Dang roadside van cameras

[Gremlin]

Saw my first one today when going out to Whitford. Going up the hill after the bridge, and as the road bent left, cars were busy flashing their lights. Being a bit slow it took a while to register.

Coming round the corner, I see all the cars up ahead bunched together, so immediately rolled off the throttle (plenty of time tho). Then saw the van on the right, as I passed it, I glanced at it and saw the lense of the camera through the back window.

Corse my current speed raced through my mind (as you shouldn't do), was I speeding, wasn't I?? Better yet, was the limit 70 or 80? What about the Loser limit??

Again, stupid brain took a while to register the fact I was going towards the camera... Gotta luurve bikes

Very much doubt anything will be in the mail, but dang cameras. They can put them anywhere, its as if we are supposed to follow the cage limit. This is ridiculous. Since when?? I don't want to have to keep looking out for these cameras.[P/T]

*tap on shoulder* Everybody does this, its called obeying the limit.
Me: SHEEP!

Personally tho, about time I got a little reality check, its helping me get to the restricted ASAP.

[N4CR]

Yeah I even slow down for the fixed ones.. front on most of the time as well :/
Suppose for me its better to slow down for them AS HABIT not so much oh yeah he can't get me etc.
Would love to do the fingers one time though while goin past fast
Funnily enough I'm never fast enough to trip them in day to day riding but still slow down...

[Gremlin]

Would love to do the fingers one time though while goin past fast

As much as we hate the Aussies, they went one better (I think it was them).

A group of them chatted/distracted to the offiser, while another took off his front license plate. Attached it to their car and spent an afternoon whizzing past.

Automated van camera apparently billed the van driver about 15 times.

[Blackbird]

Get yourself a radar detector from Trademe. M detector picks up camera vans and pole detectors several hundred metres away! I get more value from it for this appplication than with the Highway Patrol!

[clint640]

Get yourself a radar detector from Trademe. M detector picks up camera vans and pole detectors several hundred metres away! I get more value from it for this appplication than with the Highway Patrol!

Er, dont pole cameras work off wires in the road???

For the record, around Rotorua, watch out for a newish plain white L300 van - it's the only vehicle they use, & you can see it miles away, It's far more visible than the station wagon they used to use. In the Hawkes Bay they have gone one better & have a bright red L300, it stands out like dogs balls. If you get pinged by either of these ya probably deserve it, especially as they ALWAYS park by passing lanes.

Cheers
Clint

[Sniper]

I have only just noticed the camera's in CHCH and now you tell me they put them in vans too????

[vifferman]

If you get pinged by either of these ya probably deserve it, especially as they ALWAYS park by passing lanes.

I dunno about the "especially" bit - it's just bloody stupid pinging people for momemtarily exceeding the speed limit in a passing lane while getting past quickly and efficiently.
My one ticket in the last 30 years was in just such a situation. Fair enough, I was speeding, but I'd followed a smokey 4WD on my bike for maybe 15km before that, waited till the passing lane, slipped past quickly (of course, he sped up from his previous 85-90 km/h when he got to the passing lane), and there was a cop hiding nearby.
So where was the danger? Where was the preparedness to kill? The biggest danger would've been the cop passing cars for the next 10 km or so to pull me up to ticket me.
But the law's the law.

[FEINT]

I don't think radar detectors pick up the POLE radar detectors. They take readings off the road. They rotate the cameras in them. Sometimes they have a camera inside, most of the time they don't. When there is teh AMBER round flash thing in there, the camera is in there.

The vans are a little harder to pick up with a radar detector. From what I know, the VAN EMITS its signal accross the road at a 45deg angle. So you will pretty much pick up its signal when you look at it at a 45deg angle. But you do get fragments of lost signal before and after the van. However, if you are doing 120+km/hr... by the time your radar goes off, you have been snapped!

The police car radar emmission is alot better. Usually can pick those up ages away.

I hope this helps.

Visit www.radartest.com more info there on Radar Detectors!

I bought my radar from www.radarguys.com

[pritch]

A retired Police inspector of my aquaintance told me he'd seen the then proposed new camera operating areas. The overwhelming impression given was that they were more about catching people out than road safety. (Cameras sited on long downhill stretches etc.)

Of course this would be more of a surprise to him than to most of us :-)

[crashe]

I have only just noticed the camera's in CHCH and now you tell me they put them in vans too????

Yep old white vans and stationwagons too.
In fact I have seen one in a dark green van as well.

So watch out for any vehicle that is not moving that is parked up on the side of the road.

They are everywhere now.

[eliot-ness]

. The overwhelming impression given was that they were more about catching people out than road safety. (Cameras sited on long downhill stretches etc.)

Of course this would be more of a surprise to him than to most of us :-)

Hypothetical Question. If every driver/ biker stuck to the speed limits would the government,
A. Scrap the speed cameras and save the huge operating costs.?
B. Reduce speed limits and keep the revenue rolling in?

-----------------------------------------
A clear conscience is a sign of a bad memory.

[Ixion]

Er, dont pole cameras work off wires in the road???
..

Yes. The pole cameras are NOT radar. Nothing will pick them up. They work off 2 wires a metre or so apart buried in small trenchs in the road.

I noted them making the trenchs when they installed the cameras around here and carefully noed their position.

[Blackbird]

The nearest pole camera to Tokoroa is on the northern side of Cambridge on SH1 and I DO get an indication from it. I must investigate further. I wonder whether other vehicles triggering it produce an electronic signal which can be detected. Thoughts anyone????

[Lou Girardin]

The nearest pole camera to Tokoroa is on the northern side of Cambridge on SH1 and I DO get an indication from it. I must investigate further. I wonder whether other vehicles triggering it produce an electronic signal which can be detected. Thoughts anyone????

You'll be getting a false from something else. Is the alert K or Ka band?

[Blackbird]

To be honest, I haven't really noticed. Must check that out next time I go past. Hadn't thought about the motels down there. Thanks for the prompt.

Geoff