HIDDEN SPEED CAMERA

movnon, Jan 15, 9:32am
There is a spot that the revenue collectors frequent out my way, SH39. usually they park on the grass verge about 200 m from a LH corner on the south bound side. If you are vigilant there is no problem.This afternoon the operator parked 25-30 m further along but right against a hedge, thereby obscuring his presence from vehicles heading the opposing way (north bound & downhill - easy to gather a bit of speed).IMO this is a hidden camera, a situation which was happening a few years ago but was banned (& rightly so).If you might be ticketed you should have the opportunity to see the camera vehicle & slow down, which is meant to be the purpose of the exercise rather than revenue gathering. What do you think!
pollymay, Jan 15, 9:41am
Of course it's revenue gathering. If it was for safety they wouldn't have such lame tolerances and police such stupid stretches of road. I fail to see why people accept what they say as unsafe. Most competent drivers know when they are being unsafe for the conditions, why would you change that ideal just cause some twat in a uniform says so!

There needs to be policing cause people are simply too dumb, but there is a balance to be kept.
thejazzpianoma, Jan 15, 9:46am
Enough is enough, times are tough enough without being penalised with higher insurance premiums and stupid fines through Police playing stupid games instead of getting on with the job of improving safety.
sandypheet, Jan 15, 6:41pm
So if a person wasnt speeding,would it be a problem!
2lo4ho, Jan 15, 6:43pm
or the ticket i got last week when they stepped out from behind a tree, patrol vehicle parked in an industrial building driveway well away from the road. Officer writing my ticket while the other officer was literally hiding behind shrubs on his knees then standing up and walking out onto the road signalling people to pullover. yes i was wrong to be speeding but hiding on your knees behind a shrub in order to get tickets is a bit on the nose
trouser, Jan 15, 6:52pm
No of course not. You are 100 million times safer traveling at the purely arbitrary speed limit.
drog, Jan 15, 6:52pm
Amen to that.
helpless, Jan 15, 9:16pm
Gang nail the area where they park.
xs1100, Jan 15, 11:54pm
no and we need more people like you sitting behind desks all day making rules unlike those of us that have time dependant deliveries and customers who dont like hearing "i had to stick to the speed limitand because traffic was so bad thats why your desk is 12 hours late" hahaha try driving for a living and then you might change your mind about some of our revenue enforcement agencies
gedo1, Jan 16, 7:03am
Couple of points - first, post 3, it was hidden.but you saw it so how could it have been hidden!

The other thing is that if they are "revenue collectors" those of us who get snapped speeding and thus fined must be "revenue providers".Takes both for it to be effective.So I've decided I am a revenue provider when I speed.Hmmmm!
gedo1, Jan 16, 7:09am
.and then post 5.The guy was of course not speeding when he SAW the "hidden" speed camera!Tui!And how would you feel if this very same driver was unable to control his vehicle and hit you when you were taking some evasive action such as a to avoid a person walking out onto a road.I know I know it was a motorway in your case.What's the basic guide. must be able to stop in half the clear distance of road ahead!No-one to blame but the driver for failing to drive sensibly.No sympathy.If he came to me to act for him to defend a case I would easily decline him and tell him to take the consequences of his actions.
gedo1, Jan 16, 7:12am
Hey papariccardo, normally I 100% agree with you but sorry not this time. Like a number of others (altho in this case it was not you personally) the passing of blame for our actions when it is an inability to drive sensibly that causes these incidents is bovine excrement and the very reason why we do have some rather silly laws and such enforcement.Blame these individuals for what we others also have to "obey"
movnon, Jan 16, 10:04am
The real question is, when hidden speed cameras were banned, how is hiding from plain view in both directions OK. - making these mobile cash registers visible will surely slow down speeders just as a patrol car will. Is not the aim of the police to slow speeders down! (rather than collect revenue)
pollymay, Jan 16, 11:14am
LOL hand us a tui will ya ;)

They spend hundreds of thousands on ad and slogan campaigns the do squat but god forbid that they actually employed a compulsory drivers system like the US or some driver training. And before anyone makes any comments about taxpayers forking out for it we already do in our insurance and ACC premiums. Also the US style of driving school means you have lots of people getting valid licenses and contributing to the economy by paying road tax, using petrol and getting jobs requiring a licence. Money comes from more than one place.
movnon, Jan 16, 7:53pm
yeah ,like money trees. Its the revenue collecting aspect rather than a genuine attempt to slow speeders that is the issue here.I understand that in OZ they must warn motorists of speed camera in the area.
gedo1, Jan 16, 8:26pm
Not in all states.In Queensland it was the rule.And to have a successful Revenue Collection there has to be revenue providers.Revenue collection from speeders = speeders are revenue providers who must know that by speeding they can become a provider.
Also when the notice that speed cameras were in an area in NZ was removed the term speed cameras any where any time was used.Still stands to day. anywhere; anytime!
pollymay, Jan 16, 9:41pm
They do, there is a little blue sign they put next to the van lol.

I dunno what the gooberment wants, cause see you get say a $30 fine. That goes out of your pocket to theirs. So now you don't spend that $30 elsewhere so no gst, no tax and then the next person doesn't spend it either, they never got it. However $30 direct to them is better than $30 and they get 15% or the chance you would never spend it right! Well they use that fine money to finance a campaign about something dumb that prevents nothing, say adverts or buying fancier vans to put in those obscure places so that money went into thin air. In turn more respect is lost for the police, people are less willing to co-operate, it takes up court time (yay for paying the lawyers and judges!), people are less willing to support them and buy their flash cars if they just use it as a prop stand for the radar gun.

However fining someone $30 has tangible benefits and there is an income pool they can see and it has a calculable size. Forget those court costs, loss of productivity, lost image and the time and money setting up to catch people cause they got $30. I dunno why people glaze over the surface of the economics behind all this. Yes the guy doing 160 weaving in traffic needs to be stopped, no this isn't the way to do it.
elect70, Dec 28, 9:19pm
They used to actually have the gear set up in bush so you couldnt see it at alluntilcop stopped you2 k down the road .That was hidden, not in the car .