UK speed camera forrest

[svandamme]

So i went to the UK this weekend, and where i thought Holland was bad for speed camera's, UK has 10 times more of em!

And unlike Holland, which is flat as a pancake, the UK is not. This results in roads that are great fun, despite everybody driving on the wrong side.

So i got carried away with things and kinda ignored most of the abundant, fascist, anti speed equipment,
probably will get nice love letters from the poh-lice in the foreseeable future...
Which i fully intend to ignore. If they really love me, they will have to put in an effort.


But the weirdest thing of all was, they even have signs at some places "Cameras out of operation"

What is that all about?!?!?

"Please drive slow? we can't make any money of you right now" ?

or is it a sneaky way for folks to think they can have a go at it, when the camera's are in fact fully operational?

It's not right in the UK, driving on the wrong side of the road, i can get over that, makes things interesting...
But the speed fascism is getting out of hands over there.. Makes perfect sense how Clarckson ended today's episode of Top Gear.

[LakeCleElum]

Take your Tourist Dollars to Italy.........If you're not doing double the limit, you get run over......

[Porsche-O-Phile]

A perfect example of the difference between "subjects" and "citizens".

Our own country is hurtling towards a UK-style form of government with alarming speed (insanely high taxes, regulation of everything to the point of paralyzing daily life, a feeble, disarmed and helpless populace, bumbling government bureaucrats for every activity, etc.)

I love British culture but I don't think there's any way I could actually live in GBR. Way, way too over-regulated as a society. Exactly what we're becoming.

[MFAFF]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

A perfect example of the difference between "subjects" and "citizens".

Our own country is hurtling towards a UK-style form of government with alarming speed (insanely high taxes, regulation of everything to the point of paralyzing daily life, a feeble, disarmed and helpless populace, bumbling government bureaucrats for every activity, etc.)

I love British culture but I don't think there's any way I could actually live in GBR. Way, way too over-regulated as a society. Exactly what we're becoming.

Oh boy...Jeff...

Where to start...

Certainly feel far freer here than I ever did in the US.. I only lived there for 5 years..91 to 96...

The policing here is far less intrusive....certainly on the roads.
ID checks over here...only in the last few years have you been asked for ID in pubs..and now in supermarkets to buy alcohol....
ID checks generally far fewer..
Or perhaps getting bank account... or a credit card...
Renting a place..

High taxes.. too true, but I don't have to have health insurance. Overall my disposable income as a percentage of gross, once I have removed what would be my health insurance, pensions etc to make it equivlanet works out at appox 5% in favour of the US.. a compromise I am prepared to live with...

We might be enfeebled but daily life is hardly paralyzed and whilst there are certainly many bureaucrats they are thankfully not all bumbling, some are actually ferociously sharp and demanding in the best possible way its again a system that is not yet beholdened to vested interests... (Lived in Alexandria VA so got to know lots of lobbyists, Senate aides, Senators...even GW and his brothers...)

I made a chocie to come back here because of the freedom it offered....ironic hey..

[svandamme]

i can't say i didn't feel free in the UK, just annoyed about the anti speed hardware, i mean, it's not a fair fight, i much rather have anonymous cars in traffic going after the real antisocial drivers, tailgaters, unstable drivers, drunk drivers and what not... That kind of traffic enforcement, i don't mind, because i know i'm not an objective target for them.

Getting caught on a speed trap, to me is pretty much meaningless, if and when i get caught, i'm statistically still winning. And morally i do not consider my "violation" a big one.

I drive a car that has a chassis and brakes designed for higher speeds i drive.
I don't tailgate, i don't really drive nervously, and i adjust my speed if the circumstances do not allow it..

Ok , that's very much a relative factor, but you'll have to take my word for it, that i have a decent amount of car control, and i know how to respond to a lot of the variables.


I have to say one thing though, traffic in the UK, is VERY polite.
More so then Holland, Belgium or France. Nevermind the more southern countries.
And i felt quite at home, even with my LHD car, on their LHD roads...
The average driver-behavior and -ability combination, seems to be of a higher standard compared to Holland, Belgium and France. ( politeness, giving way, tailgating, lack of nervous driving, car handling, Situational Awareness...), there hardly was anything to annoy me, other then the M-25 Tjams, and the camera's...

[MFAFF]

Stijn,

I don't know how fast you want to drive.. I guess your route was one of the worse for gratuitous speed.. oops... 'safety' cameras..

Wander further afield and the motorways are free of camera.. unless in a car, pretty much unless around major urban areas...and a decent A road in Scotland, the Lake District....even in the south...even in the 911 its safe to say the car, the road, the traffic are not the limiting factor....only the driver's ability and confidence...

[svandamme]

sounds like a plan to me.


Best part was going back to Dover, the last 20k was brilliant road, swooping bends, up and down, little traffic and a great scenery...

Another thing , not driving related, the Ferry parking space in Dover, in front of the cliffs was surreal at night, they would make these announcements , and it would echo against the cliffs, almost sounded like a big James Bond movie set, or Close Encounters of the 3rd kind...