million tickets during the first six years of the program, through December 2011. Fines and fees collected on those citations amount to more than $47 million.

Camera-generated tickets in Cleveland start at $100. Violations qualify as a civil offense and don't go on a driver's license record.

More than a dozen other Ohio cities currently aim cameras at traffic, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The list includes East Cleveland, Parma and Parma Heights in Cuyahoga County, as well as Akron in Summit County. Other local communities, including Shaker Heights, are considering programs.

 
View full size
The Plain Dealer   Voters in several Ohio communities, including Garfield Heights and South Euclid, have used the ballot box to outlaw photo enforcement on their streets.

Ohio law does not address traffic enforcement cameras, so communities operate their programs under local ordinances. The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2008 that cities do not overstep their authority by using the devices as an enforcement tool.

On Thursday, however, a common pleas court judge in Hamilton County ordered a Cincinnati suburb to halt its camera program. In his decision, Judge Robert Ruehlman wrote that the village's traffic camera system violated a motorist's constitutional right to due process. He called the setup "a scam that motorists can't win."

Nine states have passed laws prohibiting the use of red-light cameras, while 12 outlaw speed cameras, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Akron's communications director, Stephanie York, said a "blanket prohibition" on traffic cameras in Ohio would be disappointing. Akron uses speed cameras exclusively in school zones to monitor traffic during student arrival and dismissal. The city began the program in 2005 after a car hit and killed a 10-year-old boy in a crosswalk.

(Ban the Cams note:  The propaganda claim is that they are for "safety"  The reality is that programs degenerate into a game of churning tickets for ever petty violtions.  The Elmwood Place, OH was using a "odd" defiintion of a school zone:  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4044.asp

Optotraffic has operated a speed camera in a "school zone" twenty-four hours a day and seven days per week.

These types of scams are not unheard of.  READ here on other Speed SCAMERA scams:  http://www.banthecams.org/2020-9-school-park-zone-speed-scams.html)

York said the city's program is targeted and effective. Akron's cameras caught 11,000 speeders last school year. The tickets generated more than a half-million dollars that went toward child safety programs.

"There are ways that cameras can and should be used," York said. "That's where the focus should be."

The legislation has been assigned to the House's Transportation, Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee for discussion.

OH, MD Courts BLAST Speed Camera PROGRAMS (OPTOTRAFFIC 24 hour "SCHOOL" Zone SCAM! 7 days a week!!!

Ban the Cams comment:  School Zone on a Sunday too at 10 pm.  What will the camera side scam us on next!

More scamera zone scams:  http://www.banthecams.org/2020-9-school-park-zone-speed-scams.html

Ban the Cams note:  The Ohio Legislature is getting tired of the scamera scam too.  They have bills to BAN SCAMERAS too!  http://www.cleveland.com/roadrant/index.ssf/2013/03/traffic_camera_ban_sought.html

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4044.asp

Ohio, Maryland Courts Address Speed Camera Due Process Concerns
Ohio, Maryland county court judges thwart the use of speed cameras.

Judges in Ohio and Maryland are cracking down on the legal shortcuts speed camera vendors frequently take. A Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas judge put a stop to it on Thursday with a permanent injunction prohibiting photo radar contractor Optotraffic from issuing $105 photo tickets in the village of Elmwood Place. In Baltimore County, Maryland last month, a circuit court judge ruled that the county has been violating state law by paying Xerox a bounty for every ticket the private company drops in the mail.

"If a contractor operates a speed monitoring system... the contractor's fee may not be contingent on the number of citations issued or paid," state code section 21-809 states.

Judge Susan Souder ruled local jurisdictions cannot evade the ban on contingent fees simply by claiming that Xerox and other firms do not "operate" the cameras.

"The fees paid to ACS Xerox on a per-citation basis violate Transportation Article 21-809(j)(2)," Judge Susan Souder ruled on February 21 ( view ruling, 230k PDF http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2013/md-contingent.pdf). "The state admits that Baltimore County entered into a contract with ACS Xerox requiring ACS Xerox to 'operate' 22 active speed cameras. The testimony of the witnesses confirmed that ACS Xerox is involved in the operation of the speed cameras."

This is the first ruling to come to that conclusion. Last year, Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, relied on technicalities to throw out a court challenge http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/38/3876.asp to contingent fee arrangements, without actually ruling on the merits of the issue.

In Ohio, Judge Robert P. Ruehlman also found the use of automated ticketing machines violated state law. Since last September, Optotraffic has operated a speed camera in a "school zone" twenty-four hours a day and seven days per week. Optotraffic takes a 40 percent cut of every fine issued, generating $362,250 in monthly revenue. Judge Ruehlman called the administrative hearings set up to allow motorists to challenge these fines a "sham."

"The so-called witness for Elmwood Place testifies from a report produced by the company that owns the speed monitoring unit," Judge Ruehlman wrote. "This witness has no personal knowledge of the speeding violation, and, therefore, their testimony is based solely on hearsay."

Judge Ruehlman also called into question the process by which the speed camera's accuracy is established in court.

