General Chat

Nearly 20 years ago I was driving north across the Tyne Bridge. I was late, about 11pm, there was no no traffic about apart from myself, or so I thought.

As I approached the lights they changed from amber to red. I jumped the red light !!

Half way across the bridge an unmarked police car indicated he wanted me to stop,, which I did at the end of the bridge.

There were 2 plain clothes policemen in the car. They asked me to get into their car. I sat in the front passenger seat.

They asked my name, address, age, date of birth, was I the keeper of the vehicle, where had i been, where was i going etc etc

Then they played on a small TV on the dash the scene of me driving through a red light. They even zoned in on the registration plates, front then rear.

I was fined and my licence endorsed.

Your'e never alone.
Have you ever been caught on camera ?

Am I the only one ?

Maybe the others got away with it!

Seriously, though, my daughter was doing some college homework and needed another cartridge for the printer. My husband took her to Staples; bought a colour cartridge and came home. He didn't realise he'd been speeding (37 mph in a 30 mph zone) and got caught on camera on the way and on the way back! It took years to clean his licence. When he grumbled at daughter her pert reply was 'well, you were the one behind the wheel!'. I won't print his reply....

Janet

You're right Janet.
I see cars speeding and juming red lights every day

Twenty years ago that small camera in a police car cught and recorded the deed. Had I denied the offence the video would have been used in evidence against me in court.

How much more sophisticated are police and civilian cameras now ?

The drivers who annoy me the most are the ones on mobile phones. I used to walk to work and every day I would see drivers on mobiles; there's no excuse now hands free kits are so easily obtained.

Last year we were on the motorway behind a lorry that was being driven erratically. I was nervous so my husband overtook; I looked back and saw the driver - eating a sandwich with only one hand on the wheel!

The police can't catch them all but they never seem to catch the ones who are likely to cause an accident.



Janet

Hi David

You weren't an extra in Get Carter, were you?

Suex

Did you have a black car? At one time the police used to stop cars for the fun of it by the colour, in sequense to the balls on a snooker table, if you had a black car they won 7 points, they got nothing for a white one!

Dee x

The firm i work for will not allow us to use hands free kits

No, it was metallic blue, a Nissan

No, I wasn't in Get Carter, but I had a pint many a time in The Long Bar opposite the Central Station

Ive seen lorry drivers checking their delivery sheets while driving too fast in built up areas. Scary.

The joys of motoring !

Have been mistaken for Michael Caine, not a lot of people know that

As far as I know I'm not on a police camera....well , apart from CCTV...but the Google streetview car just happened to go by here when I'd popped outside to the bin.
Having a 'sort out the cupboards and general clear-up day' I was wearing my baggiest old trousers and daughter's discarded jumper.
Wish they hadn't seen me !

Gwyn

I'm sure the camera wasn't running lol

Did they really award themselves colour coded points ?

Actually, if two cars jumped an amber light the consequences could be horrendous !

Hi David,
I haven't been caught on camera,but was by a speed gun.I was doing 37 in a 30.Got fined £60 and 3 points.This was about 6 or 7 years ago now.

Yes David, about 3 weeks ago.......doing 38 in a 30 limit, I thought it was a 40 limit.......no excuses, I should have known better.......£60 and 3 points, first time.......

Yet a couple of months ago my OH and I were driving along a motorway in Cornwall and got pulled over........doing 79.......again, went into the police car and shown a video of him, even slowing down to under 50 in a 50 limit.......and as he shown considerate and 'safe' driving he wasn't done for it......

Perhaps I should also mention that he has speed control on his car, but this time he had not put it on....

I have never been caught and fined by a camera even though I suspect that on many occasions I have been guilty.
This leads me to wonder are they all operational, or merely deterents ?

On the German roads a car can drive as fast as it is capable. An idea that might be allowed on our roads when we are totl EU members.

Are the cameras always operating.......I can answer that one for you David.......no, not always.....

one of OH's gadgets warns him of radar or cameras in the area and we quite often pass cameras which are not in operation........he also had this device switched off when he was pulled over, otherwise it would have warned him ....... or so he tells me.....

I get fed up with all the tweets and warnings, and when he has the radio on and road reports interrupt, that is annoying, and if he has the satnav on, it can drive me cuckoo.......even the Grandchildren can give all the "be careful", and "dangerous locations" warning spots just before they are due to come on......:0) around where we live, that is....

Some years ago I gave way at a roundabout to a car comming from the right.

The car behind me didn't bother stopping and he rammed me.
The driver was a middle aged man the worse for drink who had a teenage male passenger.

OH was furious and went to phone the police. The drunk driver said he needed to empty his bladder and would be back in a jiff.
As he turned the corner he and the youth fled.

The police arrived promptly. Did their usuaL investigating. The car that hit mine was stolen, uninsured, untaxed etc etc
It could only have been worse if someone had been injured.

This was an occasion when a nearby CCTV would have been helpful.

I often wondered, when motorways were first built, in hindsight the safety was deplorable, no centre guard rails, no hard shoulders to speak of,
cars that would only just achieve a 70 mph maximum on an unlimited road.....often blowing up....
fast forward to today the motorways are hundreds of times safer to drive on, only problem is most modern cars can achieve at least 100 mph cruising.......so the speed limit should be in the region of 150 mph,

again the trouble is, they havent improved on the nut that holds the steering wheel...........

Bob

I've been caught on camera many a time - I don't drive, but the number of CCTV's in Winchester High street guarantees I am caught at least 4 times a day.
Then there are all the tourists taking photo's - I try to duck, but don't always notice the 'snappy happy' tourist until it's too late!

Maggie .........add to that, ALL the high street stores have covert cctv, your supermarkets have them, carparks have them,road junctions have them......it used to be said that we are never more that six feet from a rat........methinks if you can go 25 yards without being on a camera of some sort..........well Done that man, (or woman)
Not only do the police have legitimate cameras on board their cars......there are also vigilante drivers with cameras in the cars to snap you in the act, say of being in the wrong somehow.....
Bob