Gatso Reveals Its New Model !

[ACTIVE8]

Gatso has been at it again !



No escape - new Gatso will get you !

THE "DADDY" of all speed cameras could be on its way !

Speeding motorists will have no place to hide from the new super-camera which could end disputes about drivers' identities by taking pictures of their faces.

The Multi-Camera System, manufactured by Dutch company Gatsometer, has the following features:

? Three digital stills cameras capable of monitoring four lanes of traffic at the same time.

? A video camera system which can be connected to the automatic number plate recognition system.

? Cameras that takes photos of cars 0.2 seconds apart to calculate their speed.

? Can be sited facing traffic or following traffic - uses infra-red flash so as not to blind oncoming drivers.

? Has a hard disk which can store 60,000 images on a hard drive.

The camera is estimated to cost £50,000 and will be mounted on a 16ft-high pole guarded by spikes.



Big Brother is all around you, and not just in a certain house on Channel 4.

We have more cameras here than any other country already, and now they want to screw the motorist even more, with even more technology !

[bxbodger]

A bit ferocious looking, isn't it!!

I have an idea- which unfortunately will never work,but.....

If everybody stuck rigourously to the limits, and parked legally all the time-even only for a couple of months- we could drive the companies who live off this sort of thing out of business.

There's a huge service industry built up around cameras, cctv, parking, etc- and we're paying for it.

[jeremy]

We have speed cameras which when unmarked were considered to be unsporting - even though marked by warning signs. After a public outcry the things were all painted yellow.

Drivers are supposed among other qualities - to be observant - after all their lives depend on being to observe and react to hazards. If you tell someone who has been caught by a yellow painted camera that he is unobservant and as such you wonder if he is a fit person to drive a car at speed he will get angry - and probably get caught again shortly afterwards.

Have I missed the point somewhere?

Reminds me of a discussion with a solicitor who did a lot of traffic work - who then (1980) reconed that anyone caught speeding by a following marked care should be charged with driving without due care and attention.

[bxbodger]

I'd agree with that- I've never been caught by a camera, and they ain't normally hard to spot.I got caught speedin by a vascar equipped police car in 1982-I was on my bike, I paid the fine (£60,seemed like a lot then!!) and learned the lesson.

Its the whole industry that goes with cameras that annoys me- where I work I regularly see people unsuspectingly park their cars, wander off to the shops, and return to find the cars either clamped, or lifted-often within 2 or 3 minutes.

They're not causing any obstruction- a ticket would suffice, but its all about revenue raising and its the same with the cameras. When you tax people until the pips squeak then other ways of raising revenue need to be found- cameras and parking being the main source of easy pickings, and its the same companies who tend to run them both.

[Stuart McB]

Life of grime on BBC 1 the other night. Council litter warden, spied a traffic warden having a crafty fag, when finnished he threw the nub on the floor and walked off. The Litter warden stopped him, told him it was an offence to litter and issued an £80!!! fixed penalty ticket . This was after the traffic warden gave some abuse and walked off a couple of times. The litter warden had to threaten the taffic warden with phoning his chief officer. Well done I say. Rules is rules we're always told.

[ACTIVE8]

Hi Stuart McB

I also saw that episode of Life Of Grime, it did come across that the traffic warden was not all that bright, or observant.

Due to the fact that there were two of these environmental wardens, as Edinburgh council their employer, like to call what are like you say, litter wardens.

What with special names like that, and other councils calling bin men cleansing operatives, it's like they have someone in the councils dreaming up special names for these basic jobs.

The other reason why I doubt that traffic wardens level of I.Q. is because there was also a film crew following the "environmental wardens" around so if there were two or more in the film crew then there would be at least four people, or more. The film crew managed to film the traffic warden chucking the stub away, and if they could see him he should have been able to see them.

It's good to see that the "environmental warden" went after him, because if the traffic wardens are going to hassle drivers, then they should also obey rules, as no one is exempt.

The fact that the "environmental warden" had previously been ticketed while using his own car, on official work for the council by the traffic wardens, meant that he had sweet revenge for previously over zealous traffic wardens.

The traffic warden should not have tried to ignore him, because although he might have been shown up, and on film at that, it just made the situation worse for him, and the "environmental warden" did bol***k him for it.

He certainly was, "well done" !

[Homer]

Have I missed the point somewhere?

Will you be saying the same if your child gets run over by someone watching their speedometer or looking out for speed cameras.

I would rather have drivers back looking at what they are supposed to be and not following the "I am not speeding therefore I am safe" mantra.

[Homer]

The fact that the "environmental warden" had previously been ticketed while using his own car, on official work for the council by the traffic wardens, meant that he had sweet revenge for previously over zealous traffic wardens.

Funny how these little Hitlers can choose which laws they break eh?

[jeremy]

Homer - that is the whole point - if they can't see a yellow box and get caught by it then should they be driving at all?

To be honest I think that the thought that you might get caught anywhere by a a police patrol was more effective than fixed cameras - which are largely useless in catching speeders familiar with the road who now know the only times they are at risk. (Like about 6 places only in the whole of Southampton - and 2 of them are close together on the same road)

[Homer]

Homer - that is the whole point - if they can't see a yellow box and get caught by it then should they be driving at all?

Why should they be looking for yellow boxes 14 feet up in the air?

Shouldn't they be scanning under the wheels of parked cars for tell-tale children's feet? Or that gap in the hedge which could be the gateway to a park?

Why do you assume that because someone does not see a yellow box up a pole they are not paying attention to the important things? Yellow boxes up poles rarely run out into the road.

Why should we be scanning every parked van or estate car to see if it is a Talivan? Shouldn't we be looking for ice-cream vans instead?

The whole traffic policing policy is campletely upside down, aimed at the cause of 3% of accidents and doing nothing about the 97%

Drivers are now rewarded for looking out for the wrong things!

There are a million and one things a driver should be watching for, speed cameras and speedometers are the last two on the list!

[bxbodger]

Unless you know the one on the North Circular eastbound outside builders warehouse is there, you won't see it anyway!! Its yellow alright but directly behind a great big direction sign........

Although I don't have a clue how people keep getting caught by the UK's top earning gatso at the end of the M11........it comes after a series of motorway sized 50 signs with pictures of cameras on them, the purpose being to slow traffic down for the lane drop- and it's really bright and obvious- I think anyone caught by THAT one should have their driving licences immediately revoked on the grounds that they habitually drive whilst asleep!!!

[mezuk04]

That episode of Life of Grime was quite brilliant hehehe.

Although on the other subject i agree with both sides, to me a driver has enough to be looking at but then if they were driving safely and at the correct road speed and being 'observant' they would never get caught by the camera which is partly to do with them not being observant.

I cant spot a cat on the pavement at 50 yds etc etc.

[ACTIVE8]

The new Gatso even had its picture shown on Friday Night With Jonathon Ross, where he expressed surprise at its OTT appearance, and also had a justified dig at it.

[ACTIVE8]

This new camera will make drivers even more apprehensive, and lead to more confusion, panic breaking, and drivers not keeping their eyes, and concentration on the road.

[ACTIVE8]

In Finland they impose costly speeding fines on drivers.

Motorist Jussi Salonooja was hit with a £116,000 fine. The heir to a sausage business was doing 49mph in a 24mph zone.

In Finland fines depend upon earnings not speed.

So, if you are a little over the limit, and have been earning well, then who knows what they will fine you.

Previously the record for highest fine was held by Anssi Vanjoki a director of Nokia.
Apparently he was doing 47mph in a 31mph zone and was fined £79,000.

We hold the record for the most cameras here in the U.K. lets hope they don't copy the idea of using punitive fines here.