"The device was not calibrated by a certified police officer, but rather it was calibrated by Optotraffic, the corporation that owns the device," Judge Ruehlman wrote. "Remember, Optotraffic has a financial stake in the game."

The judge found the process sets up situations that directly contradict state law.

"To compound this total disregard for due process, Elmwood Place has another scheme up its sleeve," Judge Ruehlman wrote. "If a motorist tries to convince a hearing officer that he or she was not the driver of the offending vehicle, the ordinance requires that the owner making such a claim provide the name and address of the driver of the vehicle... If the driver was the owner's spouse, the ordinance requires the owner to testify against his or her spouse, in violation of the spousal immunity statute."

A copy of the Ohio decision is available in a 1.3mb PDF file at the source link below.

Source:  Pruiett v. Elmwood Village (Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas, 3/7/2013) http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2013/oh-dueprocess.pdf

TN  House Panel OK'S Ban of Bluff City, TN Speed SCAMERA!

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9058208/state-house-panel-oks-amended-bluff-city-speed-camera-bill

State House panel OKs amended Bluff City speed camera bill
By Hank Hayes

Published March 6th, 2013 8:58 pm

 
State Rep. Timothy Hill’s legislation to put Bluff City’s two speed enforcement cameras out of business on Highway 11-E advanced in a House Transportation Subcommittee on Wednesday with an amendment.

That amendment, according to Hill, would allow Bluff City officials to complete the remaining year and a half of the town’s contract with the cameras’ private operator.

State Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, advised Hill that if other amendments are added to the bill when it reaches the House floor, the legislation would have to be sent back to the committee level.

“The intent of the legislation is to affect these two (Bluff City) cameras only,” Hill, R-Blountville, responded.

Bluff City aldermen had expressed public opposition to the bill, although Hill insisted he was getting positive constituent feedback.

Hill said he has talked with Vice Mayor Lon Gene Leonard about the legislation.

“I’ve been thinking about how we can make this as equitable as possible for Bluff City,” Hill said of those talks. “They have expressed concerns about revenue in various (news) articles. This (amendment) is really the best way I know how to allow them to finish with the current (traffic camera) contract.”

The state’s Fiscal Review Office projected Bluff City stands to lose more than $260,000 in annual revenue from traffic citations if the cameras no longer continue to operate.

Hill’s legislation now moves for consideration by the full House Transportation Committee. Its Senate sponsor is state Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains.

For more information, go to www.capitol.tn.gov. The bill’s number is HB 314.

James Elrod had this to say on the Ban bill in the comment area:

With all the mention of revenue from these cameras, they need to be pulled out of the ground today. Cameras are supposed to about safety, but Bluff City openly admitted they have become comfortable with their slot machine cameras paying off everyday.

Thank you Representative Hill for standing up for the people in your district. You are doing what an elected official is supposed to do.

Thanks to www.abd.org.uk on the link!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9895727/Judge-Constance-Briscoe-arrested-for-lying-to-police-about-role-in-exposing-Chris-Huhne.html

Judge Constance Briscoe arrested for 'lying to police' about role in exposing Chris Huhne

Britain's most prominent black judge, Constance Briscoe, has been arrested on suspicion of lying to police about her part in exposing Chris Huhne's speeding points scam, it can be revealed today.

Constance Briscoe, Britain's most high-profile black judge, has been arrested on suspicion of lying to police about her role in bringing about Chris Huhne's downfall

By Gordon Rayner, and Sam Marsden

4:54PM GMT 26 Feb 2013

Constance Briscoe, 55, helped Huhne’s ex-wife Vicky Pryce “cook up” a plan to bring about the former Cabinet minister’s downfall, then tipped off journalists about how Huhne had lied about who was driving his car when he was caught speeding.

But she allegedly lied in a police witness statement by saying she had not spoken to the media about the episode, leading to her arrest last October.

The jury at Miss Pryce’s retrial was told that Miss Briscoe was not being called as a prosecution witness because she could not be relied upon as a “witness of truth”.

Miss Briscoe, 55, has not been charged but remains on police bail.

Until now the media has been banned from reporting Miss Briscoe’s involvement in the Huhne case, or the reason she was arrested, because of a series of strict reporting restrictions issued by the courts.

But the jury at Southwark Crown Court trying Miss Pryce was told she and Miss Briscoe had told a journalist that a constituency aide called Jo White had taken speeding points for Huhne in 2003.

This was “a complete lie”, the court was told, because the person who had taken points on Huhne’s behalf, to help him avoid a driving ban, was Miss Pryce.

Miss Pryce denies a charge of perverting the course of justice. Huhne pleaded guilty to the same offence earlier this month.

Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, said Miss Briscoe was a neighbour of Miss Pryce and: “I think she had also had a difficulty in her marriage and they appear to have got closer to each other.

"The two of them appear to have cooked up a plan to go and see the press about Huhne and taking points.”

Together they approached Andrew Alderson, a freelance journalist, who offered the story to the Mail on Sunday.

Mr Edis said: "Vicky Pryce and Constance Briscoe went to see Alderson and the story they were giving him was it was Jo White who…took points for Huhne.

