On 7/4/2025 at 1:55 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Here's an example on the entrance to our village I posted on here a while back. There is (or was*) a 30 in the cluster of bushes on the right.

*I repeatedly contacted the council on the issue and suggested they relocate it somewhere it could be seen. Amazingly, they did!

I agree with you Eric, vegetation obscuring road signs appears to be worse this year than ever.

33 minutes ago, Justin Smith said:

I agree with you Eric, vegetation obscuring road signs appears to be worse this year than ever.

I blame global warming, it'll be the death of us all 🤣  (Though St Greta did predict the end of humanity in 2023, so we're already 2 years up LOL)

I think this story about the speed camera, or more accurately the reduction in the speed limit and the consequent massive increase in speeding tickets, made The Times :

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/transport/article/dorset-council-makes-16m-in-speed-camera-fines-after-limit-is-cut-cxlszhck6

I do actually buy The Times, but only in paper form once a week on a Monday as I have so little time to read it it takes me all week ! However, I do not have access to the online version so are any of the esteemed members of this forum "Times Online" subscribers and could therefore send me the text of the article ?
Thanks in advance !

Dorset Council generated £1.6 million in speed camera fines after reducing the speed limit on a busy road in Bournemouth from 40mph to 30mph. This led to a massive increase in the number of penalty notices issued, with a 36,000% rise reported. The camera on Ringwood Road, Bournemouth, previously generated very little revenue, but saw a significant spike in fines after the speed limit change.

Specifically, the camera on Ringwood Road, opposite Turbary Retail Park, flashed 11,594 times in 2024, the first full year after the speed limit reduction. In comparison, in 2020, when the speed limit was still 40mph, the camera flashed only a small number of times. The council's road safety team revealed the dramatic increase in fines in response to a Freedom of Information request. 

Just remember it's all about safety and not about the money 🤣

 

40 minutes ago, unofix said:

Just remember it's all about safety and not about the money 🤣

A few more like that might fill Rachel's black hole of £40 billion plus according to latest estimates!

On 5/23/2025 at 10:46 PM, Justin Smith said:

This will shock you, it shocked me..... It also indicates strongly that Howard Cox should be taking this up.

I did an FOI for the number of speeding tickets issued by that camera on the A348 at Ringwood Ave and I have just had it back. The results are below.
Note the speed limit was dropped in 2023, and for reasons nobody can fathom because if you go on Crashmap there are no serious accidents on that stretch of road for years before the limit was reduced from 40 to 30 : https://www.crashmap.co.uk/Search

Year - Speeding tickets from the camera at A348 Ringwood Rd West Howe (speed limit reduced in 2023, no data was given for that year, one can only speculate how high it was !) :

2020 - 39
2021 - 55
2022 - 32
2024 - 11,594
2025 - 3054 (pro rata = 6665)

I then tried to work out how much money that camera has "generated".
I have estimated how many speeding tickets were issued for 2023 from March to Dec, and it certainly would not be less than 2024's figure, so that would be 9,000 at least. So, that's over 23,000 tickets at £100 or more (for the fine or the speed awareness cost) so, unless my maths has accidentally dropped a decimal point, I reckon that camera has generated something around £2,300,000 ! That's well over two million pounds !
Plus it has caused much anguish to all those drivers (it certainly ****ed me off) but the speed limit drop has almost certainly not saved any lives, and probably not even prevented any serious injuries either.
 

>>At the end of the day, Howard lobbies for saving money, you'd be lobbying to spend.<<

I'd say over two million pounds, from one camera in 2 or 3 years, was sum worth saving !

I am delighted to say this has gone viral, and, I hope, severely embarrassed Dorset Roadsafe (or whatever they call themselves) m:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2e4qvv771o
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/transport/article/dorset-council-makes-16m-in-speed-camera-fines-after-limit-is-cut-cxlszhck6
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/2072330/speed-limit-changes-dorset-fine
https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/motoring/drivers-risk-millions-fines-after-35359590
https://www.reddit.com/r/bournemouth/comments/1l2gb9g/camera_on_ringwood_road_in_bournemouth_generates/

1 hour ago, Justin Smith said:

I am delighted to say this has gone viral...

 

Oh dear, must have caught a dose of Covid 🤣

On 8/6/2025 at 11:06 PM, unofix said:

Dorset Council generated £1.6 million in speed camera fines after reducing the speed limit on a busy road in Bournemouth from 40mph to 30mph. This led to a massive increase in the number of penalty notices issued, with a 36,000% rise reported. The camera on Ringwood Road, Bournemouth, previously generated very little revenue, but saw a significant spike in fines after the speed limit change.

Specifically, the camera on Ringwood Road, opposite Turbary Retail Park, flashed 11,594 times in 2024, the first full year after the speed limit reduction. In comparison, in 2020, when the speed limit was still 40mph, the camera flashed only a small number of times. The council's road safety team revealed the dramatic increase in fines in response to a Freedom of Information request. 

Just remember it's all about safety and not about the money 🤣

Of interest (about FOIs) is it was Blair that introduced them, and it was undoubtedly a very good policy but I read somewhere he now wished he'd never instituted them !

3 hours ago, Justin Smith said:

Of interest (about FOIs) is it was Blair that introduced them, and it was undoubtedly a very good policy but I read somewhere he now wished he'd never instituted them !

Not sure if you have read this already. But from the parts l read if you haven't paid the fine already along with others this is vital fighting info 😎👍

Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 https://share.google/3ZVyd7JFZDmyk8DGx

6 hours ago, Justin Smith said:

Of interest (about FOIs) is it was Blair that introduced them, and it was undoubtedly a very good policy but I read somewhere he now wished he'd never instituted them !

I read somewhere that many wished Blair had never been instituted.. 🤣