Scottish Elises

driving to asda last night i joined the M74 at strathy park heading for hamilton. there are road works on the motorway and i'm looking for the speed limit sign when i notice a light that's not working, so look up to the left hand side and think what the hell is that?

black mast with a black outrigger and two camera's on it!

frantically looking for the speed limit now i notice its' 40mph and i remember seeing these camera's down the M6 last year (although they were yellow) they're average speed camera's! there were another couple about half a mile up the road. same on the other side around bothwell services or so. but there are no signs to warn you about them and tbh i thought this was illegal?

anyone any ideas?

incidentally i managed to fit 90 quid worth of shopping in the elise - which is a bit of a record for me!!

ninja

They sound like the SPECS cameras.

Check the police website for your constabulary as they must publish the location of GATSOs, SPECS and camera vans etc on their site. They also have to give the dates that the mobile cameras and camera vans are going to be at the locations.

For SPECS cameras they have to warn you that they are active and as with all cameras, there must be a warning sign within 1000m of the camera.

ewan

Might not be up and running yet? It took awhile before the SPECS on the 77 was switched on.

It was on local radio that they were going to be average speed cameras for 40mph limit in the area for the road works around junction 5 for the next 10 weeks.

Also pissed off to find that my local test track (A725 Dual Carriageway Coatbridge- M74 J5 - East Kilbride) now appears to be a 60mph limit
What's that all about ? Just like some parts of Livingston where you wonder why the hell there are low limits on roads that don't seem to have any need for them.

Better change my location to 101 seconds from Strathclyde park to reflect the lowering of the speed limit

ninja wrote: i managed to fit 90 quid worth of shopping in the Elise

I have never even spent £90 on shopping, but did once spend £90 on fuel Thought there was a hole in the tank.

drunken spraff

yip the A725 is now a 60mph road must of just happend in the last few days

Craig

these camera's are apparently active

i've emailed strathclyde police to ask what's going on

ninja

You mean you could get past 40mph there tonight? I drove through it yesterday and tonight and it was fecking gridlock!

reply from strathclyde police

There is a programme of essential roadworks on the M74 in the area of the Raith Interchange which is due to run from the beginning of March for 10 weeks. In the interests of road safety, a temporary 40mph speed limit is being imposed. The Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership has been asked by Transport Scotland to operate an average speed safety camera system within these roadworks to encourage drivers to comply with the temporary limit.

The provision and erection of the SPECS camera system, together with associated signage, is the responsibility of the highway authority and has to be completed before the Partnership is able to service the system. I assume that you were travelling through the area during the time that work was underway to instal cameras and signs, in which case it was non-operational. No camera speed enforcement can take place until our personnel have inspected and tested the system and ensured everything is in place. The camera warning signage planned for the roadworks is clear and indicates that it is an average speed system not a fixed point camera.

Amey Highways is the agent for this trunk road and they have issued two press releases, a fortnight apart, which highlighted the fact that the camera system will be in place and why it is required. I attach one for your information. This story was covered extensively in the media.

In conclusion, I can assure you that the system was not operational when you drove past during last weekend. The whole purpose of the safety cameras is to deter drivers from speeding through the roadworks not to catch offenders. We operate a SPECS system on a 32 mile stretch of the A77 in South Ayrshire which has had a massive effect in reducing excessive speeds and has only recorded 49 offenders in its first six months of operation - an excellent result when you consider that there are more than 30,000 vehicles a day using the road.

I trust this addresses your query.

ninja

ninja wrote:
We operate a SPECS system on a 32 mile stretch of the A77 in South Ayrshire which has had a massive effect in reducing excessive speeds and has only recorded 49 offenders in its first six months of operation - an excellent result when you consider that there are more than 30,000 vehicles a day using the road.

I trust this addresses your query.

ninja

Yeah - trust me, we now use alternative routes.....

Ninja,

What e-mail address did you use?

I'm interested on where the reduction on the EK expressway/Bellshill by-pass was introduced and when it was publicised to road users in the vicinity.


Cheers


Mac

Shug wrote:

ninja wrote:
We operate a SPECS system on a 32 mile stretch of the A77 in South Ayrshire which has had a massive effect in reducing excessive speeds and has only recorded 49 offenders in its first six months of operation - an excellent result when you consider that there are more than 30,000 vehicles a day using the road.

I trust this addresses your query.

ninja

Yeah - trust me, we now use alternative routes.....

The SPECS system on the A77 was not installed at the cost of millions of pounds to catch speeders. That would be an appalling waste of tax payers money. (SPECS is stunningly expensive to run/install). It was reportedly installed to reduce deaths on one of Scotland's most dangerous roads, that money would have been better spent IMHO by building flyovers at Symington and two other junctions. This would have cost more, saved more lives but generated no revenue.

So with that in mind PLEASE write back to the f*cking Pollis and ask them what have been the reductions in accidents since the system went live? It is entirely possible that they were wrong to install speed cameras, that no-one sped before (which would explain them catching only 49 speeders) and that the reason that people died was because it is essentially a motorway across which people can turn right. And crash. Ayrshire is, according to the signage, Scotland's holiday county. So that is a lot of tourists driving along what looks like a motorway across which tractors regularly cross. Accidents? No sh*t Sherlock.

It is also my misfortune to drive the Bellshill- E/K road a lot. Yes the speed limit has dropped (as it has dropping into Bellshill from the M8). No signs to advertise the fact (the normal red "New Speed Limit" signs are noticable only by their absence) but according to my brother-in-law never seen before speed traps have become a regular occurence.

The only things to advertise this are the smallest of small, only normally used as repeater signs, speed limit signs. F*ckers.

Neil Macgillivray
Communications Manager
Strathclyde Safety Camera Partnership
Road Policing Complex
433 Helen Street
Glasgow
G51 3HH

Tel: 0141 532 6405
Mobile: 07747 476030
Fax: 0141 532 6501
E-mail: neil.macgillivray@strathclyde.pnn.police.uk
Website: http://www.camerascutcrashes.com

ninja