"Well, of course, that was a complete lie because the person who took points for Huhne when he had nine points was her (Pryce)."

The jury was told that Miss Briscoe emailed David Dillon, news editor of the Mail on Sunday, in December 2010 to claim that the "relevant person", for whom she was an “intermediary”, had been "bullied and pressurised" into taking Huhne's points.

Earlier the same month, Mr Alderson emailed Miss Briscoe to say: “Do we have lift off - ie a statement to the MoS? If so, I suspect he will be an ex minister by Sunday lunch-time ..."

The Sunday Times, which was in direct contact with Miss Pryce, eventually broke the story of Huhne passing off speeding points, leading to his resignation as Energy Secretary.

Mr Edis read a statement from Detective Inspector Martin Passmore explaining why certain people had not been called as witnesses in the case.

It said: “Ms Briscoe has provided statements to the police in this case but during the investigation it became apparent that she may have lied about her involvement with the press and that she denied having any contact with the Mail on Sunday or any other media organisation in relation to this story.

“Ms Pryce has not been arrested or interviewed in relation to that allegation. For this reason Ms Briscoe has been arrested and is currently under investigation by the police.

“Ms Briscoe could therefore no longer be relied upon as a witness of truth and on October 2, 2012 the Crown Prosecution Service took the decision not to call Ms Briscoe to give evidence in the case.”

Miss Briscoe, one of the first black women to sit as a judge in Britain, lived a few doors down from Miss Pryce's marital home in Clapham, south London.

Miss Pryce turned to her for help in 2010 when the former MP left her for his bisexual press adviser, Carina Trimingham.

Miss Briscoe, who grew up in south London, studied law at Newcastle and was called to the Bar in 1983. She worked as a criminal lawyer before being appointed a crown court recorder in 1996. She has worked as a specialist rape prosecutor and is a barrister at 9–12 Bell Yard chambers and wrote an autobiography in 2006 called Ugly.

Miss Briscoe declined to comment about her arrest when contacted by the Daily Telegraph.

UK West Midlands speed cameras are to be switched-off (Can't pay for themeseleves)

Thanks to the ABD on the link!

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2013/03/02/all-west-midlands-speed-cameras-are-to-be-switched-off/

March 2, 2013 1:00 pm
 
All West Midlands speed cameras are to be switched-off

All speed cameras in the West Midlands will be turned off at the end of the month, it was revealed – as it emerged talks about getting them turned back on in the future have been delayed.

Bosses are looking at the long-term future of the sites and if they could be converted to digital and turned back on in the future. The move would offset costs of processing outdated wet film but bosses have put back a meeting to debate whether to go ahead with the upgrade until May.

Ban the Cams note:  Why not just admit this was about money and just drop the scamreas.  The world will not come to a end you know. 

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4039.asp

Maryland, Australia, France, Russia, UK: Speed Cameras Attacked
Angle grinders, gasoline, crowbars, bourbon and a virus used to take out speed cameras across the world.

Vigilantes in Baltimore County, Maryland pried open a speed camera housing last weekend. According to WBAL Radio http://www.wbal.com/article/97840/2/template-story/Speed-Camera-Vandalized-Again-, the camera unit was not in the housing on Cromwell Bridge Road, but the flash and some other electronics were damaged.

In Prince George's County, officials boasted to WTOP radio http://www.wtop.com/654/3233613/How-effective-is-the-camera-watching-speed-camera that a camera watching a speed camera has prevented vigilante attacks since September. Last year, a dozen cameras were attacked.

A speed camera was cut down in the village of Six-Fours-les-Plages, France last weekend. An angle grinder sawed off the device on the Avenue de la Mer, leaving nothing but a stump with electrical wiring poking out, Nice Matin http://www.nicematin.com/derniere-minute/un-radar-decoupe-a-la-disqueuse-a-six-fours-dans-le-var.1157231.html reported.

Vigilantes in Norfolk, England set fire to a speed camera at around 3am on last Sunday morning. The Eastern Daily Press http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/education/speed_camera_set_on_fire_1_1952019 reported the device on the A148 in Fakenham was damaged but still able to issue tickets.

In Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, motorist Jackson Barnes, 19, threw a can of bourbon into the window of a Ford Territory speed camera van on Edward Street, the Daily Advertiser http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/1325592/vandal-filmed-throwing-can-at-speed-camera/?cs=148 reported. Barnes was found guilty and ordered to pay a fine on Monday.

A computer virus has disabled speed cameras in Moscow, Russia, Izvestia http://izvestia.ru/news/545688 reported. The infected took down the computer network earlier this month, and contractors are still trying to repair the system.
 

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4037.asp

UK: Complaint Lodged Against Dodgy Speed Camera Statistics
UK Advertising Standards Authority investigating claims of speed camera efficacy.

Do advertisements touting the benefits of speed cameras meet the legal definition of false advertising? The Alliance of British Drivers (ABD) thinks so. Malcolm Heymer, a retired civil engineer with thirty years of experience who advises the group, filed a complaint last week with the UK Advertising Standards Authority, an independent agency that enforces UK laws against false advertising.

