Proposed Police radar traps in Switzerland

In complete contrast to the policy of clearly marking speed radar traps in Britain with bright yellow colours and signs informing drivers of their presence, German authorities have opted for the sneaky camouflaged option to make sure they can cash in on drivers' transgressions.

Newly released photographs show the lengths they are going to to optimise revenue here:




Our neighbours also see be taking the sneaky route. Apparently there are over 28 units of this camera currently in operation in Austria.



This brings up the whole debate about whether speed cameras are there as a deterrent to make the roads safer for all or an attempt to fill the authorities coffers with the hard earned cash of the average motorist.

The new trend (and I keep falling for it , probably 3 times this year) seems to be to put them on 30 zones.

They also seem to like the downhill stretches of long open roads where there is no real danger.

No doubt in my mind what the German police are trying to do...

The worst and in my opinion shitty place I have seen them set a speed trap up was about 1.5-2kms on form a major road accident.

The who motorway way blocked as the injured people had to be evacuated by Air ambulance.

After about 90 mins the police let everyone start off again. We were near the front of the queue and abut 2k's away were two police in the last steps of setting up the speed trap.

it could be argued that after an accident they wanted to slow people down (why a mobile unit around a corner?) or it could just be that they thought there is a massive tail back and people may be a bit late - lets catch them speeding around this bend.

Isn't the whole point of speed cameras that drivers shouldn't be aware of them?! I can never understand why radio commentators are allowed to warn listeners about the presence of speed cameras on certain stretches of road.

The point of speed traps is "supposedly" to promote road safety, so if people know about the traps then they slow down thus achieving this purpose. This is also the reason the courts have given for allowing the practice to continue. In some places, Celle, for example, the police even supply the local paper with a list of where the speed traps are going to be the next day, so that they can publish it.

If you know where they are, you will just speed where they aren't. I see it on a daily basis at several very well known speed traps. As for speeding in a 30, you should be hauled off to jail and lose your license for a year. If you speed on a spielstrasse, then you should be hung up like a pinatta for all the neighborhood kids and their parents to take a whack at.

The stupidest place I've seen a speed camera in England was outside the entrance to a hospital I once worked at. The hospital had an accident and emergency department, and all day long the camera was snapping speeding ambulances!

These were once posted in a thread which claims they were a hoax: so are they for real or not?

Speed radar cameras concealed in crash barriers, Update: these photos are a hoax

this thread also they were posted in Drastic increase in fines for traffic violations

I live on a 30 zone street and I can honestly say that cars go thorough there at 60+ (especially early morning). I have no problem with these people losing their licence for a month or so if caught. If they know there's a speed trap there then it defeats the purpose...

30's seem to be appearing more and more. No problem if they are near populated areas where people are about walking but they seem to be slipping them in where there seems to be no safety justification. Outside where I work it's 30. The pavement is away from the street. There is no housing. There is no school. There is no visibility problem. The road is wide. No justification.

Spielstrasse are a different kettle of fish and are justifiably walking pace .

It is not only the police chasing drivers in the name of road savety. The towns are also allowed to use their own speed cameras. You may try http://www.radarfalle.de/radarfallen/ in order to avoid the "well konwn" ones.

My boss has just had a preview of the soon-to-be launched BMW 7 and he mentioned the car having a speed-limit regulator of some sort - the steering wheel will vibrate and make you slow down. With these 30 km/h speed zone, what's the point of buying another "race car"??

They won't sell any of those in the UK as you'll not be able to tell the difference between it shaking cos your going too fast and it shaking cos you're driving on crap roads.

I get really sick of people moaning about being caught by speed cameras in england. Some of my friends have been caught out on 30 mph zones and some on 50mph zones. The idea that speed cameras are hidden in germany is fuel to the fire for idiots who speed. The idea of a speed camera is, in my opinion, to be a visible deterrent for people who like to break the law and drive faster than the recognised speed limit (thus endangering the lifes of everyone around them). I reckon they should be on every road in every town and on every motorway. It makes me sick the way drivers think they are the kings of the road and can do what the fu§k they please. If it is the policy of the german government to put these cameras in hidden places then i say they are all tossers.

But there wasn't a bright yellow & red sign above his head saying that if I hit him I would get caught and prosecuted your honour. Bloody pussies. If you can't do the time don't do the crime. The speed limits are clearly marked/known, it's illegal to exceed the limit (at any time, not only when there's a camera or copper around), they're there for a reason and there's zero excuse for going above the limit. And yes, I have been caught on camera plenty of times. I knew I was breaking the limit and taking a risk. Tough shit. Live with it.

Everywhere does that, its the law however you have to look hard in the newspaper to find the actual announcement. I've seen them in the personal ads before now. As for the sneaky cameras, its not that new. I've been blitzed by one in a waste bin and a little while ago the police here hired a car transporter, filled it with cars where the last one had a camera in it and parked it by the side of the road.

That's the whole point. What is the purpose?

So, speed cameras are bad because people who drive faster than is allowed would be caught? Why you just do not break the law?

Krieg, you are going tangential.
We are not discussing if cameras are bad or good, but if they should or should not be camouflaged.

It was my impression that corcaigh was more concerned about driving licenses rather than making his home area safer.

Just so everyone knows too, my boyfriend is a cop here and he said that they've started to put speed cameras in tunnels because no one sees them. He said they've made good money from those.
Near Dachau on the A99, where there are a couple of tunnels, one of them already has one installed.

It dosent matter how inconspicuous they make them... I often get Knobbled by the normal ones...

Committing GBH is still a minority sport among the electorate whereas speeding has become a majority sport.
This means that GBH is usually heavily penalised and the vast majority of electors accept that.
On the other hand, most voters do not see speeding as a serious issue and politicians are not going to make too many potential enemies out of the voters, are they?
They therefore ensure that speed cameras are painted in dayglo colours for the benefit of the electorate and themselves, so that the punters are concurrently not getting caught themselves but are nevertheless reassured that the government is doing something about all of the other bloody idiots on the road.
Clearly identifying speed cameras is a purely political decision based on the balance of how annoyed the public are when caught compared to how little they believe the government is doing to combat 'bad drivers'. In Germany the politicians achieve the same balance differently than in the UK by not identifying the cameras so much (so infringement detection is higher) but making the punishment less (much lower fines when caught).

No, the new BMW 7 series 'reads' the street signs and shows the speed that you should be driving and the speed that you are driving at. It displays on the windshield. The system is smart so if it sees one of those signs that says '80 when wet/raining', the BMW will display 80 if it's raining or wet and 100 if it's dry. The steering wheel does not vibrate.

And Eurovol says something that makes sense, the crowd goes wild!!! World Peace declared, Moon turns to Blood! Dogs and Cats living together...mass hysteria. Pigs fly out of asses on 3 continents and hell orders space heaters to deal with sudden influx of ice! News at 11.

Wow. Stone the crows. I can't wait to tell the missus about this 'un.

"Die Originale, aus einer Präsentation der Kantonspolizei Vaud"
The photos are from an original presentation from the Swiss state of Vaud, state police (in 2006).
See previous link from Deccie.
Take care,
space