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Is it time for all motor vehicles to be fitted with a black box?

I do wonder how some drivers are getting away speeding between those (or any) average speed cameras. Are they even working or is the car/driver not registered?

Easy. You speed past the gantries that don't have speed cameras and slow down for those that do (*). They're not average speed cameras.

@Bob McC - AIUI, they only switch on when the variable speed limit is below 70 mph.

* The ones that clock your speed are easy to spot: the cameras can be seen well in advance as they're usually large yellow things attached to the upright of the speed sign gantry and there's speed calibration lines in the road under the gantries with cameras attached. Drive the route a few times and, hey, you can speed w/out being caught by the cameras. Of course, that works fine until GMPs finest catch you in one of their (unmarked) cars.
 
We have lots of ‘fast’ dark roads in Notts(not unique, I know), and the number of times I read a debrief of where vehicle leaves a road at speed with ‘nothing else’ involved…

Well yes. I believe I may have mentioned in passing that I was raised in Nottm. The A60 and more so the A614 north of Nottm were lethal, having long stretches of '3 lane working' where a centre overtaking lane was shared between traffic in both directions. I haven't driven either for many years but rather hope that situation has improved.

"No other traffic on the road"! Blimey, that takes me back...

There is quite possibly a good reason why that stretch of the A50 between Stoke and Nottm. is the only place where I have ever been caught exceeding the national speed limit. As I have been at pains to point out, apart from a short section through services at Uttoxeter.. the road has virtually no interaction with 'local' traffic, pedestrians etc. The section from Stoke to Uttoxeter has no intersections of any kind. It is not unusual, especially at weekends, to be on the A50 with no other traffic in sight, or at least no other traffic within a mile or so in front or behind. That said, the 'authorities', employ all kinds of unmarked vehicles to apprehend wrongdoers. They tend of course to be dark blue saloons of the BMW/Merc pursuasion, but can be others. Staying aware, varying speed (obviously with attention to other traffic/conditions etc) and not driving consistently or aggressively above say, 75, in the outer lane for miles on end, tends to minimise trouble.

You need to pay more attention and make a clear note of the roads you are travelling on. The M6 doesn’t go near Manchester. The Motorway you described was actually the M56.;)

I do wonder how some drivers are getting away speeding between those (or any) average speed cameras. Are they even working or is the car/driver not registered?

No it wasn't.;) I'm not the only one who uses the expression 'around Manchester', to indicate that part of the M6 which runs from ..say Knutsford, up to Wigan. It carries traffic into and out of Manchester from the west via numerous routes, including the M56, M62/602, A580, A57 etc.

As for the speeding in the 50 mph sections. I have no idea. They are clearly idiots, as they will struggle to gain anything.., but maybe they know something others don't. Incidentally, I'm not talking about 'variable speed limits'. The section I'm talking about has 'traditional' temporary 50 mph signs.
 
It will be a very small % but it’s still a significant number.
I've no figures, but I successfully pleaded hardship on a number of occasions in the days when I did crime, back in the last century. If the client could give me something to back it up, a plea that he'd not be able to do his job properly without his car rarely failed.
 
I've no figures, but I successfully pleaded hardship on a number of occasions in the days when I did crime, back in the last century. If the client could give me something to back it up, a plea that he'd not be able to do his job properly without his car rarely failed.
I think we do treat motoring offences more leniently, mainly because everyone drives, its a club. I do wonder whether such mitigation will continue to hold given the potential new ways of working etc. If you get to 12 points then you've had at least 3 chances to change your behaviour.
 
Well yes. I believe I may have mentioned in passing that I was raised in Nottm. The A60 and more so the A614 north of Nottm were lethal, having long stretches of '3 lane working' where a centre overtaking lane was shared between traffic in both directions. I haven't driven either for many years but rather hope that situation has improved.

The A614 is now two lanes, with a 50mph limit, and average speed camera's along it from Nottm virtually all the way up to the A1.
 
Easy. You speed past the gantries that don't have speed cameras and slow down for those that do (*). They're not average speed cameras.

@Bob McC - AIUI, they only switch on when the variable speed limit is below 70 mph.

* The ones that clock your speed are easy to spot: the cameras can be seen well in advance as they're usually large yellow things attached to the upright of the speed sign gantry and there's speed calibration lines in the road under the gantries with cameras attached. Drive the route a few times and, hey, you can speed w/out being caught by the cameras. Of course, that works fine until GMPs finest catch you in one of their (unmarked) cars.

I was talking about the average speed cameras on the M56 (or anywhere) where the roadworks are at the moment. They’re doing that section around the airport junction. I know about the variable gantry jobs and what PITA they are.
 