Heymer took aim at ads that appeared in Local Transport Today paid for by Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions, a vendor of automated ticketing machines. The advertisements claimed that the point-to-point, average speed camera system known as SPECS was responsible for a reduction in the worst sort of traffic collisions of over 70 percent.

"The clear implication of this wording is that it is the SPECS installations alone that are responsible for what appears to be, at face value, an impressive reduction in KSI (killed and seriously injured) casualties. The claim deliberately ignores other universally recognized factors that make significant contributions to casualty reductions at speed camera sites," Heymer wrote. "It is clear that Vysionics' claim is intended to convince potential clients that buying one of its systems will reduce road casualties substantially, and in my view this amounts to fraudulent misrepresentation."

A Vysionics press release from 2011 listed fifteen photo enforced locations where the claimed casualty reduction was a combined 73 percent. Heymer noted Department for Transport statistics show exceeding the speed limit was a factor in 7 percent of fatal and serious injury accidents. From this, he argued the maximum possible KSI accident reduction from full compliance with the posted speed limit would be 7 percent. He insists the camera company has inflated its claim by relying on tricks, including a statistical phenomenon known as regression to the mean.

"In almost all cases, speed cameras (of whatever type) are installed following a period during which accident numbers at a location or along a length of road have been higher than usual," Heymer wrote. "So there is a high probability that the numbers would fall again anyway, without intervention. That accident numbers dropped after the camera was installed very often has nothing to do with the camera being there, but the camera gets the credit for the fall in casualties."

The official accident figures from thirteen of the fifteen locations selected by Vysionics reveal additional flaws in the claim. At A46 Farndon, A616 Stocksbridge Bypass, A228 Isle of Grain, A6514 Ring Road - Nottingham and A52 Bingham, Vysionics overstated the accident reduction. At A52 Bingham, accidents ranged between zero and three incidents per year, which are numbers far too low to discern any statistically significant trend.

"In only one case does it appear that the SPECS system may have had a real effect on KSI numbers, although there is a possibility that other, unknown factors may have played a part in the observed casualty reduction," Heymer wrote. "In conclusion, the claim that 'SPECS installations on average reduce KSIs by greater than 70 percent' is clearly not supported by an analysis of the evidence. Vysionics should therefore be told to retract its claim and not to repeat it or similar claims in the future."

The Advertising Standards Authority has acknowledged the complaint and is looking into it. The agency has ruled against misleading speed camera statistics in the past. In 2006, the agency chastised Greater Manchester police for producing a booklet that relied on misleading camera statistics http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/11/1193.asp. In 2005, the agency ruled against the West Yorkshire speed camera partnership http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/08/820.asp. A related agency, the UK Statistics Commission, condemned the national government's speed camera claims in 2006 http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/13/1359.asp based on the findings of the British Medical Journal.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4033.asp

Belgium, France: Speed Cameras Targeted
Speed camera attacks on the rise in Belgian Limburg, French camera spraypainted.

Vigilantes in Paris, France disabled a speed camera on the D1016 on Monday. The entire front of the automated ticketing machine was spraypainted a bright green, according to Le Parisien http://www.leparisien.fr/espace-premium/oise-60/un-radar-automatique-vert-de-rage-19-02-2013-2578421.php.

In Limburg, Belgium, the number of speed cameras being disabled is on the rise. According to Het Belang Van Limburg http://www.hbvl.be/limburg/23-flitspalen-defect-in-limburg.aspx, automated ticketing machines have fallen out of service 141 times in the last three years. The causes include cameras being set on fire a dozen times and 18 cases of spraypaint attack. Most attacks keep cameras offline for two weeks and have cost officials 1.57 million euros (US $2.1 million).

Malcolm Heymer's of the ABD complaint to UK Advertising Standards Authority Ltd. 

Excerpt:

I wish to complain about an advertisement by Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions, manufacturers of the SPECS average-speed camera enforcement system. The advertisement, a photo-reduced copy of which is attached as Appendix 1, has appeared in at least three editions of Local Transport Today (11 and 25 January, and 8 February 2013) but may have appeared in earlier editions and possibly other publications. Local Transport Today is a fortnightly publication for transport professionals, to which I have a subscription.

My complaint concerns the wording under “What do we deliver?” where it is claimed that “SPECS installations on average reduce KSIs by >70%”. The clear implication of this wording is that it is the SPECS installations alone that are responsible for what appears to be, at face value, an impressive reduction in KSI (killed and seriously injured) casualties. The claim deliberately ignores other universally recognised factors that make significant contributions to casualty reductions at speed camera sites. Thus, even if cameras do produce any net benefits, they must be very much smaller than the observed reductions, as I show below.

It is clear that Vysionics’ claim is intended to convince potential clients that buying one of its systems will reduce road casualties substantially, and in my view this amounts to fraudulent misrepresentation.

Attachments:

File	Description
ASA Vysionics complaint _letter_[1].pdf

Malcolm Heymer of the ABD BLAST FALSE ADVERTISING BY SPEED SCAMERA VENDOR!

