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Speed Radar at Caleta

Started by KWC, April 14, 2014, 15:13:53 PM

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KWC

Whilst driving westwards towards the last roundabout just as you pass the Salinas Golf Club, I noticed a car parked up (off) the side of the road. Checked my speed again and was doing 50kph ok, hence the long line of cars at the back of me :-[.
As I got closer two cops sitting inside, presumably checking for speeders.

The locations was cheeky, behind the sign and barriers that made identifying them that bit harder.  So watch out for a dark blue unmarked Volkswagen golf car.

Screen shot showing where I saw them!


Globetrotter

Quote from: KWC on April 14, 2014, 15:13:53 PM
Whilst driving westwards towards the last roundabout just as you pass the Salinas Golf Club, I noticed a car parked up (off) the side of the road. Checked my speed again and was doing 50kph ok, hence the long line of cars at the back of me :-[.
As I got closer two cops sitting inside, presumably checking for speeders.

The locations was cheeky, behind the sign and barriers that made identifying them that bit harder.  So watch out for a dark blue unmarked Volkswagen golf car.

Screen shot showing where I saw them!


A few weeks ago they were parked opposite the Atlantico centre had a car with a sun shade in the windscreen with a square hole cut in it, behind was the camera, crafty :P

Brightspark

Unless someone's breaking the law and speeding then I don't think there's much to worry about.

woe10

They're always on that strip of road. They're after Tourists, as all the locals know they're there. It's 50 all the way to Salinas Golf Roundabout, but I've seen countless Hire Cars put their foot down once they've past Atlantico. There's a big yellow sign that says Recuerde ( remember ) 50, around town.


lionfish

A pity they don't book the bus drivers and taxi drivers - they appear to be immune!

Spike On Q

Same old same old, break the law, accept the consequences

Spike On Q

PS they do Nick the locals, hundreds of them, they hit back by dumping large quantities of broken bottles where the Guadia park, action not words!

Ivemovedon

Not wise to take on the Spanish police at any time least of all on holiday. Leave the action man antics to the locals or at the very least you'll end up done for obstucting them in the course of their duties to go along with your grossly extortionate speeding fine.

stick to having a moan on here, it upsets some but its satisfying and is the less dangerous option.

KWC

The object of posting the Picture and warning, was for the benefit of Forum members going there on holiday and not knowing the score re-tactics they employ etc.

While driving on the wrong side of the road, in a strange country etc, it is very easy to forget your speed and slip over the limit by accident. I wholly agree one shouldn't speed and if you do! you have no one to blame but yourself.  That's why you see me with a line of cars behind me :D

But there's blatant speeding for the sake of it and I have seen some lunatics speeding along those roads, over taking just before a bend.

You do have to be on your toes when driving through towns over there due to their daft way of applying speed limits.  One minute your ok doing 70kmh, then down to 50, and within a few yards back up to 60kmh etc etc. 

Just a heads up to save anyone on here from falling foul of the law - inadvertently of course.  ;)

isleswing

They are out to get us all

From Isle of Wight Radio website

Police officers from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary have joined a Europe-wide crackdown on speeding this week.
Starting today (Monday), forces across the continent will take part in a campaign to highlight the effect excessive or inappropriate speed can have on the safety of road users.

Speed checks will be carried out every day.

Hampshire's road safety sergeant, Rob Heard said:

"Officers will be carrying out speed checks across the county every day during the campaign, so it's a good reminder to people to keep to the limits.

"People also need to realise it's a limit and not a target so it may be more appropriate to travel at a lower speed depending on the road conditions for their own safety.

"This campaign is all about awareness.

"We want people not to go above the limits as it will help them stay safe on their journey.


Brightspark

Quote from: isleswing on April 15, 2014, 11:47:23 AM
They are out to get us all


"People also need to realise it's a limit and not a target so it may be more appropriate to travel at a lower speed depending on the road conditions for their own safety.


I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement, especially on motorways.
I was always taught to keep as close to the limit as safely as possible,  by doing so has many advantages but the biggest one is to avoid roadrage.... yeah really.
It always gets me when some drivers decide to travel 30mph along a sliproad onto a motorway, WHY!!! they even goto the trouble of building most of them into a downhill slope so even sluggish cars can reach a suitable speed to enter a motorway....grrrr

nacnud

I realise I'm in for a lambasting from certain quarters but on a legal point notwithstanding the jurisdiction or state that a speed limit is defined as the maximum speed in the defined area not a target to be reached or a guideline, and Laws that govern it are set by the local conditions and local regulations. To suggest that Guardia Civil  are out to entrap poor unsuspecting Tourists or locals is as relevant as speed radar or Gatso's or unmarked patrol cars here in the UK the US or anywhere else.
The law is the Law and requires enforcement, and if you disagree with speed limits try telling that to someone who has lost someone close from Idiots who speed.

