You don't really need me to comment on the story in today's Sun: Gatso let-off for speeding cops.
I've made plain on this blog several times that one of the best ways to avoid a speeding ticket is to wear a uniform.
No surprise that *all* of the investigated cases were of police on emergency calls. Nice work!
It would be nice to find out just how many OFF DUTY police officers are let off.
Now that really would be a story.
Capt Gatso
The Motorists Friend
Showing posts with label avoid speeding ticket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avoid speeding ticket. Show all posts
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Monday, 26 October 2009
Posties - don't rush back!
It's not all bad news with post strike. If you've been flashed and are expecting a summons then if lands 14 days after the 'offence' the paperwork is null and void.
This is from today's Sun:
Speeding fines hit by strike
TENS of thousands of motorists will dodge speed camera fines because of the mail strikes.
Drivers cannot be convicted unless they receive notification of their offence within two weeks.
And the postal workers' stoppages last week mean about 20,000 notices of intended prosecution a day have got stuck in the backlog and will not be delivered on time.
Thousands more will be buried in the mail mountain if this week's three-day strike goes ahead on Thursday.
Motorists using the legal loophole will escape a £60 fine and three points on their licence for speeding or jumping a red light.
A driver who already has nine points will dodge a six-month ban.
The authorities rake in about £6million a week from 100,000 speeding and other traffic fines.
The delayed notices could lose them about £1.2million a day.
Road traffic lawyer Chris Sweetman said: "If a notice arrives more than 14 days after the alleged offence the driver cannot be prosecuted because it would be 'out of time' in a court."
Anti-speed camera campaigner Captain Gatso said: "This may be the only silver lining to the postal strike."
Royal Mail chief Adam Crozier yesterday said he hoped union chiefs making "nonsense" claims would "shut up" and "common sense" would prevail when they meet bosses for fresh talks today.
Up to 120,000 workers are set to strike again from Thursday.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2698934/Speeding-fines-hit-by-postal-strike.html#ixzz0V3K0YYQW
This is from today's Sun:
Speeding fines hit by strike
TENS of thousands of motorists will dodge speed camera fines because of the mail strikes.
Drivers cannot be convicted unless they receive notification of their offence within two weeks.
And the postal workers' stoppages last week mean about 20,000 notices of intended prosecution a day have got stuck in the backlog and will not be delivered on time.
Thousands more will be buried in the mail mountain if this week's three-day strike goes ahead on Thursday.
Motorists using the legal loophole will escape a £60 fine and three points on their licence for speeding or jumping a red light.
A driver who already has nine points will dodge a six-month ban.
The authorities rake in about £6million a week from 100,000 speeding and other traffic fines.
The delayed notices could lose them about £1.2million a day.
Road traffic lawyer Chris Sweetman said: "If a notice arrives more than 14 days after the alleged offence the driver cannot be prosecuted because it would be 'out of time' in a court."
Anti-speed camera campaigner Captain Gatso said: "This may be the only silver lining to the postal strike."
Royal Mail chief Adam Crozier yesterday said he hoped union chiefs making "nonsense" claims would "shut up" and "common sense" would prevail when they meet bosses for fresh talks today.
Up to 120,000 workers are set to strike again from Thursday.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2698934/Speeding-fines-hit-by-postal-strike.html#ixzz0V3K0YYQW
Monday, 3 August 2009
Captain Gatso and the Financial Times
This is my piece from the weekend's Financial Times....
Motorists Against Detection
Captain Gatso [a Gatso is a type of speed camera used in the UK] , campaigns director, is a “family man in my forties”
Motorists Against Detection, which oversees the Speedaholics website, encourages the destruction of speed cameras.
The Speedaholics website says “a campaign will be organised by direct action to take out speed cameras”.
How are you able to get away with it?
You don’t host your site in the UK and US. And it depends on the way you communicate: encrypted e-mail, mobiles – divert, divert, divert and in the end you bin the Sim card. The campaign became big quite rapidly. It’s not, as the authorities portray, just vandalism.
Isn’t it?
It patently isn’t. Speed cameras are not road safety devices, they’re a revenue stream. People are still dying.
Do you vandalise cameras yourself?
I don’t get my hands dirty. It’s carefully orchestrated, I use PR and I have a day-to-day relationship with a lot of Fleet Street.
Are there speed cameras you wouldn’t attack?
Anything in a built-up area we used to leave be. But the speed limit’s come down and, with all the tricks they play, we’ve pretty much said everything is up for grabs. Boy racers are clued up on speeding then braking. It’s older people who are most likely to get tickets, for speeding a few miles over the limit.
Why not just demonstrate or lobby your MP?
People are exasperated with lobbying. The socialist government is car hating, it doesn’t want you having mobility and freedom. It’s part of the encroaching surveillance society. You’ve got digital speed cameras that are noting down places where you’ve been, going on the nationwide police computer in Hendon.
What about accidents happening because you’ve destroyed a speed camera?
The accidents are going to happen anyway. Putting speed cameras in is like trying to swat a fly after it’s gone. There are pieces of bad engineering of roads and junctions that could be ironed out.
Is there an outlaw thrill in what you do?
Not really. OK, I use a silly name, because my real name wouldn’t bring anything to the table. Yet when you take this word “Gatso”, people’s ears prick up, they know the subject.
Do the police know who you are?
I hope not.
On another note:
I keep telling people that this database-driven Police state will end in tears.
And for the people affected by the debacle of 'Officials give 1,570 people criminal records by mistake over past 12 months' you have my sympathy.The idots responsible never take the blame. No-one gets fired but you've lost out on a job.That's life under Zanu Labour.