Ban the Cams note: there NO WORKING LINKS ON THIS SUBJECT.  Evenlink doesn't work after 2 days.  http://www.transportxtra.com/magazines/local_transport_today/news/?ID=33775

"Drivers ask advertising watchdog to investigate speed camera claims"

That was the title on Transport Extra.  We wonder why it went missing???? 

But thanks to Malcolm Heymer of the ABD for sharing this with Ban the Cams!

Highlight on the article by Andrew Foster:

"In eight cases, no contritution from the SPECS system to the observed reductions in KSI's can be shown, either because those reductions can be explained entirely by Regresson to the Mean, national trend and other known factors, or the numbers of KSIs per year are so small that random variability predominates.

In three cases it has been impossible to determine whether the SPECS system has contributed to the reductions."  In the remaint case, Hymer says casulity data records a 133% rise in KSI's after SPECS were installed, whereas Vysionics says there was a 56% decline.

Overall Heymer concludes:  "In only one case does it appear that the SPECS system may have had a real effect on KSI numbers".

Overall the SPECS safety claims are dubious.  In fact in a letter Malcolm Heymer sent he said this:

It is clear that Vysionics’ claim is intended to convince potential clients that buying one of its systems will reduce road casualties substantially, and in my view this amounts to fraudulent misrepresentation.

Note this is not the first time this has been found out.

The UK report on speed scameras in 2005 THAT WAS HIDDEN, indicated that SPECS scameras CAUSED MORE WRECKS!

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/602.asp

The UK Department for Transport funded, then suppressed, a study that shows a 55 percent increase in injury accidents when speed cameras are used on highway work zones and a 31 percent increase when used on freeways without construction projects. According to the Transport Research Laboratory, the "non-works [personal injury accident] rate is significantly higher for the sites with speed cameras than the rate for sites without."

An analysis of this data, buried on page 43 of the report, yields the following result:
 

Quote: 

Attachments:

File	Description
LTT article on Vysionics ASA complaint 22.2.13[1].pdf

Redflex AU mobile speed scamera CALLED ENTRAPMENT BY NSW MINISTER!!!!!

http://www.cootamundraherald.com.au/story/1314755/minister-admits-mobile-speed-camera-entrapment/?cs=2452

Minister admits mobile speed camera 'entrapment'

Feb. 20, 2013, 3:16 p.m.

NSW Minister for Roads Duncan Gay has admitted tactics used by the operators of a mobile speed camera in the southern NSW town of Wagga Wagga shouldn't be happening.

Weighing in on the debate after being approached about the situation by Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire, the minister's office contacted Fairfax Regional Media yesterday to issue the following statement.

"It looks like entrapment, which is exactly what we didn't want to happen," Mr Gay said.

"We want a clear message out there and the placement of these signs was careless at best."

At the weekend Wagga motorists captured images highlighting the fact warning signs required under the NSW Speed Camera Strategy were placed in locations not readily visible to approaching motorists.

Signs were placed before intersections and behind parked cars at distances not consistent with the strategy guidelines.

The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) says it will now review the issue with Wagga contractors, Redflex.

"The RMS regularly audits the operations of the mobile enforcement program," a spokeswoman said.

"In light of the recent community concerns around the placement of mobile speed camera signs, the RMS will review the issue with the contractor and reinforce the need to follow set procedures."
 

Fairfax Regional Media contacted Redflex for comment on the placement of the signs.

At the time of going to press, Redflex had not returned calls or issued a statement in response.

Redflex is paid an agreed contract rate per hour of enforcement and are not paid according to the number of speeding incidents detected. The company operates mobile speed cameras around NSW.

The RMS has also struck out at Wagga City Council's request for a permit to place the signs on council land, saying it is not required to apply for one.

"The RMS wrote to Wagga Council in January to advise it is permitted under the Roads Act 1993 to carry out traffic control work on all public roads, transit ways that are not public roads and on all road related areas," a spokeswoman said.

"A 138 permit is not required."
 

Political Correctness - the awful Truth:  Speed SCAMERAS

http://www.politicallyincorrect.me.uk/speedcameras.htm

Speed Cameras

Speed camera's proliferate across our land as a revenue raising exercise, under the guise of 'road safety.' Yet these devices, far from reducing accidents are actually more likely to cause them and generally it is not the 'boy racers' that are caught but the ordinary, normally law abiding drivers who inadvertently stray a few mph over the limit. Des O'Connor is just three points away from a driving ban after receiving three speeding tickets in six months after a proliferation of cameras on the Buckinghamshire roads near his home. Yet until now he has driven for 42 years without a blemish on his licence. Also it is claimed that over 1,000 magistrates have been caught speeding by the cameras. Yet the 'boy racer' types make it their business to know exactly where the cameras are by employing simple GPS devices in their cars which beep as they approach the position of a camera. This device can be kept up to date by downloading a new database from the manufacturers site on the internet.

Even the retired Chief Constable who was responsible for introducing the cameras in the first place considers that they are now just used to hound drivers and make money. Peter Joslin says that while he is obviously not against them if they are positioned where they will prevent accidents, he feels there are now too many on the roads and more are not necessary. The Police also place an over reliance on cameras and have drastically reduced the number of 'traffic' cars that go on patrol. This means that there are LESS officers on the road patrolling that are likely to catch those driving without insurance, driving dangerous vehicles or driving whilst being drunk.

