On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 17:23:59 +0100, Dr Zoidberg wrote
(in message ):

The vast majority of people agree that speed limits are necessary , just
that the ones chosen are often unrelated to safety issues and that
enforcement is often targeted to raise most revenue rather than prevent
accidents.

For things like red light cameras , box junction cameras and so on there is
no such debate over where to draw a line and enforcing them shouldn't be an
issue.

And the other factor that is important today - that enforecement is now
automated and there is little alloowance for the situations. Already we have
heard of people genuinely caught out by box junctions - a common one being
that there's a space when you enter but someone else takes it and leaves you
with no-where to go.

In these situations, I'd like to think that the majority of reasonable
coppers would observe this and not prosecute - whilst throwing the book at
the blatent ignorers. And contrary to what many people claim, most people can
tell the difference.

With cameras, they appear to simply photograph any vehicle stationary in the
boxed area and sent out the penalty notice. Because the system is so geared
up to the motorist being guilty unless proven innocent, most people pay up
because it's cheaper than going to court and winning, even more so than going
to court and losing.