[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

I have also seen speed cameras located at the side of the road rather than the conventional position which is on the median. These cams on the road side are hard to notice and this will definitely help generate many fines.

These kind are what we have on the Kayankulam - Kollam stretch of NH47 - hard to notice & easy to miss as one zooms by.

Originally Posted by kutoos

@supremeBaleno, you have made a good point, however, the problem still persists. Regular commuters are now aware of the camera coverage and behave well in the areas where the Cameras are present, Once out of Coverage area all hell breaks loose.

You do have a point. I am aware of where the cameras are located in the above mentioned NH47 stretch that I do atleast twice weekly. But given the narrow road coupled with traffic and potholes, I neither get to go above the speed-limit nor can look out for the cams since focus needs to be on the road fulltime.

[ad3952n]

As many of the members have shared above that not only for over speeding, the speed cameras can help in creating evidence for fatal accidents too. Having lived in Delhi-NCR for more than 2 decades now, I firmly believe that Delhi has gone from bad to worse over the years. The infrastructure has depleted to new lows and the life of a motorist on the road has become cheap. After seeing the picture below, I as an individual feel that high speed cameras need to be efficiently placed in almost every place in and around entire Delhi.



Link

Thanks

[Accent Martin]

The governance of speed regulation cannot prevent / mitigate accidents. However, It will trigger thoughts in the minds of drivers to be cognizant of their speeds. Cameras are only instruments to monitor. period. Reality is that drivers reduce the speed of their vehicles due to the fear factor of getting caught, fines imposed and not because of their interest in creating safer surroundings.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

"Working & monitored" speed camera may get an improvement but not the solution.

The solution lies in us - 50% of it!

Anurag.

I echo this thought.

I also want to throw some light on how advanced has kerala become in monitoring speeds. Many of us think we are ok to slow down when we near the interceptor and post that we can zoom past!!. Right?

Well you might want to read the below which I heard from my own family member who mentioned about this which is in practice.

Kerala police have the mechanism to calculate the speed of your car using cameras that will show your locations and time taken for you to travel the distance. Its simple physics put into practice. Let me explain -

Say, you are driving at 120kms per hour towards one direction and you see there is an interceptor ahead and you slow down. Lets call this location as point A. You as per camera hasn't violated the speed rule and hence you don't get stopped. you zoom past , pick up the same previous speed and reach point B where only a camera is present that you didn't notice.. Actually doesn't matter even if you notice it. The distance between Point A and Point B is 10 kms but you covered this in 5 minutes. What was your speed?

Speed = Distance / Time = 120 kms/hr. Got it?

You unaware of this mechanism go home happily and after a month you receive a notice of speed violation.

I was impressed when I heard about this. Of course the above mechanism can be implemented only one single stretch and it prevails only in some parts especially outskirts of Trivandrum. Nevertheless, awareness of this will happen only after people get notices at home.
But my fellow bhpians, let us contribute our bit towards creating a safer environment.

Cheers!

[embee]

Speed is a contributory factor in many road crashes. A driver’s choice of speed can affect the margin of error that are left when he/she or someone else makes a mistake. Excess speed – breaking the posted speed limit – can play a significant part in those crashes.

Most important method to bring down road accidents is strict enforcement of speed limits. In this case, speed cameras play a vital role in controlling vehicular speed and somehow brings alertness in car drivers in respect to getting penalised.

[joybhowmik]

Speed cameras are at best a deterrent - as such implementations have shown in other parts of the world. They prevent overspeeding but not dangerous driving - which unfortunately can be practiced with impunity even when not overspeeding. Of course overspeeding is a form of dangerous driving, but you have instances of people weaving in and out of lanes - even when under 40 kmph or for that matter jumping red lights with impunity.

The large majority of road mishaps can be avoided by ensuring people do not end up driving dangerously.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

I had watched a documentary on Nat Geo or Discovery, where they showed policemen placing life-size cutouts of police cars at crucial places.

Reminds me of the fake cutouts placed by Mumbai cops - Related Thread

Originally Posted by Accent Martin

The distance between Point A and Point B is 10 kms but you covered this in 5 minutes. What was your speed?

Speed = Distance / Time = 120 kms/hr. Got it?

Smart! MH cops do the same thing on the Mumbai - Pune expressway. Instead of catching your speed on the expressway, they'd be positioned at the 2nd toll booth (toward the Pune side). They'd fine you based on how long you took to get from one toll booth to the other.

Indian drivers - as is usually the case - soon found a 'jugaad' . If they saw cops, the toll receipt was mysteriously lost. Cheaper to pay the toll again than a speeding fine, I guess.

[SS-Traveller]

Dummy speed cameras are less of a deterrent than camouflaged real speed cameras.