In the clamour to raise more cash, many of these cameras are actually sited illegally. The boss of the Norfolk scheme, Barry Parnell quit after police investigated the sites of the county's cameras and criticised the interpretation of the data used to site 15 fixed cameras and many of the 72 mobile sites.

Traffic researchers also point out that only 1 in 8 car crashes is actually caused by driving above the speed limit. Most are caused by driver inattention (keeping a close eye on the speedometer or looking out for cameras?) and by the failure to judge the speed and path of other vehicles. Speed camera partnerships have also been accused of ‘sexing up’ statistics to raise more cash. The charge was made after one such body was criticised for wrongly claiming a quarter of road deaths are caused by drivers breaking the limit. The Advertising Standards Authority said the London Safety Camera Partnership’s claim was misleading and could not be justified by fatal accident statistics. Motoring groups said the adjudication proved that cash for-camera partnerships were ‘sexing up’ statistics to justify their existence and increase revenue. ABD spokesman Mark McArthur Christie said: ‘The partnerships sex-up their figures and spin them to suit their argument.’ Paul Smith, of the Safe Speed campaign group, said: ‘Definitions about excessive and inappropriate speed are hazy. ‘But it’s good to see the truth finally coming out. Road safety depends on true and accurate figures.’

Police in the province of Ontario in Canada removed their cameras completely in 1995 and increased police patrols on the road instead. Their death toll has dropped from 999 in 1995 when the cameras went and now is only 881 per year. A spokesman for the Canadian Government said that cameras did nothing to deter the real dangers facing road users which were drunk and drugged drivers, tailgaters and those driving cars with serious mechanical defects. The chance of being stopped by a police patrol was a better deterrent.

Unfortunately the evidence has been ignored by our government and our police who plan to put even more cameras on our roads and now up to twelve miles from the accident black spots rather than the three mile limit now. Yet last year as the cameras issued three million speeding tickets raising about £180,000,000, the number of road deaths actually increased to 3,508.

In 2008, Swindon Council was the first council to vote to remove speed cameras from their town although at the time of writing this has not happened yet.

This subject qualifies for inclusion under my definition of political correctness. http://www.politicallyincorrect.me.uk/definition.htm

French looking for more cash.  Now rolling mobile speed scameara!

Ban the Cams note:  As a wise man once said.  "MEASURE WHAT IS IMPORTANT, not what is easy to measure".

Given that this is to be used on expressways, which by design have the lowest deaths due to being limited access.  THIS IS MORE ABOUT RAISING CASH!

IN the US the deaths related to exceeding the speed limit are UNDER 2%!  http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/38/3801.asp

Quote:  Out of 2.7 million traffic accidents recorded in twenty-five states over the course of a year, only 1.6 percent were caused by drivers who exceeded the posted speed limit. The figures come from an analysis by TheNewspaper of annual reports typically compiled by each state for use in applying for grant money from the National Highway Transportation Agency (NHTSA).

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4032.asp

New Moving Speed Camera Blends With Freeway Traffic
French agency grants type approval to a car-mounted speed camera that issues tickets while driving.

Soon the car behind you on the freeway might be carrying a speed camera. The "Gatso Millia" moving photo radar system is installed in an inconspicuous sedan in the hopes of catching motorists by surprise, photographing them on the highway unaware of what happened until a citation appears in the mail weeks later. The reference laboratory LNE (Laboratoire national de metrologie et d'essais) granted type approval to the device on Monday, certifying it as fit for use on French roads.

Conventional photo enforcement devices monitor traffic while stationary. Even "mobile" photo radar vans stop on the side of the road when issuing citations. As a result, most drivers slam on the brakes before approaching a known speed camera site, only to speed up after passing the device in order to make up for the lost time. The new system is meant to create roving speed traps that even careful drivers would find difficult to avoid. Police have had dashcam systems combined with radar that provide speed readouts of target vehicles while moving, but this is the first system designed to operate in a fully automated mode.

"The modular components of this configuration are built into the car so that it can be operated in an ergonomic way," the Gatso Millia brochure explains. "One of the major advantages is that the appearance of the vehicle is not affected. For enforcement in both directions, the in-car solution can be incorporated both in the front and/or the rear of the car."

Gatso Millia uses an ordinary K-band doppler radar antenna and flash module installed on the front or rear bumper of the automobile. Batteries, the flash generator and the computer module are installed in the trunk.

The certification noted a number of limitations with the technology: The device is configured to issue a ticket only if the target vehicle is driving 20km/h (12 MPH) faster than the camera vehicle. The camera does not function in extreme temperatures of -4 degrees Fahrenheit. It cannot work on a road more than four lanes wide.

The system claims to read speeds between 12 MPH and 155 MPH. A GPS unit adds geographic coordinates to the citation photograph and video so that the authorities can verify the alleged speeding took place within a particular jurisdiction. The only human intervention needed is to have the speed camera driver enter the correct speed limit.

