Is it unreasonable to post a warning about a speed trap?

[bbcessex]

Just seen this debate going on on our local village Facebook group.

Poster A: Warning everyone, there are police with speed gun trap at XXX lane today.
Poster B: thanks for sharing, will go slow down there today
Poster C: the point of speed gun traps is to catch speeders and give them consequences like fines or speed awareness courses. Consequences change behaviours. You are wrong to pre-warn people as it removes the consequence which means the drivers won't learn a lesson.

For the record, I'm not any of the posters but I completely agree with Poster C. Typical facebook bunfight has now ensued.

Is Poster A unreasonable to post the warning?

Poster A runs the risk of being prosecuted for perverting the course of justice which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison! Though I doubt a penalty of that magma would be given in this instance.

I told him [DH] was a dick for speeding

That's pretty strong loathing & aggression statement. Of course, YOU will never be "a dick". Never.

How so, jamesk0001 when the police themselves put this information in the public domain?

I think some posters just like rush in to post the ultimate in 'doom and gloom' with scant regard for legal knowledge, not just this thread, lots of them.

I was thinking that too, lljjkk. I wonder what the 'DH' thinks of that wife?

That's pretty strong loathing & aggression statement. Of course, YOU will never be "a dick". Never.

No, it's a statement that he was being a dick. If I did it I'd expect to be told the same, because he'd be right.

Dick isn't strong, it's fairly mild to me.

If posting makes people slow down then surely thats a good thing . It's not the fine or the points that matter. It's the slowing down .

Oh and he's DP, not DH.

But don't let that get in the way of your defence of people who speed. I mean, it's not like anyone ever died because someone went too fast in a car is it?

I'm sure his ego coped with being told he was a dick for speeding. It was 3 years ago and I've never called him a dick since.

Perhaps you do routinely call your husband names but it's not the same in every relationship. I don't think calling somebody a 'dick' is mild; it's rude and obnoxious.

DP/DH/whatever. I don't defend speeders or myself when I do it. I save my ire for drink drivers.

I think its a good thing that people tell others about it, because the police are only doing it to earn money off the fines.
By other members of the public telling others, the result is still the same, people will reduce their speed. Which is supposed to be what the police want.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe lovely, whatever you think. I called him a dick once, when he was. Get in a froth all you like.

Oh and when you do hurt someone by speeding, do remember this thread and your sneering at anyone who doesn't defend it won't you?

There was a case from my local area last week actually, a man was jailed for a paltry 5 years for killing his cousin's 13 yo DD by going 55 in a 30. She hit a parked car so hard she actually left her shape imprinted on it.

But aye, I'm the baddie for hating people arrogant and stupid enough to speed eh?

There are warning signs before every fixed speed camera. Google maps and most satnavs give an audible warning when one's coming up to a fixed camera.
The signs are there to make people slow down. The aim isn't to catch people, but to make them slow down through areas of high risk. That same aim is achieved in the same way, with FB warnings of mobile cameras.

Usually there are warning signs in areas that have frequent mobile cameras. Certainly there are where I live.

Indeed. We already have enforcement for speeding, we just need it for the hard of thinking who park on crossings to drop off/pick up their kids, who chat on the phone without hands-free, who do all manner of foolish and utterly dangerous things on the road. They're always gleeful to hear of a speeder who has been given points.

I don't have an issue with speeding fines/points, my licence is currently clean, but as long as all the other transgressions are kept pace with. I think they are long overdue. Middle-lane hoggers ought to be issued with points too, they are incredibly dangerous on the road.

I'll continue to warn oncoming motorists when I see a speed van; everyone else can rub their thighs at the thought of them getting caught.

I don't really care if they're caught or not. I'd just rather that if they must speed, the only people they hurt are themselves and not others.

Rarely seems to work that way does it?

The simple fact is, if you don't speed, you don't need to be warned do you?

People will justify it all day long, because they do it and secretly don't give a shit.

I bet if Abbie McLaren's mum (the young girl I referred to earlier who was killed at 13 by a speeding driver) was on this thread, many of you wouldn't be so smug about speeding and getting away with it.

Those who'd flash to warn of speed traps, would you flash to warn of children on the road? Or a disabled person trying to cross?

Or is it just to get one over on the police?

Why would you flash to warn of children in the road? Surely you'd slow down, put your hazard lights on and wait for the feckless adults to come and get them?

A disabled person trying to cross? Slow down, stop, let them cross safely and then move off.

It's not about 'getting one over on the police'.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe I meant would you warn drivers going in the opposite direction as you would with a speed trap?

No? What's it about then? Because it's telling people breaking the law how to get away with it.

InTheHeatofLisbon, I'm trying to picture what you mean, what sort of road? I have in mind a bypass, not an estate (where you expect children to pop out). I crawl through those.

