dave_ac wrote:Hi Ralph,
You are 100% right. However what I am asking people is (more along the lines of automated fines and penalties) that human frailty is not an excuse. The police know and factor that into their investigations that human observation, recall and interpretation is far from perfect. Cameras & databases do not.
I do not want to focus on one single law, rather the nature and number of new rules being created & amanded (thousands every year) the expectation that we must know and follow these rules and that deviation is punishable via systems that are ever more automated.
I think it depends how they are implemented. If you have a camera that is flashing at 2 mph above the limit and is a bit hidden from view, that is wrong IMO, it's just there to collect money in a zero common sense zero tolerance manner.
Most cameras though are well signposted, in plain view, and don't trigger until 10% +2 over the speed limit. Then most speedos under read by 5-10%. So in a 50 limit for instance, ((50 * 1.1) + 2) * 1.05 = 59.85, so your speedo needs to be reading 60 mph before the camera triggers.
If you are ignorant of the speed limit, didn't see the camera, and your speedo was reading far enough over the limit to trigger the camera, then quite frankly you need a speeding ticket to make you think about it and pay attention a bit more.
I don't like laws like the SORN where you accidentally let the tax lapse on a motorbike that's in the garage that is never used, then you automatically get a fine for it. But to be fair there as well they do send you a reminder, then a 'last chance' letter weeks after your tax expired. The problem occurs when you move house and forget to change the address so you don't get the letters.
Many new laws are pretty stupid, and as Spud says most of them are already covered by existing legislation which is not enforced. The new laws are not enforced either. And as mentioned new laws do nothing to stop law breakers.
What does annoy me is the constant cutting back of police resources, speed cameras are not an alternative, ie: you can drive past one unlicensed, uninsured, untaxed, no MOT, drunk, on drugs, with a body in the boot, and so long as your not speeding the camera will let you go on with your business.
TBH if we didn't have penalties for the things that people forget or don't realise they'd done wrong, there would be no incentive to be organised and remember, an nobody would. I have 4 vehicles, so I have all the dates for tax, MOT, insurance, etc in my work Outlook calendar, so I get a reminder 2 weeks before it's needed. If there was no consequence I probably wouldn't have bothered setting those reminders up.
"Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view" - Obi-Wan Kenobi
