So the child looked, made a descision it was safe based on previous experience and crossed, you were speeding, saw the child and braked, but couldn't stop in time. Child dead. But obviously not your fault right? came out right in front of you, you couldn't stop.....
Speed limits are there for a reason.
If only there were more public spirited citizens.
Fribourg itself only has a couple or so red light cameras - I've only seen the odd fixed speed camera in the Kanton, and can't even remember where. Mobile ones are pretty rare too.
Obviously, as you get into Vaud, on the autobahn, direction Lausanne or Martigny, you need to be more careful.
Until that car came, as soon as it reached the police car, the cops turned on the lights and pulled him over.
Maybe the cops were having a bad day or the guy was unlucky or whatever-
Anyway it's not so often that I see a police car on the motorways, but it happened.
PS: I don't know if that guy got a fine! He got pulled over, that's all- anything after I was already far away, and laughing.
Unlike the ones I stormed past at 0600 one morning a few years ago at 140kph - just them and us on the highway. Ticino of course.....before coffee for both them and me, I'm sure!!
- yes, driving too fast kills pedestrians
- the 3km or so the cops give is not an "allowance" at all - it is the error margin of their sensor. So if they measure you with 33 could you in reality only be driving 30. So you do not get anything "for free" - and to the posters who said it is 10km - that's standard in Germany, but I never got that much on a Swiss speeding fine.
- Swiss speed cameras are NOT mounted at the places where they save the most lives but at the ones they make the most revenues. That's simply a fact and everyone in politics on local level knows it - it is a cash cow for the cities. The box in Zurich's Hohlstrasse alone makes some 5 mil a year... in an area without pedestrians or accidents, but simply a long straight stretch of road that invites to drive a bit over 50 if you do not pay attention.
Bottom line: I am all for safety, but it is simply a fact that the Swiss practice is excessive and more of a hidden tax than anything on safety. I'd even be willing to pay more taxes to have more camera cars out there to catch the really dangerous drivers - but that would only be good for safety and not raise enough cash for the Gemeinde...
Also it's an opportunity for the cops to check everything, so if it happens to you, you'd better be ok with everything (no used tires, all document good, no over the border shopping over the limit, etc...).
Things I usually tend to avoid.
It's not a tax, it's a fine, if you don't want to pay it don't speed. Simples. They can't make you pay a fine for speeding if you are obeying the law.
No, of course not. But complaining about your own wrong doing leaves yourself open - especially on this forum
1) You were caught speeding in a 30kmh zone
2) With the accuracy allowance you would have been doing 34-37kmh (depending on equipment)
3) Your speedometer would have read slightly higher than this (37-40kmh)
4) You suggest a sensible driver would slow down.
5) Return to point 1
I made no mention of you being a bad (or good) driver. You mentioned a "sensible" driver. However by not slowing down to within the limit you are implying you are not a sensible driver.
At least you added the "tax revenue" argument - without it we would all be left believing it is OK to break the laws we don't agree with.
In practice one can use this knowledge, for example using a 90kph cruise-control setting in an 80kph camera zone, giving a genuine speed below the 85kph threshold for the cameras. If that floats your boat.
Yup but technically something be said of a driver not going too fast, but wanted to be aware of forthcoming changing conditions in road speed limit. I don't want to break the speed limit, but I'd like to know via a secondary device with audible signal that it changes!
Radar warning devices (radar wave detection devices, radar detectors, driver-alert systems, etc.) alert vehicle drivers via acoustic or optical signals to police speed traps. These signals allow drivers who are driving too fast to reduce their speed in time before they reach the speed trap.
But your example is an excellent basis to learn from that and propose an adapted system:
Suggestion: If we had to improve our society, I'd say that this automated system should be moderated. For example:
-First time minor incident (only for little speed 0-8KM)
-No accident involved
-Out of "busy hours" (school, etc...)
Option a: Then only an official warning should be raised-
Option B: A Fine (like now) but, there's the possibility to get back the fine paid, after 18 months period if no new offense was done.
It will give an opportunity for the "offender" to be on the best behavior for the next 18 months, instead of leaving the "offender" quite frustrated now and angry.
It's still a sanction, but it offers a slight chance of being forgiven, while still forcing users to change and adopt a good behavior.
That would probably satisfies both parties: the criminal still get warned and charged, but has a possibility to learn and remove the financial pain from that minor incident. The crowd are still satisfied that the criminal is punished, and that criminal has an opportunity to behave, at least for 18 months.
But of course people are sheep, governments are dumb and only care about profit, so it will never be done.
Where ever you have your quote is correct, but the Swiss police and law makers don't see radar warning devices as safety devices - Just be smart and don't use anything of the sort.
Unlessyouhavemoneytoburn.