If it's a bypass (50mph) and there were children in the road then yes, I probably would flash but I'd also pull over and ring the police. The bypass I regularly use has sheep - and geese on it - and traffic on both sides slows to a crawl, hazards blinking. Everybody patient. I think most drivers are like that.

Flashing drivers to warn them of a speed van isn't telling people how to get away with breaking the law; the information is 'out there'; put out there by the police themselves. The most vociferous proponents of 'bans' seem to be those who drive very few miles. Some of us drive thousands of miles in a month. It is surprisingly easy to end up on the wrong side of a speed camera; I think so anyway.

I didn't mean a bypass, so I can see where we've got confused.

I meant roads in town, like the tragedy I mentioned earlier. She was a child, legitimately crossing a road she'd have had plenty time to cross if the car had been going at the right speed.

Or a disabled person crossing the road round a blind bend.

I drive on the motorways to work, I stick in the left lane unless I'm overtaking a slower than the speed limit vehicle. Because I'm not a confident driver and I don't want to get in anyone's way (I hate lane hoggers too). My commute is 90 mins a day for what that's worth.

I'm now realising what so much light flashing is all about from the opposite direction!

So aye, I meant in towns and cities, not bypasses or motorways. Crossed purposes.

You may drive slowly, many don't, and it has and will continue to have tragic consequences.

I never considered that you meant town traffic because I really don't seem to drive through towns - it's village (10-15mph) and then bypass/motorway for me.

To be honest, I don't understand why there are so many accidents at 30mph because you'd expect pedestrians/children/animals to pop out from anywhere on those roads and I do agree with you, everybody needs to slow down and be aware. I'm fortunate that I'm not really on a timetable so not generally rushing to get anywhere as I can leave myself enough time comfortably. I think some others are not so fortunate and are really 'on the clock'. It make a difference and I'm sure that it has tragic consequences quite often.

My speeding is never, ever on roads where you'd reasonably expect pedestrians. It's bypass and motorways and even that's less now as there are so many average speed cameras.

I'm glad we clarified. Sorry for being snippy. I know that I'm careful when I'm driving but you don't know me.

Equally I never considered that you meant bypass/motorways so we were both misunderstanding each other. I'm sorry for being snippy too, I honestly don't speak to DP like shit ever and I was so pissed off that he speeded in town I snapped at him. Literally the one and only time in 8 years I've called him a name. He doesn't routinely speed, and has been so careful since because he was mortified.

I get it though, I do. And you're right, at higher speed limits it's easier to creep over, so I see that point.

I guess my local community is just reeling from a terrible tragedy, and speeding is a sore point.

I set off half an hour early for work so I'm not time pressured, I get that not everyone has that luxury though and I've had a few hairy experiences with speeding drivers trying to force their way through which scares the shit out of me in my very little car.

But I'm glad we sorted things. I've been on a few threads with you under various usernames and I'm usually in agreement with you

He sped in town? He was indeed a 'dick'; on that one occasion. I had visions of him being caught at 80 on a motorway and felt sorry for him (because I've done that myself). I have no sympathy for speeders in 30mph zones where there will be pedestrians.

I'd feel the same as you if there had been a fatality, it's so needless and everybody's sorry after the event when it's all too late.

I can see that speeding drivers would terrify you in a smaller car. I used to have a Peugeot 207 and whilst it was quite nippy, it never felt really secure and I'd almost feel it shake when the Audi monsters roared past. I have one of those monsters myself now...

I too am glad that we sorted things out; you're not a fishwife and I'm not a hoodlum... so it's all good.

The commonest cause of road accidents in the UK is not speeding.
It’s driver error (108,479).
Inappropriate speeding was the cause in just 5,102.
As Jeremy Clarkson has said many times, it’s not speeding that causes damage, it’s crashing into things.
It’s perfectly possible to drive safely, well above the speed limit - on an empty motorway, for example. Germany doesn’t even HAVE a speed limit on most autobahns, and their drivers seem to manage fine.
I used to regularly drive at over 100mph when I was an emergency call doctor covering two hospitals. I have never had even a minor collision in 40 years of driving, because I read the road, give it my entire attention, and drive safely and defensively even at (occasionally) 110mph.
I always warn drivers about speed camera vans. I pull into the outside lane and repeatedly flash my brake lights, to warn cars following me that I’ve seen a speed trap up ahead. I’ve had lorry drivers do the same for me - they pull out in front of me for no apparent reason and slow me to 70mph, then tuck in again, as we pass the camera that had been hidden from view by the side of the lorry. I always wave or flash a thanks!
I regard most cameras as purely money making devices. They serve little purpose on a dual carriageway or motorway.
However, as there are some stupid drivers (usually male and under 25), who speed in dangerous locations such as round blind bends or in built up areas, I suppose the rest of us have to suffer their existence.

Read in an article where someone got a hefty fine from the police for flashing an alert at someone