Speed Cameras - Prevention or Revenue Catchers ?
I'm the first one to condone speeding in Qatar and strongly support any method to reduce the speed on the roads.
Last night I was driving to Landmark and noticed an old Landcruiser parked on the side of the road. I was doing around 85 in an 80 and as I went by I saw a speed camera sitting on the road infront of the Landcruiser. It flashed as I passed, was it flashing me, or the Subaru coming up fast behind me, or the bus trying to undertake me ! I don't know. But how is this stopping speeding ?
Surely a marked up car with some sort of warning on the back would actually slow the traffic down. By hiding a camera all they are doing is generating cash and not slowing us down !
Since it was introduced in 1993 I am sure the government have made a small fortune from the radar cameras, both fixed and mobile (they used to have them in unmarked cars driving on the Dukhan/Doha road).
They also had portable units operating on the Doha/Dukhan road at night so don't assume that they call it a day when the sun goes down
Is all about establishing self conscious driving. I seen cars slow down before reaching the camera area or just slow down when their picture is taken. Is awkward for a lot of drivers to speed up and slow down.
But in my opinion it has a positive effect on the fast and furious drivers sometimes. Others just don't care at all, they could afford the fine as many times they want. I can't afford it. I prefer speed bumps instead of cameras. For sure they will slow you down.
"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"
Gal. 4:16
I'm not bothered about the fine, I can afford that. The point I'm trying to make is hiding cameras does not slow the traffic down.
In the UK the Gatso cameras used to be hidden behind signs and trees and painted grey. Now they are prominent, painted yellow and stand out. They also use Truvelo, these cameras take two photos that can be miles apart and work out your average speed. So no speeding away once out of site. These are on the M25 and have worked.
So if the government are not interested in the fine, why bother hiding them ? and if the police are not interested in stopping speeders why have speed limits ?
Man, you gotta be crazy if you think that the reason why the govement had installed these cameras is to collect some cash from people. The goverment do not care and belive me if they want money they will get it. They just trying their best to minimize the number of accidents here. It is just hard to convince people here that speeding is a bad thing.
Paul I think you're just upset about getting a ticket. if we always knew where the speed cameras were i dont think that would help the situation as it would only slow traffic at that spot (and i've you've driven up to Ras Laffan you'll know that the maniacs slam on the anchors before the cameras and then hoon off straight after them). the point of them is to make you feel as though they could be anywhere, so you should drive safely all the time!
Trust me the government here do not need to rely on any additional revenue raised by the fines.
You think that whn these people will trade in a vehicle every year for a new lambo, ferrari, or porsche that they really care about a 300 QR ticket? As for the more frugal of us the Qatari goverment has a great revenue system. If they wanted to enforce speed limits they need to get the traffic police to do more than direct traffic (poorly at that) around the roundabouts. Just today I was heading west of town on Salwa only to have a Cruiser fly by the police vehicle in front of me. I was travelling right behind the cop at over 110 Kph when a cruiser went by doing at least 140-150 Kph. A bit of insane speed for all the construction going on, yet no police reaction. He just kept motoring on. Now tell me what detterent you have possibly found in a camera if they are that indifferent to enforcement?