Undercover probe reveals the 'buckets of money' made from speed cameras

[pp05]

Britain's booming speed camera network is at the centre of a giant 'scam' aimed at making 'buckets of money' for the Government, the boss of a leading supplier of the devices has admitted.

Watch our undercover report on the great speed camera scam here

The sensational confession was made by the chief executive of Tele-Traffic, which supplies cameras to virtually every police force in Britain.

His unguarded comments, made to an undercover reporter posing as a prospective buyer of speed cameras, will add new weight to the public's perception that the gadgets are designed more for making money than improving road safety.

The Tele-Traffic boss, Jon Bond, who was until a few months ago the police Chief Superintendent in charge of speed cameras in Warwickshire, urged our reporter to place an order and promised: 'There will be so much money coming in you won't know what to do with it.'


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[bledd]

dont speed where there are speed cameras, problem solved


i hate it when people moan about parking fines and speeding fines, if its poorly signposted or something, then fair enough

[kasavien]

dont speed where there are speed cameras, problem solved


i hate it when people moan about parking fines and speeding fines, if its poorly signposted or something, then fair enough

my thoughts exactly, people get what the deserve

[RS2000]

The government are only making money from people that are breaking the law. If no one was speeding from the offset, the cam's not have made any money & then they wouldn't have bothered setting any more up.

If you had your own business, & found that a particular item you sell is making you $hit loads of money. Would you stop selling it?

[iMc]

So using speed cameras as a money making device for our goverment is ok then?

I don't think it is. Thats what taxes are for. Speed cameras are 'advertised' as a safety device not a way to make money.

[IBM]

But wasn't the initial concept behind speed cameras to discourage speeding? And if you were a salesperson, wouldn't you push every perk going?

If you're not speeding, and not breaking the law, then there's nothing to worry about. Who cares whether they're 'advertised' as a safety device, and who cares if they're making lots of money. Don't speed. Simple.

[nichomach]

I think trhe worrying aspect of this is the assumption that if you don't speed, you're safe.

One thing Tele-Traffic appeared less open about was an alarming discovery it made last year that thousands of motorists might have been wrongly prosecuted for speeding. Mr Gay told how the son of the firm's founder, another former chief superintendent, was caught speeding by a police officer using one of the firm's lasers in a camera on the A14 last year.

He added: 'We looked into it and the officer operating it had not been trained properly, which technically makes the prosecution invalid. We told them that meant every prosecution over the previous five years could also be invalid because of the absence of training. But they insisted on prosecuting him anyway.'

Despite having a news section on its website, Tele-Traffic never told the public about the 'unsafe', prosecutions and there is no record of any of the police forces covering the A14 making any such declaration either.

An officer with a handheld unit using it incorrectly will cause the speed to be recorded incorrectly, thus resulting in a ticket being issued where no offence was in fact committed.

[IBM]

now that's worthy of concern

[grizac]

Another view: Speeding is profitable for the government. Profitable is often desirable. Perhaps the governement wants you to speed.

As far as the parking fines are concerned, it is a disgrace to society that such a huge network of employees is set up just to make some money for the local councils. I can see a traffic warden everywhere I go, but never a policeman. The council's income is above my safety as a priority it seems. Unless the surplus money from fines goes to charity.

[capt_cornflake]

At risk of getting off topic, I would actually appreciate more traffic wardens where I live (Coventry).

It really gets on my rag when people park in blatently dangerous positions without giving it a second thought, and it would be nice to see some kind of discouragement from the council.

[bledd]

At risk of getting off topic, I would actually appreciate more traffic wardens where I live (Coventry).

It really gets on my rag when people park in blatently dangerous positions without giving it a second thought, and it would be nice to see some kind of discouragement from the council.

just buy a banger as a 2nd car, and dish out some nudges

[grizac]

It really gets on my rag when people park in blatently dangerous positions without giving it a second thought, and it would be nice to see some kind of discouragement from the council.

