young driver insurance specialists?

[Invisible Man]

You have my sympathy.

I am not a professional driver but I drive on the A12, M11 and M25 fairly regularly. Not often I see an empty lane 3! ISTR years ago coaches were allowed to use lane 3. Never ceases to amaze me how well a lot of drivers pull back in on parts of the continent. The M25 used to be much easier on a foul dark winter's night because the idiots stayed off the road. The A414 between Chelmsford and Harlow is a pain because of the horseboxes and others doing 40mph with limited overtaking opportunities (even with a 2 litre 2 seater). You would think with an enormous snake behind them they might take the hint and pull over occasionally.

[dennis]

There are for jumping lights so I guess you no longer consider them a tax.

[Tim Streater]

The same people need their disc pads replacing every 5 mins and get crap fuel consumption in their vehicle.

[dennis]

That would be a police job. The extra police that aren't running speed traps because the cameras are. Not that the police don't do speed traps anyway.

[tony sayer]

Round here I know someone who was done for 35 in a 30 limit. I thought they were a bit more "generous" with that seemed to think it was 37 but the road is much wider and bigger and less residential than one round the corner stacked with housing and rather narrow and thats a 40 still I suppose the council have their criteria;...

Don't they?...

[Chris J Dixon]

AIUI, the usual limit for action is speed limit + 10% +2, so 35 would be on the line.

Chris

[ARWadsworth]

What about the camouflaged cameras?

[Andy Cap]

The issue I think, is that a lot of the time, most of the speed limits are inappropriate. At certain times of the day, on certain days of the week, there are people about, but there are lots of times when you see no one. Treating drivers like sheep causes resentment. It's an ideal application for technology but far too expensive to implement I guess. My sister's just got done doing 37 in a 30 and accepted the Speed Awareness course at a cost of £85 to avoid the points and additional insurance premium. Apparently she enjoyed it !

Andy C

[Chris J Dixon]

I thought the rules now insist that the cameras are clearly visible? That's why some of them got the Blue Peter sticky-backed plastic treatment.

Chris

[Andy Burns]

Not quite, the local camera safety parterships can keep the fines (to fund the cameras) if they are painted day-glo, if they are camouflaged the money disappears off to whitehall.

On one of the routes from Sheffield across to Manchester, the towns/villages seem to have the cameras artexed to break up the surface texture and then painted mossy green.

[John Williamson]

It's one step of a few hundred towards that aim. And jumping lights isn't *invariably* a dangerous act.

[Mark]

-----^^^^^^

Wouldn't work well around here then since Orange reception is crap.

I wonder whether these devices would work correctly if the car had more than one driver.

[John Williamson]

There's a special version for that which lets each driver have their own profile, though as the desired driving style is the same, no matter who's driving, it shouldn't matter, apart from traceability.

[John Stumbles]

start again partway through as it evidently timed me out when I had to go off and find some bit of info it wanted which I didn't have immediately to hand, but eventually got there, recorded all 3 proposed drivers plus SWMBO's claims and then its says ... car's too old. I mean it could have told me that halfway through when it asked what car it was! bastards!

[fred]

Nasty :-(

These days I do a first pass through quotes with fake details close to my own and with guesses at stuff I'm not sure about to see if they are in the ballpark, usually takes 5mins that way and as the details are fake I don't get spammed by them.

[tony sayer]

Bit like their bank;!...

We have had excellent results through our broker Four Counties insurance based in St Ives Cambs usually beat any quote..

Might be worth a call...

[reg]

too old !? how old is it then & why should that matter, I'd ring customer services & talk to a person, bloody insurance companies make it up as they go along !!!

[John Stumbles]

BTDT ... I'm still receiving renewal reminders addressed to Mr Arthur Dent :-)

[John Stumbles]

15 years apparently, older than that and the dongle installers won't fit it because "the car's electrics can't supply the power it requires"/"it interferes with the vehicle's electrics"/

And yes, really, that's what the bloke was saying and no don't argue with it: he was a call centre operator so I'm sure he knows far more about it than you or I do ;-)

[ARWadsworth]

They were the ones I was thinking of. They are on the A57 at Mottram in Longdendale.

Painted green and stuck next to trees and behind a lampost!

At least all the speed cameras near me are bright yellow (1) and visible from at least 300 yards away. There are also speed camera warning signs just before the camera and these signs also include the speed limit (although the wankers still slow down to 30mph when there is a 40 limit)

(1) Apart from the one that must have had an electrical fault and caught fire.

The worst placed speed camera used to be in Devon on the A30. It was placed behind a bridge at the bottom of a hill on a dual carriageway. It was yellow but very well hidden.