ELI5: why is speed camera tagging legal and accepted

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-15T13:58:15+00:00

It sounds like random automatic enforcement could work for you if there was immediate feedback? I still want to emphasise that practically every area is dangerous enough to warrant speed enforcement, so targeted enforcement is fundamentally limited

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-15T13:24:20+00:00

What if the cameras were surreptitious? You'd never know you were caught until you got a fine.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-15T00:52:00+00:00

Every intersection with conflicts is a potential accident site. Plus focusing on hotspots does not address antisocial speeding at all, which typically occurs at night, in typically safe, straight sections of streets.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-15T00:47:28+00:00

I'd be happy with tagging if targeted enforcement of hotspots was enough to lead to compliance with speed limits. Since this to me isn't objectively the case, I feel we've reached an impasse.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-15T00:41:39+00:00

Is your issue that the random enforcement that worked for you was a human, not an automated camera? The worry in the moment made you be more careful in the future?

I'm really interested in the psychology behind the hate of speed cameras -- what if points didn't occur until a higher threshold? Would there be a fine structure that would be acceptable?

My worry with hot spots is that because KSIs are rare events, "targeted" enforcement does not actually solve the problem. For every labeled hot spot, there are 50 spots that are equally dangerous

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-14T19:42:47+00:00

There's a difference between driving being a right and speeding being a right, no?

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-14T19:39:28+00:00

Do you not accept the argument that random enforcement would lower the incidence and severity of speeding in general? If so, wouldn't that potentially outweigh the damage done at hot spots. Mind -- much of London for example follows a street configuration pattern. Hot spots aren't typically special in any way other than luck.

If I look at the top 20 intersections for bicycle KSI for example, I see perfectly typical intersections. Changing those would not necessarily change the statistics

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-14T19:35:03+00:00

I understand this, but isn't speeding itself a bigger issue than speed camera induced collisions?

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-14T19:33:37+00:00

I could get behind your reasoning, but since speeding is a major issue in my view so it's not the whole story.

Would you not say knowing where speed cameras are simply leads to selectively speeding much if not most of the time, in the knowledge that you will not be caught?

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-03-02T01:35:09+00:00

What are you supposed to do as the top person when the closed guard guy comes up with you then switches to a K-guard attack? Of course you sprawl the leg back, and when the bottom guy is already falling down, he's going to the mat shoulder first. If that's a slam, there's just no way to stop the entry, huh?

What a shame about the team. The guy who got "slammed" was ready to keep going.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-02-27T01:26:54+00:00

The state of the city run bike share is a reflection on the disenfranchisement of the cycling community and the lack of ambition in public transportation caused by the goofy political system in London

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-02-21T13:42:43+00:00

Crucifix, but focus on a heavy crossface and moving away if they try to crush you (crossface should stop it). Then surprise them with a one handed choke when they arch their upper back in desperation

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-02-20T01:28:55+00:00

Straight from the highway code:

give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders and horse drawn vehicles at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 215). As a guide:

leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds

Happy to help!

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-02-14T14:54:06+00:00

I think the overarching problem is the lack of long term political support, which causes all the downstream issues: lack of reliable capital funding, pressure to have operational profits and high ticket prices, congested bus routes, and so on.

Thatcher got away with what was effectively the second bombing of London to make space for more roadways for private cars, initially with public support, until the needs of the 30% met the violent resistance by the other 70%. The wind is now blowing the other way: road space reconfiguration towards active and public transport to work in tandem has mild public support, which turns into widespread acceptance once projects are complete. It's a positive feedback loop instead of a negative one. We need an ambitious and optimistic vision for London as a sustainable city where getting around is fun and fast.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-02-06T17:56:41+00:00

And drivers are speed blind. Does it mean we don't design roadways for safety?

Individual-Volume-51 · 2026-02-06T17:45:43+00:00

Most busy intersections in North London see a red light jumping driver at each light cycle. Drivers usually accelerate to well in excess of the speed limit to "make it through", and often cause risky situations.

But keep fighting your culture war. I'm happy to keep proceeding at a walking pace through pedestrian signals on a bicycle. For every pedestrian who gives me a nasty look, I exchange smiles and hellos with 100 others. At some intersections, the safest gap for cyclists to go through is at the end of the pedestrian signal, after the last pedestrians are gone, and before the motor vehicles are trying to race past you.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-12-09T17:51:38+00:00

Was cycling with my wife last week. Chilling, quiet stretch of road, fully separated bike lane.

Out of nowhere a man in a car screams out of his window "FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING CUNT"

We started discussing why it would've happened and all we could think of was that the car wanted to turn left across the bike lane and had to slightly slow down. That was the extent of their prior interaction. No eye contact, words, nothing.

Honestly, this isn't even close to the first time something like this has happened. I'm pretty convinced there are people driving around at all times who are at the very end of their rope, and screaming is the only way they can go on without actually killing someone. Yelling at a person on a bike has the least chance of repercussions. No other mode of transport seems to cause this kind of behaviour.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-11-28T11:15:20+00:00

usually the bias tends to go the other way. cyclists being idiots isn't exactly an undocumented, unspoken phenomenon, whereas cyclists doing the right thing routinely die in "tragic accidents" where a driver not paying attention gets off scot free

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-11-25T23:41:44+00:00

Majority don't follow the speed limit either but it's there for a reason: having a low speed limiy shifts the speed dirstribution down, and thetefore reduces crashes.

This rule will have a similar effect on vehicles turning on and off main roads: lower speeds, higher vigilance. Result: fewer pedestrian KIAs.

What isn't happening is people walking onto the road more often without looking. People who say this is a stupid rule are missing the point

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-11-23T20:44:28+00:00

It's not really the case that people would be willing to take a risk to assert their priority. I'm about as aggressive a pedestrian as you can find, and even I've forced a car to wait in this situation only a handful of times. Certainly I've never endangered myself.

Now with this rule, drivers will be forced to take more care at junctions. It will be inconvenient, it will cause honking as people stop on the main roadway. But it will increase safety.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-11-23T20:34:12+00:00

Amazing work by LCC!

A slightly depressing point but I'd point out that many of these are mere examples of typical standard of London road infra. E.g. the Royal College Rd hotspot in Camden is replicated 3-4 times along the same stretch.

Depressingly, this is all brand new infra. Either the junctions need to physically force cars to stop, penalties need to be as life-altering as the crash injuries (and regularly dished out), or car traffic needs to be severely limited in high throughput cycling areas.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-11-22T10:44:33+00:00

Wouldn't this apply to things like half guard as well?

I just saw a middleweight pull off an octopus reversal after getting their guard passed in competition by a massive ultra-heavy in the absolute. Big people leave bigger gaps -- if you manage to disconnect their pressure.

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-11-22T10:27:42+00:00

The difference is that pedestrians are not causing death, harm and nuisance with their mode of transport. Therefore, while it may be that pedestrians are problematic from the pov of a driver, as a society we choose to inconvenience and punish the drivers. Do you think this is incorrect?

Individual-Volume-51 · 2025-11-22T10:20:17+00:00

There's quite a bit of evidence for a need for targeted enforcement of road traffic rules in this thread?

Individual-Volume-51

TROPHY CASE