Based in The Netherlands, Gatso supplies speed cameras to many of the photo ticketing firms that operate in the United States. Gatso first began making automated ticketing machines more than fifty years ago.

(Ban the Cams note:  THE SCAMERA VENDOR IS EMBATTLED REDFLEX, you know the ones who are involved in that Bribery Scandal on another continent!)

http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/1310074/and-this-isnt-revenue-raising/?cs=148

And this isn't revenue raising?

Feb. 19, 2013, 7 a.m.

THE tactics employed by operators of mobile speed cameras in Wagga at the weekend has left some motorists convinced their presence isn't about road safety but raising revenue http://www.dailyadvertiser.com.au/story/1310139/rms-failed-to-seek-speed-camera-sign-permission/?cs=12.

On at least two occasions, signs warning motorists of the presence of the mobile speed camera were obscured by parked vehicles which has prompted member for Wagga Daryl Maguire to raise the issue with Roads Minister Duncan Gay.

The Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) is conducting an urgent investigation into the matter.

Under the NSW Speed Camera Strategy released in June last year, mobile speed camera signs and vehicle markings were enhanced and the number of warning signs doubled to make enforcement more visible to motorists.

But close inspection and documentation by a number of Wagga motorists at the weekend has highlighted the fact the warning signs were placed in locations not readily visible by approaching motorists.

“There are clear key protocols for the placement of the signs put into place after we came into government,” Mr Maguire said.

“I have been in touch with the minister to raise the issue and if there are breaches to have occurred the people putting the signs out will be set straight.

“I’m well aware it was an issue and motorists want to be given a fair warning and for the signs to be visible.”
Just after 6pm last night, the RMS was unable to provide answers about the sign placements and were committed to providing a response today.

A spokeswoman was able to confirm the operations of the camera are contracted to Redflex, which only received an agreed contract rate per hour of enforcement, not a commission for the number of speeding incidents detected, debunking concerns by motorists operators were hiding signs for their own benefit.

Rod Donkin is one of the Wagga residents who at the weekend took evidence of the speed camera vehicle set up on Tarcutta Street after reading the concerns of former head of Wagga police Kevin Wales.

He agreed with the need for the cameras, but said it was questionable as to why the signs were hidden.

“Fair enough if you speed and you get caught, but they need to be fair about it,” Mr Donkin said.

“I am sure that any person on the road will say they don’t like it.”
 

http://theexpiredmeter.com/2013/02/northside-republican-demands-halt-to-chicagos-speed-cameras/

Northside Republican Demands Halt To Chicago’s Speed Cameras
February 11, 2013  

In light of a growing scandal involving the vendor for Chicago’s red light camera program http://theexpiredmeter.com/2013/02/city-ousts-redflex-as-bidder-for-red-light-camera-contract/, Northside Republican Committeeman Scott Davis wants to put the brakes on the city’s new speed camera program.

A report by the Chicago Tribune last week http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/544/article/p2p-74336789/ revealed more allegations of misconduct by Redflex Traffic Systems employees, where the former Deputy Commissioner for the Chicago Department of Transportation overseeing the RLC program was provided free trips and hotel accommodations to the Superbowl and other sporting events.

After the most recent revelations, Mayor Rahm Emanuel barred the firm from bidding on the new red light camera contract coming up for bid–a contract the Redflex has held since the program’s inception in 2003.

However, the decision to award the contract for the city’s newest expansion of automated traffic enforcement, speed cameras, is imminent. And while Redflex was also barred from bidding on the speed camera contract, Davis feels the recent scandal surrounding red light cameras demonstrates the city has no business expanding this type of enforcement and wants the Mayor and City Council to stop it from moving forward.

“I’m just calling on the Mayor and the City Council to repeal a speed camera ordinance that it unwanted by the citizens of Chicago,” says Davis, Republican Committeeman for the 44th Ward. “There is still time for the City Council and the Mayor to do the right thing. The story last week shows this type of (automated camera) enforcement is about contracts, clout and corruption. It’s the typical Chicago machine story we see over and over. It should be a big warning not to move forward with the speed camera program.”

The ordinance allowing speed camera enforcement passed last April 33-14, despite heavy public opposition and is expected to generate between $20-$30 million in revenue for the city in 2013.

It’s this multi-million dollar revenue estimate and the over $330 million generated by the city’s RLC program that makes Davis believe the speed camera program is primarily about money, not safety.

“There’s no way to prove it’s (speed cameras) about safety,” said Davis. “It’s impossible to measure the success of a program like this–it’s just about money. More and more people are seeing it for what is is–a scam.”

The city recently ended a month long test of the speed camera technology of two finalists for the contract on January 4th and is in the process of determining which company’s system would work best.

But, according to Richard Diamond, publisher The Newspaper.com http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/39/3976.asp, a national news website covering the politics of driving issues, Redflex along with Affilated Computer Services (recently acquired by Xerox) and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the two companies vying for the city’s speed camera contract, all have a history of ethically challenged behavior.