Captain Gatso
The Motorists Friend
Motorists Against Detection
Captain Gatso [a Gatso is a type of speed camera used in the UK] , campaigns director, is a “family man in my forties”
Motorists Against Detection, which oversees the Speedaholics website, encourages the destruction of speed cameras.
The Speedaholics website says “a campaign will be organised by direct action to take out speed cameras”.
How are you able to get away with it?
You don’t host your site in the UK and US. And it depends on the way you communicate: encrypted e-mail, mobiles – divert, divert, divert and in the end you bin the Sim card. The campaign became big quite rapidly. It’s not, as the authorities portray, just vandalism.
Isn’t it?
It patently isn’t. Speed cameras are not road safety devices, they’re a revenue stream. People are still dying.
Do you vandalise cameras yourself?
I don’t get my hands dirty. It’s carefully orchestrated, I use PR and I have a day-to-day relationship with a lot of Fleet Street.
Are there speed cameras you wouldn’t attack?
Anything in a built-up area we used to leave be. But the speed limit’s come down and, with all the tricks they play, we’ve pretty much said everything is up for grabs. Boy racers are clued up on speeding then braking. It’s older people who are most likely to get tickets, for speeding a few miles over the limit.
Why not just demonstrate or lobby your MP?
People are exasperated with lobbying. The socialist government is car hating, it doesn’t want you having mobility and freedom. It’s part of the encroaching surveillance society. You’ve got digital speed cameras that are noting down places where you’ve been, going on the nationwide police computer in Hendon.
What about accidents happening because you’ve destroyed a speed camera?
The accidents are going to happen anyway. Putting speed cameras in is like trying to swat a fly after it’s gone. There are pieces of bad engineering of roads and junctions that could be ironed out.
Is there an outlaw thrill in what you do?
Not really. OK, I use a silly name, because my real name wouldn’t bring anything to the table. Yet when you take this word “Gatso”, people’s ears prick up, they know the subject.
Do the police know who you are?
I hope not.
On another note:
I keep telling people that this database-driven Police state will end in tears.
And for the people affected by the debacle of 'Officials give 1,570 people criminal records by mistake over past 12 months' you have my sympathy.The idots responsible never take the blame. No-one gets fired but you've lost out on a job.That's life under Zanu Labour.
Captain Gatso
The Motorists Friend
Monday, 26 January 2009
Losing a passport - classic 'mission creep'
News that Zanu Labour is planning to hit dads who don't pay maintenance for their children is a prime example of mission creep.
It's also littered with loads of pitfalls. The main one being it isn't a judge who decides whether the errant dad loses his driving licence and/or passport. It's a civil servant. Would you trust the cretins who man the government's turkey army?
No, me neither.
But the big worry is that when this becomes law I will lay money now that there's a clause which enables the government to hit drivers for other issues.
Drove too fast in a built up area? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Not paid a speeding fine? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Late paying your road tax? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Honestly, this shower only think in draconian terms. I highlighted at the time of the introduction of the Terrorism Act that there was no definition of terrorism or a terrorist. It could include someone damaging a speed camera, for instance.
And that's why people who try to get their children into schools are being hit with the Terrorism Act. It's barmy.
The country is already a police state and here we are cranking up authoritarian powers. It's beyond belief.
It's also littered with loads of pitfalls. The main one being it isn't a judge who decides whether the errant dad loses his driving licence and/or passport. It's a civil servant. Would you trust the cretins who man the government's turkey army?
No, me neither.
But the big worry is that when this becomes law I will lay money now that there's a clause which enables the government to hit drivers for other issues.
Drove too fast in a built up area? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Not paid a speeding fine? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Late paying your road tax? Bang goes your licence and passport.
Honestly, this shower only think in draconian terms. I highlighted at the time of the introduction of the Terrorism Act that there was no definition of terrorism or a terrorist. It could include someone damaging a speed camera, for instance.
And that's why people who try to get their children into schools are being hit with the Terrorism Act. It's barmy.
The country is already a police state and here we are cranking up authoritarian powers. It's beyond belief.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Man wearing speed camera costume gets a ticket
I love this story from Pistonheads. It shows how people can be both clever and stupid at the same time.
A red light camera in Arizona has snapped what appears to be a speed camera behind the wheel of an SUV. On September 14 the camera in Peoria photographed the car going through a red light split seconds after it changed.
But when the citation was issued the photograph clearly showed a person dressed up as a speed camera for an afternoon behind the wheel. Australian company Redflex, which runs photo enforcement programs for nine jurisdictions in Arizona, sent the ticket automatically to the Peoria Police Department for approval.
But according to reports state law requires the driver to 
be positively identified before the citation is issued. This is detailed on the Tuscon Police Department website: 'Does a Police Officer review my complaint before it is mailed? Yes. Every violation is reviewed by a Tucson Police Officer prior to a ticket being issued. The officer confirms the elements of the violation ensuring that there are grounds to believe a violation was committed, confirms the plate is readable and the driver is identifiable.
be positively identified before the citation is issued. This is detailed on the Tuscon Police Department website: 'Does a Police Officer review my complaint before it is mailed? Yes. Every violation is reviewed by a Tucson Police Officer prior to a ticket being issued. The officer confirms the elements of the violation ensuring that there are grounds to believe a violation was committed, confirms the plate is readable and the driver is identifiable.'The officer compares the photograph of the driver to the driver's license photo when possible. If there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence was committed and the person driving the vehicle is the one named, the officer places their name and badge number on the ticket and authorizes it to be issued. We believe that review of the violation by a trained police officer is critical in ensuring integrity in the process.’
If this is true the officer who issued the citation cannot have identified the driver without noticing his head was shrouded by a painted cardboard box.
Captain Gatso, of Motorists Against Detection, said: ‘We clearly all need to go down to our local supermarket and get a cardboard box and spray it yellow.’
CG
The Motorists Friend
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