KWC

Quote from: nacnud on April 15, 2014, 14:03:47 PM
I realise I'm in for a lambasting from certain quarters but on a legal point notwithstanding the jurisdiction or state that a speed limit is defined as the maximum speed in the defined area not a target to be reached or a guideline, and Laws that govern it are set by the local conditions and local regulations. To suggest that Guardia Civil  are out to entrap poor unsuspecting Tourists or locals is as relevant as speed radar or Gatso's or unmarked patrol cars here in the UK the US or anywhere else.
The law is the Law and requires enforcement, and if you disagree with speed limits try telling that to someone who has lost someone close from Idiots who speed.

Not get any lambasting from me nacnud.

Anyone in their right minds will fail to disagree with your sentiments.

isleswing

Driving too fast is a very bad thing, I totally agree.

The reason for my first post, was simply the irony of reading the news item on Euro wide speed week immediately after KWC's posting.

Ivemovedon

not too sure about the buses but i have to agree with the poster on the islands taxis. All the ones i've ever travelled in over the years, and thats quite a few both day and night,  appear to have no fear of disobeying the the speed restrictions. Seeing as the vast majority of holidaymakers to the island are of the more mature variety i'd also say theres a decided lack of boy racers waiting to take you on at the lights (if there were any). In fact i'd even go as far as to say in my opinion if anyone was going to kill anybody it would be a local or a cabbie not joe blogg's mrs poodling down to the supermarket from their holiday apartment. Tourists tend to be more careful than they even are at home as they are out of their environment and driving on the opposite side of the road.

Far be it from me to suggest cab drivers are immune from prosecution, and they may well get pulled up, but they aren't daft, and to risk a fine and i'm assuming eventual loss of lisence at the speeds they go,does make you wonder. I'd be interested to see the accident statistics for the island and the ratio between local and holidaymaker drivers responsible.

woe10

Taxi drivers are in constant radio contact with each other. They know exactly where the police are. If they're doing 50, you know there are police about.

Ivemovedon

That explains a lot.

Moral of the story...if at all possible stay in the slipstream of a taxi.

bedouin

The problem with speed limits is that many seem to be chosen arbitrarily.  In the UK, for example, you can have a narrow road flanked with lots of homes, and with no pavements, and it's a 60mph limit.  Or you can have a wide dual carriageway with no development alongside, and it's a 40mph limit.  Motorists set their natural speed according to their surroundings.  We recently tried to get the 30mph limit in our village extended about a quarter of a mile further out, and the highways people refused point blank because they said the road "didn't look like a 30 limit" so nobody would obey it.

woe10




New Radar Camera being tested by the Traffic Police. Hidden behind a barrier  :o


Picture from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Radares-Fuerteventura/506292639461895?fref=ts

bluefox

i still call it entrapment, especially the hole in the sun screen, i think the speed trap's are so intense is because it's to top up the island coffer's and give the police something to do, when you look at it they have little else to do, thankfully we're not tenerife, g/canaria etc. so we get very little lager-lout situation's, don't get me wrong, there as to be some sort of speed control, as for putting your foot down abit, i don't have a problem with it, as long as it's done in the right place's, and i'm convinced that local bus's and taxi's are excempt,  :o just to end, please stop comparing fuerte to uk/ire law's, we all know what happen's there, having said that, the island's should take a leaf out of their book by putting up road sign's stating there's speed camara's in operation, as we know, we don't know if there is or not, but it work's, because we slow down anyway....just in case.  ::) 

KWC

Quote from: woe10 on April 16, 2014, 10:16:01 AM



New Radar Camera being tested by the Traffic Police. Hidden behind a barrier  :o


Picture from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Radares-Fuerteventura/506292639461895?fref=ts

Thanks for posting that Woe.  Where was it located?

Kenny


lionfish

Bluefox, there are "some" warning signs, but surely signs defeat the object - no speeding = no income from speeding fines!!!