I was talking about the average speed cameras on the M56 (or anywhere) where the roadworks are at the moment. They’re doing that section around the airport junction. I know about the variable gantry jobs and what PITA they are.
That darned airport section/HS2 interchange is going to be being worked on for ages..whether or not HS2 makes it up this far. It’s the section of motorway I most often use
 
The A614 is now two lanes, with a 50mph limit, and average speed camera's along it from Nottm virtually all the way up to the A1.

Thank God for that. My old traditional route to and from Nottm..which I still use when in the mood, is M6 to Knutsford then A whatever to Macclesfield and the Cat and Fiddle to Buxton then A6 to Bakewell, Matlock etc.. then via Ambergate and A610 into Nottm. That route is now also pretty much all 50 mph which makes for a much less stressful run with little increase in duration.
 
Thank God for that. My old traditional route to and from Nottm..which I still use when in the mood, is M6 to Knutsford then A whatever to Macclesfield and the Cat and Fiddle to Buxton then A6 to Bakewell, Matlock etc.. then via Ambergate and A610 into Nottm. That route is now also pretty much all 50 mph which makes for a much less stressful run with little increase in duration.

The only road I use regularly that has average speed cameras is the A9 and I was surprised to find that it actually benefits a lot from them. Previously there used to be a lot of dodgy overtaking in the single carriageway bits but it's now very rate and feels a lot more relaxed to drive on.

I'm still not generally a fan of them, but they can work well on the right sort of road.
 
NO to black boxes.
YES to ongoing driver retraining. Which the drivers pay for, say 5-7yr retest ( and to a higher standard than the first one).

I'm up for that. I love driving, I've done a lot of it. I enjoy it for recreational purposes. I try not to be tw&t - and the context in which we all drive changes over time. Fix the actual problem: it's not the car.


ps having been reasonable about the problem- now, please let's just first kill people who buy cars so large they are visibly scared to drive them / have no conception of where in the world the corners are, that seem to have a2mforcefield around the perimeter etc; this decree applies to those with he entitlement issue that means not understanding where to start / what they can do about any or all of the above since it clearly is your problem on their road ...

Similar here. I am mostly careful / considerate and only occasionally get wound up. Used to love driving, but now really couldn't give a sh17. Too many twa75 on the road who want that piece of tarmac in front of you. I have to drive over a narrow railway bridge to & from work. Last night I had to 'tuck in tight' when some t0553r in a fancy motor coming the other way had his OS tyre on MY side of the white lines....
And don't get me started on the REEEEEV Bang-bang-bang brigade who seem to think that doing this after 11pm at night is somehow a 'good idea'.
I REALLY NEED HELP TO BUILD A EM PULSE WEAPON TO DESTROY THIER ECUs. ONE PRESS OF A BUTTON AND THEIR ENGINES OVER-REV AND EXPLODE. Hopefully taking the driver with it....
 
Similar here. I am mostly careful / considerate and only occasionally get wound up. Used to love driving, but now really couldn't give a sh17. Too many twa75 on the road who want that piece of tarmac in front of you. I have to drive over a narrow railway bridge to & from work. Last night I had to 'tuck in tight' when some t0553r in a fancy motor coming the other way had his OS tyre on MY side of the white lines....
And don't get me started on the REEEEEV Bang-bang-bang brigade who seem to think that doing this after 11pm at night is somehow a 'good idea'.
I REALLY NEED HELP TO BUILD A EM PULSE WEAPON TO DESTROY THIER ECUs. ONE PRESS OF A BUTTON AND THEIR ENGINES OVER-REV AND EXPLODE. Hopefully taking the driver with it....


hmmm with a temper like that, I think maybe you should give up driving.
 
I'm all for compulsory retesting/training. Perhaps it'll catch people like the Honda driver in front of us that was maintaining a steady 38mph all the way down the [60mph] A421 earlier. And maybe it'll catch the twats who think it necessary to overtake them in front of an oncoming HGV :mad:
 
Most modern cars have a form of black box, do they not. If an accident occurs, surely a good deal of data about the lead-up to the accident is accessible by interrogating the ECU? Just like an aircraft -but no voice recorder. ??
 
Most modern cars have a form of black box, do they not. If an accident occurs, surely a good deal of data about the lead-up to the accident is accessible by interrogating the ECU? Just like an aircraft -but no voice recorder. ??
But that’s not what the thread is about. The black boxes that some poor buggers fit to their cars report regularly to the insurance company if excessive speed or g-force has been recorded.
As far as I know, all military road vehicles have had these fitted for years now.
 


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