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Dorset Speed was formed a few years ago in response to increasing concerns about road safety and the apparent inability of the “authorities” to do anything about it other than to turn it into a money gathering exercise.
This became beyond all doubt when the Speed on Green was introduced in Poole in 2009. The junction is a clear and wide dual carriageway, particularly exiting the town, does not have much pedestrian activity, but has safe crossings. The 30 limit is ridiculous, you only have to look at the similar junction near PC World, which has a large number of popular stores on both sides of the main road and no pedestrian crossing, fewer pedestrian barriers, a 50 limit and no enforcement, to confirm that speed limits are not set intelligently and enforcements most likely to be installed to catch large numbers of safe motorists, while seeming to ignore the seriously incompetent and dangerous drivers who actually cause the carnage on our roads.
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Please email me if you have not yet done so and you've been caught by the greed
on green.
Car stickers available now!
PLEASE SEND YOUR COMPLAINT EMAIL!!
News:
27 August 2010:
I am now in communication with Adrian Whiting, Assistant Chief
Constable of the Dorset Police, I hope to be able to report on this in the next
week.
22 August 2010: Good stuff, Dorset Road Safe!
I saw your van in Upton today, but this time not
pointing at traffic having just entered the 30 limit from the 60 mph Upton House
direction, but pointing back at the ped crossing within the 30 limit, on a wet
day, where the 30 limit would certainly have been dangerous to exceed. I do not
know if this was in response to the BMW I mentioned recently going through the
ped crossing full throttle at probably 60+, but this is a perfect example of how
the public would like to see these camera vans being used, and I hope that if
the same BMW came through again at speed, you caught him!
22 August 2010:
There may be further delay before updates: My police complaint
has resulted in an offer of a meeting with Adrian Whiting, Assistant Chief
Constable of the Dorset Police, I'll be putting my efforts for the time being
into getting the best possible outcome for this.
20 August 2010:
Sorry about the break, I've been on holiday! There's plenty to
catch up with, will try to get up to date in the next week.
7 August 2010:
Update
6 August 2010:
Is this the end for Dorset's speed cameras?
5 August 2010:
Speed cameras continue to dwindle after spending cuts force another council to axe their program
4 August 2010:
Pat Garrett / Annette Brooke email update
3 August 2010:
Daily Echo, Call to refund motorists caught on Holes Bay Road camera
1 August 2010:
My response to a letter from Pat Garrett, in response to a letter to him from Annette Brooke
29 July 2010:
FOI RESPONSES!
28 July 2010:
End of fixed speed cameras - Dorset next??
25 July 2010:
Update - please raise a police complaint
22 July 2010:
Swindon - no increase in accidents a year after cameras were switched off, and my email to Mike Penning
20 July 2010: Well done for complaint emails but PLEASE keep them going,
here's a good one!
19 July 2010:
At last, a response from the DSCP!
And my
reply
19 July 2010:
Update
15 July 2010:
Update
13 July 2010:
Update
(and DorsetSpeed on Heart FM)
12 July 2010: Dorset Speed is not just about attacking the DSCP:
Suggestions
11 July 2010:
Dorset Speed on the ITV News, and reaction to DSCP statement
10 July 2010:
Update
9 July 2010:
Police complaint opened
8 July 2010:
Update
8 July 2010: Dorset Speed on Radio Solent - listen to the 5 oclock news, 59
minutes in, and throughout the program
Radio Solent
5 July 2010:
GREED on green figures released - £108,000 a month from a single camera!!!
10 June 2010: Anger at "speed on green" at Holes Bay, Poole.
The fine counts should be published shortly for the last 3
months of the last financial year - watch this space. This has only become
available from FOI exemption following DorsetSpeed's complaint to the
Information Commissioner - they wanted to keep it secret - perhaps we'll find
out why.
Please see this new article:
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/8210839.Dorset_man_s_call_to_end____petty____use_of_speed_cameras/
and some of the
comments
I've received
31st March 2010.
DorsetSpeed has obtained information concerning fine counts at the Speed on Green on Holes Bay, Poole, and succeeded in gaining much better visibility into DSCP activities in the future.
.
11th Feb 2010.
PROTEST AGAINST PROPOSED REDUCED SPEED LIMITS FOR POOLE.
.
3rd Feb 2010. Action against really silly speed limits.
