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I've just done an Internet search in an attempt to find some evidence of reports I remember of people getting done when caught at 31 mph in a 30 mph stretch of the A325 in Farnborough. It was a big thing at the time (around 15 to 20 years ago) because it was on a stretch of dual carriageway where the limit had just been reduced from 40 after which a mobile camera van seemed to take up almost permanent residence. What I found amusing was that despite such a fuss being made in the local press, still people were regularly complaining about getting caught - with many saying they were only doing 31/32! But I couldn't find any evidence by way of NIP (or whatever it may have been at the time).
What I did come across was a piece from one of the local rags about that stretch of road that makes interesting reading:
No doubt more by luck than judgement, I've never been charged with speeding in the UK. (I was rightly caught once in Australia when I was concentrating more on getting my takeaway home whilst still hot instead of watching my speed. The other occasion was in Florida when the car hire company took a sizeable chunk of money from my credit card a few months after I was there. It was to pay for a speeding fine and extra for late payment. Fortunately I was eventually able to prove that I was over 200 miles away at the time of the offence and got the Miami police to admit they'd made a mistake!) I've always held the belief that if you get caught and done for speeding you only have yourself to blame. I've never had points on my licence and I only had a camera detector for about 5 of my 57 years of driving. When I've read complaints about cameras being no more than revenue generators I've disagreed. I'm beginning to think that there's some truth in this now.
What I did come across was a piece from one of the local rags about that stretch of road that makes interesting reading:
What I don't know is whether or not anything came of Mr Howarth's accusations. When I lived in the area he was extremely efficient when I called on his help with a completely unrelated matter, so I know that he wasn't one to just let things slip.ALDERSHOT MP Gerald Howarth has accused Hampshire police of “hyping up” accidents to justify targeting drivers with a speed camera on the A325 at Farnborough.
He made the claim after being given details of the number of accidents which have occurred on the dual carriageway, between the Clockhouse Roundabout and the former Queen’s Hotel, during the past three years.
The figures released by the Hampshire Safety Camera Partnership reveal there were only seven serious accidents during that period, none involving fatalities.
In one case speed was not a factor, and in four cases it was possibly a factor. There were just two accidents definitely caused by speeding drivers.
Mr Howarth said the statistics showed that the stretch of road was “hardly an accident blackspot”, although it was a rich source of fines levied on motorists.
His findings follow growing protests from drivers who have been “clocked” by a police camera and fined for often travelling at just over the 30mph speed limit on the dual carriageway.
“The police have been trying to justify their intensive campaign on the grounds that the road is unduly dangerous,” he said.
But the statistics have blown a hole in this argument. “Hampshire traffic police have been disappointingly misleading in the way they have hyped up accidents on the Farnborough Road,” said Mr Howarth.
“I am all for dangerous drivers being penalised, and I am not opposed to cameras in principle, but persecuting ordinary motorists is not the answer.”
He also crossed swords with Hampshire police chief Paul Kernaghan who told him in a letter that the speed “traps” were operated by officers using “highly conspicuous police vehicles.”
Mr Howarth said that, on the contrary, the camera van used to trap motorists on the A325 was usually parked almost out of sight.
It is often parked on the Farnborough Road, facing north by the Pinehurst roundabout, he continued, where drivers could not see it until rounding the corner where they were immediately targeted.
He added evidence nationally indicated that speed cameras do not save lives. In Hampshire, he said, the number of cameras has increased from 23 in 2001 to 51 in the first 11 months of last year.
“Yet the number of people killed in fatal car crashes jumped from 69 to 104,” said Mr Howarth.
He added: “It is time the police recognised that their policy is not producing safer roads and, worse still, is alienating the public.”
No doubt more by luck than judgement, I've never been charged with speeding in the UK. (I was rightly caught once in Australia when I was concentrating more on getting my takeaway home whilst still hot instead of watching my speed. The other occasion was in Florida when the car hire company took a sizeable chunk of money from my credit card a few months after I was there. It was to pay for a speeding fine and extra for late payment. Fortunately I was eventually able to prove that I was over 200 miles away at the time of the offence and got the Miami police to admit they'd made a mistake!) I've always held the belief that if you get caught and done for speeding you only have yourself to blame. I've never had points on my licence and I only had a camera detector for about 5 of my 57 years of driving. When I've read complaints about cameras being no more than revenue generators I've disagreed. I'm beginning to think that there's some truth in this now.