An interesting discussion we had during my Low Risk Driver Training session:
The tolerance of speed cameras in Australia is 2 km/h - above that, the system captures an image and sends a ticket to the vehicle owner. Now, these cameras are mounted on overhead beams across the road, and can track multiple cars in multiple lanes. Each car is tracked, and times compared between cameras, which are usually at a distance of 5 km from each other.

So, a car may be within the speed limit at one camera, and then the next - but if the distance between cameras is covered at an average speed above the speed limit, one still gets a ticket.

Note that trucks also have the same speed limit as cars, and overtaking a 40-metre-long trailer doing 107 km/h takes a really, really long time, when one is sticking to 110 km/h. We discussed this fact and its implications on safety. Obviously, staying stuck in the overtaking lane for a long time with a 40-tonner rumbling along at almost the same speed alongside you, is not safe - but what to do if the truck won't slow down (legally he is supposed not to race the overtaking car and prevent him from overtaking cleanly, but a big rig will not slow down just because someone's overtaking)? Pick up a ticket at 115 km/h just because you are trying to drive safe?

I was surprised to learn that the authorities have already got this issue under consideration there. So the proposal is to not ticket a car in the overtaking lane (and actually overtaking another vehicle) doing up to 120 km/h - so long as the next camera detects him under the speed limit, and the average speed between cameras is also within the speed limit.

Amazing focus on road safety!

[latentpotential]

Sheikh Zayed Highway in UAE. Accidents happen once camera flashes start. People stomp on brakes and cause pileups once they see a camera flash, since they are very scared of getting a traffic ticket.

I hence voted for 'No'.

[ShankarG]

The virtual speed breakers - reviving an old post.

I know some senior people in traffic department who are willing to consider our suggestions on this and hence seeking a fresh perspective. Many things have already been said in the previous posts. Looks like the situation has not changed since 2014.

The lockdown has truly shown us all some tough time and the behavior we portray on roads is a big part of our true personality. One true characteristic we all have is to get high on the thought of breaking rules and doing what we are not allowed to. Most of us are successful in subsiding this urge and stay sane. However, many do not. This was evident on the roads especially during the lockdown when there were very limited road traffic.

One interesting case study which is being discussed above is the road speed monitoring cameras. These cameras are intended to ensure deterrence of driving at high speeds but it has actually reduced to being a virtual speed breaker. Most of the drivers are aware of its presence on their daily routes and are careful to reduce their speed only at the marked stretch. For others who view it from a distance ensure that they are under the speed of 60 within the camera viewing zone. Now a speed camera is sensing the vehicle’s speed only in a defined zone which is highlighted in the image below. People have become extremely smart to avoid coming under the camera viewing angle at a rule breaking speed and as soon as they are out of this angle, they revv their engines and jump again to higher speeds. This has reduced these speed cams to just being mere ‘virtual speed breakers’. Once a car or a two wheeler enters the ‘sudden breaking zone’, it becomes a potential hazard. Especially in the case of two wheeler, it can lead to a shift of gravity and may lead to an imbalance (on a slippery road etc.). Moreover, it becomes an equally big hazard for the tailing vehicle (although in lockdown, there weren’t many) as we Indians are not used to maintain a safe distance. This is a huge potential risk of that can cause serious injury.

I interacted with some traffic police officers when they stopped me to check my vehicle pass. They too are aware of this behavior and are equally clueless to control this. They cite lack of resources and overall road discipline.

Some of the things which I feel can be done to control this (as an amateur). The road traffic safety institute should pick up all these case studies to brainstorm and come up with the right control mechanisms.
1. Have a camera after every 2-3 kms (many can be dummies with blinking lights). Implications: High initial cost but low on maintenance.
2. Have a police patrol car to deter motorists. Again, does not ensure full adherence. Implications: High cost and may not be available 24 hours everywhere
3. Have the speed breakers in the form of thick flat paint lines at regular intervals (apologies, don’t know the technical term). Implications: Low cost option
4. Imparting emphasis on road manners and rules starting from family, school, driving schools, RTO etc. (the usual suspect and lack of it causing of many incidents)
5. Mobile traffic CCTV’s that change location and road stretches WITHOUT a fixed pattern. Often we get WhatsApp forwards on the location of Speed cameras. Implication: high cost but with a high deterrence.

What else do you think can help in this situation?

Thanks for reading.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by ShankarG

What else do you think can help in this situation?

Fines fines and fines. And penalties like confiscation of license for 1 month, etc.

Keep a very steep penalty and you just have to catch 3-4 offenders and make an example out of it.

I remember this has worked wonders in some places. e.g. JJ flyover. Never have I seen more discipline there (30 kmph limit). Ofcouse it's another story that people speed up as soon as they come down.

To be honest, I'm willing to stick to absurd speed limits (30 kmph on a 6 lane flyover, 60 kmph on Freeway etc.) as long as I'm assured that the persons breaking those will be fined. Sadly that's not the case. And when others are zooming faster than you, it's even more of a hazard going slow.