The limit on the Wessex Way in Bournemouth has been reduced to 40. 50 was far to
slow, but 40! Here is the proof that those with the important responsibility of
setting speed limits really have not got a clue. I guess the DSCP will be
rubbing their hands with glee, at the opportunity for setting up some speed
traps here. Now they can send out fines to people doing less than 50 on what is
almost a motorway!
Will those who need to listen, think and reverse this stupidity, or will we be
seeing the limit on this road reduce to 30 and maybe 20 in the coming years?
Thank goodness, there is a fight back, a facebook campaign which is of course
receiving great interest and support.br />
The council / government really are going to have to start listening to some
common sense at some point. Join the protest:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=270344911445
31st Jan 2010. Complaints coming in about the
"Speed on Green" at Holes Bay
.
I’ve received many complaints about the speed on green at Holes Bay, Poole. The
30 limit has no justification and no credibility (consider the busier 50 limit
junction near PC World) and the decision to strictly and deviously enforce the
limit at this junction, probably one of the safest places on the planet to do 30
(or 40 or 50) results in huge numbers of conscientious motorists receiving
fines, to the point that the DSCP are trying to keep secret the fine count as it
would obviously raise outrage, although I am trying to get this published. Any
organization that attempts to hide it's results rather than present them as
evidence of success obviously has little actual belief or integrity.
One disappointing result of this is that the tasteless and irritating “it’s 30
for a reason” campaign that’s on local radio every 5 minutes is a complete waste
of money like most of the other DSCP activities– the only reason that most
people now consider speed limits are set is to give the “safety” partnerships
opportunities to send out large numbers of fines. This is damaging as obviously,
sensible limits intelligently and proportionately enforced would be a good thing
and would be widely supported.
The single minded determination to maximize fine counts of course means that
they are completely ignoring the facts that those who want to speed dangerously
can do as they please, and that there are a multitude of other driving problems
that cause the completely unacceptable level of accidents we hear about almost
every day.
The resulting suffering of those involved in accidents and those around them
which may not have occurred if the "safety" partnerships were actually working
on safety, and the fall in respect and support of the general decent public for
the police and the law is exasperating. I’m sorry, it is as bad as this. Most
will just take this on the chin, pay the fine, then learn not to get caught
speeding again rather than reduce their speed, this is obvious when you look at
the way the majority of drivers now ignore more speed limits but slow for
cameras - I'm not saying this is the way it should be, but the inevitable result
of the current dismal policy.
The fact that the DSCP have chosen to carry out the speed on green on the Holes
Bay Road is proof that their motivations are thoroughly misguided and therefore
that they are not fit for purpose. It would be so easy for the DSCP to do so
much better, but while they are motivated only by cash, this won't happen.
Please email me if you have any thoughts about this, or if you have been caught
here.
18th Jan 2010. Moving in the right direction?
It seems that in Dorset, fixed cameras are to be withdrawn, and the “no excuses”
campaign is starting to put real police on the road looking for real problems.
This is a major step forwards, very encouraging for the many like me who have
been complaining bitterly for years about how road safety management has been
totally corrupted by the obvious aim to simply raise as much cash as possible
from traffic policing while ignoring the obvious simple dangerous problems that
cause such misery.
I hope that as well as just looking for the small things (seatbelts, mobile
phones, etc) some of the more serious problems will also be targeted, such as: /br>
-driving too close
-erratic / inconsiderate driving
-not using slip roads to adjust to the speed of the road being entered
-lane hogging
-driving too slow
-etc.
It will be interesting to see how the new approach works, it could work very
well, as long as the motivation of those involved is to educate and improve
safety, rather than to still issue the maximum possible number of fines, which
will inevitably shift the attention away from the serious problems to the
trivial ones.
Update, 27th Oct 2009.
The Dorset “Sa£ety” camera partnership still carry out occasional, predictable,
ineffective, mobile operations in the area. While some councils are starting to
realise they can no longer cope with the cost and embarrassment of supporting
and promoting the partnerships, Dorset seems committed to them. The DSCP are
introducing mind-blowingly stupid operations like the Speed on green at Holes
Bay (see below).
Not surprisingly, driving standards continue to deteriorate, and numbers for
those killed and seriously injured on the roads are increasing (see below).
