Radar Detectors to be banned?..

I don't use one myself, but i've seen that a few people on the boards do, you guys might be interested in this story from Ananova :

Edited to remove the link as Ananova keep on changing the fecking URL!!, story pasted below :

Quote..................

"Devices which detect speed cameras are to be banned, the Government has revealed.

The Department for Transport said it would seek to ban the dashboard devices as soon as possible because of fears motorists were using them to break speed limits without being caught.

Thousands of drivers have installed the detectors after a huge rise in the number of speed camera penalties.

They have already been banned in many European countries including France and Ireland.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "We are aware of the problem and as soon as a legislative opportunity becomes available we will seek to make these devices illegal."

Road safety groups welcomed the announcement. Rob Gifford of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety told The Times: "This is a long overdue closing of a legal loophole.

"Speed camera detectors should not be needed by law-abiding drivers."

Transport minister David Jamieson yesterday said he was happy for people to know where the cameras were. But he did not want information to be passed on revealing whether or not they were switched on.

He told a Commons committee: "If there is a map showing where they are, then I think that's a good idea, because people will then be very careful in that area."

He also ruled out random breath-testing and said there were no plans to lower the legal drink-drive limit."

.................End Quote

Looks like another swipe at motorists , from the wording though I can't work out if devices that just tell you camera locations (Road Angel etc..) will be included or not.

Any thoughts?...

Cheers,

Sherriff.

I just heard about this on the radio.

This country is a joke

yeah I read about this the other day can't remember where. But to make it legal they will prosecute persons using them for standing in the way of an officer trying to enforce the law.

However this may be interesting if it becomes law when the first case goes to court because if you are not speeding at the time a policeman points a radar gun at you then how are you actually breaking the law.

Also most safety partnership vans are manned by civilians so how can that be defined as stopping an 'officer' from carrying out his duty as they are not 'officers'

Just seems like another attempt to kick the motorist down. Lets be honest speeding fines are a healthy source of revenue to the authorities, if removing a device helps fine more then no wonder they want them banned.

However if the device also indicates road black spots, surely they have a benefit both to the driver and other road users.

Maybe the police and government should start focusing on more serious crime, and stop fleecing road users of more cash!!!:flame Dev

F***ing idiots.

...and just think this is run by a guy who thought a nasty man could nuke us in 45 mins from a bit of sand...givve me a break!

Fifty:D

Originally posted by MARTIN R

Maybe the police and government should start focusing on more serious crime, and stop fleecing road users of more cash!!!:flame Dev

Sorry m8 its got bugger all to do with the police, its the fcuking home office trying to screw people over again:mad:

just like my Dartford crossing thread, I emailed le crossing asking them why we still have to pay, the reply was that the government gets the proceeds and hands some of it back to the crossing to keep it running, robbing bastards.

This government is only 1 step away from Dick Turpin.

Quote..................

"Speed camera detectors should not be needed by law-abiding drivers."

Transport minister David Jamieson yesterday said he was happy for people to know where the cameras were. But he did not want information to be passed on revealing whether or not they were switched on.

He told a Commons committee: "If there is a map showing where they are, then I think that's a good idea, because people will then be very careful in that area."

[/b]

If speed camera detectors aren't required by law abiding citizens why would a map that shows them where they are be required either? If we're all travelling safely, (which should be within the speed limit, as that is effectively the maximum safe speed to travel on a particular stretch of road) you shouldn't need any device/map to alert you of "speed camera's", however, camera's are only to be placed in "accident black spots" and any device or map that also alerts you to the dangerous area is surely to be a good thing in reducing the number of accidents within that area.

The only area which his argument has any legs is with regards to devices that detect police speed traps, other than those within an accident prone area. Why would a law abiding citizen need to know if a police speed detector is "lighting up their car"? None at all. Only any use to someone who has the inention of speeding.

The fact that he's not reducing the drink drive limit speaks for itself.

Regards

Tony

It is probably just me on a friday afternoon but I'm struggling to decide whether that was meant to be ironic or not?

Exactly. I thought that Speed Camera detectors were supposed to alert you to an approaching accident blackspot so you could therefore take *extra* care...

Originally posted by Nick

Exactly. I thought that Speed Camera detectors were supposed to alert you to an approaching accident blackspot so you could therefore take *extra* care...

Apparently GPS detectors will not be illegal but radar detectors will !!

Well I can't see what they're going to prosecute you for with this. They don't break any radio transmission laws, they don't actively send out any jamming signals or anything like that, and the unit itself in no way can possibly be obstructing an officer in the course of his duty.

You may as well ban brussels sprouts too.

Originally posted by Thorin

 

You may as well ban brussels sprouts too.

Now that's something I would support!

Radar detectors were of course illegal until recently, but thousands still used them

Having used a GPS based system for a year. I think they contribute significantly to road safety. Many camera sites are pretty obvious and often no where near a danger area, but black spots are not. I find the black spot alert most useful when in an unfamiliar area. When the black spot alert goes off, it heightens your senses and makes you focus more clearly than you may otherwise have done. This has to be a good thing.

This whole thing about money, not safety.

I told a friend of mine in the US about how the system treats the motorists - he said we Brits take it too lightly - apparently they tried something similar in the US and there was a huge uproar about it ?

Rader detectorsare illegal in france but it only recently started using speed cameras on roads, its been unheard of before really

I saw one yesterday at the side of the road in Toulouse, all the cars coming the other way on the approach to the van were flashing their lights warning of its locations. There is total uproar about it

Its the same in switzerland, when they were introduced the governent backed down becuase of lots of people complained about it being an invasion of privacy

What will they think of next...

It disgusting. I wanna move to the US.