Where I live, 9 out of 10 tickets (or s'thing like that) go for parking without putting money on the meter, which, as everyone knows, is extremely dangerous!

[McClane]

dont speed where there are speed cameras, problem solved


i hate it when people moan about parking fines and speeding fines, if its poorly signposted or something, then fair enough

I remember my parents parking in a spot they thought was perfectly fine. There were no parking restriction signs and there were no yellow lines. When we came back we found we had a ticket. My parents protested and were told to take a picture of where they parked. When they went back there was a freshly painted double yellow line.

More recently we thought our car had been stolen. My parents got in contact with the police and after a few days they found that it had been towed. It turns out that if we waited a couple more days the car would have been crushed. We weren't notified that the car had been towed, there was no ticket at any point and they hadn't clamped the car at any point. Is it fair to have a car worth a few thousand pounds crushed because my mum parked the car where she wasn't meant to by mistake?! If you knew my mum it really was by mistake.

Back on topic, I think the main focus of speed cameras is to make money. Driving in this country is very frustrating. There is always traffic and the motorways are too small for the amount of cars that now exist. Can you really blame people for driving too fast? I'm not trying to justify people that drive at 60 in a 30mph zone but take the motorways for example, in germany they have no speed limit and as far as I'm aware the motorways are very safe there. If the police/government were actually concerned with saftey they wouldn't issue a fine, they would give you a nice load of points on your licence. Then if you were caught speeding a few times you would lose your licence.

[TheAnimus]

also "buckets of money" piss off.

There are some 673 users online now, say that 30% got a ticket, the goverment would make make more money from JUST this 21 year olds income tax alone. Not that i'm bitter about new labour, new tax n spend.

So, how about moaning about paying for something which IS BREAKING THE LAW (regardless of how good a driver you are, there might well be some stoned art student driving, whom can barly coupe with the 30mph, let alone the 40 your doing).

How about we start doing something worthwhile (axing benefit for people who just don't get a work, not paying people EMA etc.)

[herulach]

also "buckets of money" piss off.

There are some 673 users online now, say that 30% got a ticket, the goverment would make make more money from JUST this 21 year olds income tax alone. Not that i'm bitter about new labour, new tax n spend.

So, how about moaning about paying for something which IS BREAKING THE LAW (regardless of how good a driver you are, there might well be some stoned art student driving, whom can barly coupe with the 30mph, let alone the 40 your doing).

How about we start doing something worthwhile (axing benefit for people who just don't get a work, not paying people EMA etc.)

Seconded, but im a bit of a tory at heart anyway. ema in particular really gets my goat, you realy should only get it for proper qualifications, gnvq health and social care and the like not being one of them.

Is it fair to have a car worth a few thousand pounds crushed because my mum parked the car where she wasn't meant to by mistake?! If you knew my mum it really was by mistake.

Although thats taken out of context, if youre making comments like that about your mothers driving, you should maybe think about buying her a refresher course, if she doesnt even know where to park, then shes going to cause an accident at some point through parking somewhere stupid.


As far as speed cameras go, im distinctly in the if you dont speed then why worry, category. No matter how ridiculous you think a speed limit is, its stil the law, just because you dont agree with it doesnt mean it doesnt apply to you.

[McClane]

Although thats taken out of context, if youre making comments like that about your mothers driving, you should maybe think about buying her a refresher course, if she doesnt even know where to park, then shes going to cause an accident at some point through parking somewhere stupid.

I am actually quite offened about the assumption you have made. Everyone makes mistakes and I will tell you now that my mum doesn't have any trouble driving. She is a very safe driver, especially because she is a cyclist as well. Before you say it, she isn't one of these idiots that thinks cyclist can do what they please on the road ie going through red lights.

Also, parking restrictions aren't always clearly marked. On our road there were some disabled spaces added and you rarely see anyone who has a blue badge actually parked there because they are so badly sign posted. This is where she parked when the car got towed.