Respect and compliance of speed limits are reducing. Throughout the day and
night, race tuned vehicles can be heard racing around at full throttle. On every
short journey I see drivers who demonstrate a complete lack of awareness for all
other road users around them, above and below the speed limit.
Congestion is getting critical, the only signs of interest from the council
seems to be “road surveys” carried out with staggering incompetence and with no
chance of providing the dynamic continuous data which could so easily be
transparently gathered with today’s technologies. Journey times, driver stress
and fatigue increase, leading to more and more accidents and an escalating
problem.
Numbers of uninsured drivers, cloned vehicles, etc. are staggering. Despite all
of these problems, all that is done is to attempt to dish out large numbers of
speeding fines. This has little meaning even to insurance companies who no
longer significantly load premiums for even multiple speeding convictions. Even
the partnerships can’t be bothered to pursue large numbers of tickets. The
majority of those actually being penalised are those who are the few remaining
decent people who wouldn’t dream of challenging the “authorities” and with all
paperwork completely in order, and have exceeded a limit by a tiny amount under
completely reasonable circumstances, i.e the easy targets who aren’t causing a
problem.
Those who run the “sa£ety” partnerships and road management at the councils (and
the public) must understand they are doing an extremely bad job and the deaths
and injuries that would not be occurring if they were thinking about road
safety, rather than whatever it is they are thinking about (pensions, job
security, bonuses, nothing, ??) cannot be ignored.
The DSCP has not answered a single one of my criticisms over the years – do they
have any integrity or belief in what they are doing? I don’t think so.
Often, the excuse given for not policing the roads properly is that it’s too
expensive. Wake up! Look at the full picture – a death or road injury can cost a
£million easily. Congestion (both normal and resulting from road accidents)
costs businesses significantly. A dedicated, properly focussed road safety team
could pay for itself several times over. Of course, it might mean redundancy for
large number of civil “servants” pushing piles of NIPs around in circles and
loss of face to those who have supported what has become, if you think about it,
possibly one of the most mis-directed activities ever setup by the government.
Below are some examples of speed camera operations, which clearly demonstrate
the irrelevance of what is done compared to the real problems on the road, which
become obvious when you observe what happens and apply some common sense.
No wonder the roads are so bad.
16th July, 2009:
Killed and seriously injured figures increase
28th June, 2009:
"Speed on Green" at Holes Bay
- A new speed trap which will catch thousands with no benefit
to road safety
16th June, 2009:
DSCP raising cash with no relevance to road safety yet again
- Upton Road, Poole
22nd May, 2009:
Another ridiculous DSCP mobile camera operation
- Shore Road, Sandbanks
13th Feb, 2009:
Where has the Dorset Safety Camera Partnership gone?
I've not seen any of the mobile vans around for ages - and there certainly
don't seem to be any new cameras going up. Has public disgust at these pointless
and damaging organisations and their activities finally resulted in success? It's
looking good!
Next, we need some more proper policing of the roads to target the actual real problems
(driving standards have become much worse while the total reliance on speed cameras
has been in force), and some effort by the councils to properly review speed limits
(upwards in many cases) and promote efficient use of the roads.
24th September, 2008:
Road surveys in Bournemouth
Update - A reponse from Rick Clayton, Project Manager, South East Transport Study,
and my response
21st September, 2008:
Road surveys in Bournemouth
9th August 2008:
DSCP mobile vans have been much less frequently seen around Poole in the
last few months, perhaps a result of the widespread realisation that this is all
about collecting cash and the reducing respect for these activities. Sadly, seen
again today at one of their most profitable positions, possibly cashing in on summer
visitors unaware of this particular trap.
Mobile van near the Ryvita factory, Poole
5th August 2008:
"Just as with fines for over-filled wheelie bins, the Government has a perverse
preference for stealth taxes that punish and criminalise ordinarily law-abiding
citizens, rather than being open and collecting revenue in a simple and transparent
manner.
It is worrying, too, that prosecutions for dangerous driving and for driving while
drunk or on drugs have fallen, surely two areas where the Government should really
be focussing."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/08/05/dl0504.xml
4th December 2007: Statistics distorted to attempt to show speed policy is working
4th December 2007: Anger as fines from speed cameras soar (Telegraph News item)
16th Nov 2007: The Dorset "Safety" camera partnership doing what they do best: clocking up the cash where a limit has been set totally unrealistically low for the road type.
2nd Aug 2007: Dorset Way temporary speed limits
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