PHo

I can't see how it is entrapment, bluefox. No-one is encouraging you to break the law, and if you do you can hardly complain if you are caught and fined, however they do it.

Ivemovedon

in the UK the authorities have long since admitted to many hidden cameras being classed as entrapment and based on revenue income rather than road safety. The policy is now the gradual removal of these cameras located in positions which have no record of improving safety or accidents but still continue to drag in thousands of pounds in fines.
There lies the true crux of the matter...money or road safety?. If it wasn't about money they'd have more police patrolling the roads and less cameras.

Brightspark

Quote from: PHo on April 16, 2014, 11:41:24 AM
I can't see how it is entrapment, bluefox. No-one is encouraging you to break the law, and if you do you can hardly complain if you are caught and fined, however they do it.
+1

isleswing

#25
Please read to the end.


I am absolutely against hidden speed traps and penalties in the post, as I see them as nothing more than a money-raising exercise.

We are constantly being told by the authorities that speed kills, and nobody can argue against that, though I believe that properly looking where you're going, and noticing what's happening around you is actually a much bigger issue.

They always say that they are trying to educate people and punishing those who break the law.

When you see a speed trap, what are your thoughts?
"Oh I must be careful because speed is dangerous"
"They are doing a good job punishing those who break the law"
"I will drive more carefully"
"I hate those sneaky, under-endowed social inadequates who can't think of anything better to do"
"I must watch my speed" This is a tricky one - is it  "I must watch my speed for safety sake" or "I must watch my speed so I don't get caught"?

Or do you spend the rest of your journey obsessively wondering whether they got you and then you rear-end  someone because you were distracted?

With hidden cameras and posted fines there's simply anger at getting caught, not concern that your speed may have been dangerous.

If you see someone pulled over by the police, you're more careful for the rest of your journey. I know I am.

I believe the police could get the best of both worlds.

A roadside camera - possibly hidden - and 2 policemen. One pulling in the drivers they've caught, the other booking them. Always keeping one or two cars queuing, just to make the point.
Efficient, but also a very effective deterrent and, perhaps, educator. And moving to a new location every hour helps, too.

The public humiliation of getting stopped works on both that driver, and every other one who sees them.

Brightspark

I got pulled last year and probably one of the best things that ever happened to me as a driver, I have never driven recklessly but just got lazy I guess.
60 quid and 3 points was fine by me, I was doing 37 coming into a 30, held my hands up and apologised.
Now I am a better driver for it.
Whether you believe a camera should be hidden or whether is should be dressed in neon lights and a disco ball speeding is still speeding.
Break the law and accept what your given, no matter what country.

Ivemovedon

Can't accept that one BS

You may think you've learnt your lesson up till now, but whos to say there won't be a slip in concentration tomorrow or a month or years time?

Speed cameras in certain instances have been known to cause more problems than they cure. The last minute breaking by drivers realising a camera is approaching and then the speeding up once out of range. The taking the eye off the road to see if the camera has flashed behind you. I doubt theres anyone could claim they haven't done it at one time. Not only that anyone who drives through an area often enough knows where they are and can speed between them at will.

At least if its coppers they can be anywhere.


woe10

KWC, I don't know where they are located. Probably move them around.

There's more info on the Facebook group:  Radares Fuerteventura.  Just type it in the search box in Facebook. You'll need to use Google Translate if you don't speak the lingo  8)

KWC

Quote from: stedge on April 16, 2014, 13:56:34 PM

You may think you've learnt your lesson up till now, but whos to say there won't be a slip in concentration tomorrow or a month or years time?


Thats the crux of the matter -concentration.

Last year I was also done for speeding while entering a 30mph zone. Was I a serial speeder, was I driving recklessly etc, no I lost concentration due to a mate yapping away to me.  It was also in a strange town up North and the 30 mph sign while perfectly legal and clear in its location, was not where I Sub-consciously at least would have expected it to be located about a good half a mile before the town.
Coupled with the nattering, I failed to realise the above.  No excuses or moans from me, I was caught, paid up and drive like a perfect little driver I should be.  But for how long?
The point I am making is it is easy to lose concentration with all the distractions one has in life. Whether that is worry about jobs, loved ones, arguments etc etc, we are all capable of "speeding" or going just over the limit on occasion. 
Show me a man / women who hasn't!!!

I do/did and will unfortunately slip up again, that I have no doubt about! Sad to say.