“Redflex has done this before–we reported about how Redflex put up a Tennessee police chief at the Ritz-Carlton http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/32/3282.asp in return for his favorable testimony in court,” said Diamond. “ATS routinely hosts and entertains local officials from around the country at “training” sessions in Phoenix. Two cops in Canada were put on trial after ACS (now Xerox) gave them hockey tickets and trips in return for their favorable recommendation on the contract. One of the officers even had an affair with an ACS employee.”

Charges against the two Edmonton, Canada policemen were ultimately dismissed.

There’s also been questions surrounding the reliability of ACS/Xerox’s technology.

Currently, state officials in Maryland are investigating troubling issues with the speed camera program operated by ACS/Xerox according to Diamond’s website. An audit of the program showed 56% of the photographs supplied by the company as evidence were unreadable http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/39/3976.asp. The company also admitted this past December that 5.6% of the speed camera violations it issued to drivers in Baltimore, MD were erroneous http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/39/3976.asp.

American Traffic Solutions has been facing its own challenges of late. ATS and Redflex, along with 18 New Jersey municipalities are defendants in a class action lawsuit claiming over $10.2 million in illegal citations were issued. ATS recently agreed to partially refund the traffic camera fines of New Jersey drivers to the tune of $4.2 million http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/39/3989.asp, in a suit that claims the municipalities failed to file legally required traffic studies and have a state required six month equipment inspection. ATS denied any wrongdoing but entered into the agreement in a seemingly strategic move to limit their liability in this particular lawsuit.

Chicago’s Childrens’ Safety Zone ordinance states when a camera becomes operational drivers will receive a warning for their first offense, but subsequent violations will cost drivers exceeding the speed limit between 6-10 mph $35 or $100 for motorists exceeding the speed limit by over 11 mph. The cameras will operate within 1/8 of a mile of a school or park. Mayor Emanuel has contended from the idea’s inception the program was aimed at saving the lives and reducing serious injuries of children due to crashes.

“The victims we’re trying to protect are the children,” said Emanuel at a press conference unveiling the speed camera concept just over a year ago.

“How is taking money from working families helping children?” said Davis about these fines and scoffing at the Mayor contention speed cameras will save the lives of children. “You’re taking food off the tables of poor and working class people. Plus you’re hurting local business by taking money–millions of dollars–out of the economy. Small business will be hurt by this tax. It’s just legal plunder.”

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10233412.Singer_says_Hove_speed_camera_crash_made_him_local_hero/?ref=nt

Singer says Hove speed camera crash made him local hero
.3:00pm Saturday 16th February 2013 in News .

A rock singer has claimed his close encounter with a speed camera made him a “local hero”.

In 2010 Bad Seeds frontman Nick Cave smashed his Jaguar car into a camera in Kingsway, Hove, putting it out of action for weeks.

The singer and his two sons walked away from the crash unharmed.

In an interview with a national newspaper, he said: “I became a local hero – I took out the camera along the seafront with my Jag.

"I was the toast of Brighton for about five days.

" Little goths came and prayed at the scene and wrote ‘Nick Cave was here’.”

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/40/4027.asp

Poland, UK: Speed Cameras Swiped, Scorched,
Photo enforcement camera cut down in Scotland, set on fire in Poland.

Vigilantes in the Borders, Scotland cut down and swiped a speed camera early Monday. The automated ticketing machine on the A68 near Longnewton Sawmill became the fourth camera attacked in the area since October, BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-21413646 reported.

A speed camera in Lublin, Poland suffered light damage Monday after being set on fire. According to Dziennik Wschodni http://www.dziennikwschodni.pl/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130212/LUBLIN/130219856 the camera lens was destroyed but the rest of the internal workings survived.

Speed limit signs disappear from Winnipeg streets (To churn speed scamera tickets maybe???)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/02/13/mb-speed-limit-signs-disappear-winnipeg.html

Speed limit signs disappear from Winnipeg streets
Local group calls for more signs, city removes existing ones
CBC News Posted: Feb 13, 2013 10:32 AM CST Last Updated: Feb 13, 2013 7:58 PM CST   
 

A group of Winnipeggers wants to know why the city is quietly removing speed-limit signs from residential areas.

Wise Up Winnipeg, a group that monitors traffic law enforcement in Winnipeg, said the city has been plucking signs from East Kildonan that remind drivers the speed limit is 50 kilometres per hour.

Chris Sweryda of Wise Up Winnipeg said the city needs more, not fewer signs to remind drivers to slow down.

The city of Winnipeg has removed about 10 speed limit signs following request from a citizen to add more signs. (CBC)“I think it’s an obvious ploy to increase ticket revenues, and I think it goes against the city’s claims that they want drivers to just slow down,” said Sweryda.

But city officials say residents should know the speed limit is 50 km/h unless otherwise posted.

Officials argue having the signs up provides inconsistency in the city and more are set to come down.

Resident Matt Wrenn said he sees the sign removal as an attempt to raise revenue for the city.

“I think you’ll see the signs are gone, and the radar vehicles are out,” said Wrenn.

Patricia Matthews, who lives on Springfield Road, said she's worried about the safety of children in the area.

“I want them back up. There are so many children coming out of school here and crossing the road. It’s dangerous,” said Matthews.