Night Vision Cameras ?

[erksome]

I have started to see mobile camera vans, parked up at various locations at night, anyone know if they are starting to use night vision detectors?

[Oldboy]

They've got to sleep somewhere,
_________________
Richard

TT 910 V7.903: Europe Map v1045
TT Via 135 App 12.075: Europe Map v1120

[GJF]

I found this on a web site.

Speed camera vans: they don't come out at night

The Safe Speed campaign has been investigating the operation of mobile speed cameras vans - the dreaded 'talivans' - and discovered that they don't come out at night.

All, or almost all, of the mobile speed camera vans in use around the country use a laser speed meter coupled to a video camera and video recorder. The speed meter measures the speed and the camera records vehicle number plates for later prosecution.

The simple fact is that it's difficult or impossible to get good video pictures of number plates with the equipment in use.

Fixed speed cameras do not suffer from the same problems. Gatso and Truvelo cameras use flash photography, and the SPECS system had built-in infra red illumination.

But for many camera partnerships the 'weapon of choice' is the mobile camera van. At least half of all current speeding tickets originate with mobile camera vans, and they don't work at night.

One motorist remarked to us that whenever possible he would travel at night to avoid the risk of mobile camera vans. But the risk of crashing, affecting an individual driver, is known to be greater at night.

Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign
(www.safespeed.org.uk) said: "The serious concern here is that when people switch to traveling at night to avoid the cameras they face increased crash risks. Any increase in night-time crashes would be likely to be well away from any camera site."

"This is one more side effect where the speed camera appears to work, yet road safety actually gets worse. Crashes are down at the camera site because people have chosen not to travel when the camera is active. But because those same people travel instead in more dangerous conditions and crashes increase elsewhere."

"Drivers find mobile camera vans especially threatening. It is not uncommon to see dangerous panic braking on our roads because an innocent contractors van is parked in a lay by. Drivers cannot tell the difference until it may be too late."

"We must stop all speed camera operations because the side effects are killing us. Road safety will not be restored while a single speed camera remains on our roads."

ends

Notes for editors
=================

Of course the camera partnerships will try to bluff their way out of this story. Try asking for their enforcement schedules or the number of night time tickets issued by their mobile camera vans.

Several camera partnerships have claimed to operate at night, but sightings are rare or non-existent. Mostly it's just more bluff.



About Safe Speed
================

The Safe Speed road safety campaign is primarily the work of engineer-turned road safety analyst Paul Smith.

Since setting up Safe Speed in 2001, Paul Smith, 50, an advanced motorist and road safety enthusiast, and a professional engineer of 25 years UK experience, has carried out over 10,000 hours working on the campaign with well over 5,000 of those hours researching the overall effects of speed camera policy on UK road safety. In addition to those 10,000 hours, Paul has funded to campaign to the tune of £10,000.

We believe that this is more work in more detail than anything carried out by any other organisation. Paul's surprising conclusion is that overall speed cameras make our roads more dangerous. Paul has identified and reported a number of major flaws and false assumptions in the claims made for speed cameras, and the whole "speed kills" system of road safety.

The inescapable conclusion is that we should urgently return to the excellent road safety policies that gave us in the UK the safest roads in the World in the first place. Far from saving lives, speed cameras are a dangerous distraction.

Safe Speed does not campaign against speed limits or appropriate enforcement of motoring laws, but argues vigorously that automated speed enforcement is neither safe nor appropriate.

Safe Speed is very slimly funded by voluntary contributions to the web site. We are urgently seeking improved funding.

The Safe Speed web site contains more than 350,000 words of road safety analysis and information. We are seeking publishers for 'the book of the web site'.

It has turned out to be quite an amazing story and there are opportunities for journalists and broadcasters to explore how all this came about, what it means, and where road safety has gone so badly wrong.


Contact Safe Speed:
=================

description: Safe Speed road safety campaign
web: http://www.safespeed.org.uk
_________________
TomTom Go 60
Garmin Nüvi 660, Firmware v4.90
Drive-Smart GPS with Loader v1.4.16
HTC Advantage X7500 MS 6.1 Tchart Speed Sentry
Satmap Active 10, Software v1.16
Fuzion 32 HUD Bluetooth GPS receiver

[GJF]

PS, Sorry missed out that if you go on the last link to the above there is a petition at 10, Downing Street (Not the latest in the paper for black boxes)
to scrap Speed Cameras.
_________________
TomTom Go 60
Garmin Nüvi 660, Firmware v4.90
Drive-Smart GPS with Loader v1.4.16
HTC Advantage X7500 MS 6.1 Tchart Speed Sentry
Satmap Active 10, Software v1.16
Fuzion 32 HUD Bluetooth GPS receiver

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