Moral dilemma….warning oncoming traffic of speed traps.

Perhaps the law about warning others predates the SatNav which makes it a bit of an anomaly. To be honest, the police have always said they are there as a deterrent rather than fine collecting and if you flash your headlights at them, you are acting as a deterrent too so you could be said to be aiding the police.
I do try to watch my speed, especially in built up areas, but the one time I did get caught was when I was being distracted by my passengers and I hadn't realised as I pulled away from the roundabout to catch up the cars ahead that I was going fast enough to warrant a Speed Awareness Course.

I live in the New Forest ad always flash my lights at cars if there are animals in the road - not sure it if it is illegal or not, but hope that it helps focus the drivers' attention. There are speed limits all over the Forest, but people don't observe them and if there is a herd of black cows in the road at night it could be lethal for both animal and driver if people didn't slow down.

Many ‘speed traps’ where I live give scant warning of their existence. Many are on dual carriageways and nowhere near built up areas. The country lanes here are often hazardous with not much regulation, not well used it is true, but still the cause of accidents. Can’t help thinking a lot of these speed traps are a money making exercise. Pity they don’t fix the pot holes with all that cash!

never warn of speed traps. If some idiot is speeding they deserve to get caught. I've scraped too many dead cats off the road, killed because of morons full of self importance.

I’m with GSM on this. In my experience some are persistent speeders & don’t take notice until caught & they are adversely affected. You don’t need a warning to drive carefully where children are likely to be, outside school for example.

Germanshepherdsmum

No, it is not good. They may be repeat offenders and one more offence would see them losing their licences. That would be far safer.

Not if it is my GC who gets mowed down because the driver did not slow down! - and me warning them might have averted a catastrophe.

It is undoubtedly a moral dilemma, but not as simple as you make it sound.

To be honest, I have occasionally warned oncoming drivers of a police trap ahead, but not often, and certainly not drivers who look to be way over the speed limit, as I think they deserve to get caught.

I am slightly nonplussed by the 'it makes them slow down, which can only be a good thing' argument unless you routinely flash any oncoming driver you think is speeding, regardless of whether or not there is a trap ahead

When someone flashes me, my first thought is that there might be an accident or other obstruction on the road ahead, which used to happen regularly on a road I used to use often.

My question is whether OP’s husband would have flashed these drivers had he not been aware of the mobile speed trap. In other words, does he make it his general business to flash at any driver he thinks is speeding? Or was he only warning on this occasion to save them from being caught? In that case he was obstructing the police in their duties which is a criminal offence.

Had OP’s husband not been where he was when he was, the speeding drivers would have been caught. A £100 fine and three points on a licence could be enough to make a driver think twice about their behaviour. Three points under totting up might be enough to take a persistent offender off the road for a while. A new driver, amassing 6 points within the first 2 years of passing their test will have their licence revoked, something which could take a reckless young driver off the road.

So why would flashing them to slow down be a bad thing?

Callistemon A woman has just received a speeding fine for doing 24mph in a 20mph area. Yes, she was speeding but could that be considered a dangerous speed?.

I have grandchildren, as am sure many posters do, but even if not, I think that all drivers should bear in mind the particular danger to children in urban areas. It has been calculated that a vehicle travelling at 20mph can stop in time if a child runs out at 3 car lengths in front. Travelling at 25 mph they would not be able to stop in time and the child would be hit at 18mph, roughly with the same impact as a child falling from an upstairs window.

Food for thought.

I wish they would catch more folk. We have one of these contraption which tell how fast folk are going as they enter our town. I watch this when I’m out with the dog and the majority are doing well over 30mph even though flashing their speed and “slow down”. Interestingly it doesn’t seem to respond to white vans - perhaps camera can’t see them.

I live in a country with somewhat contradictory laws
- flashing or tooting to warn of speedtraps etc is illegal and subject to a fine if caught.
- however it is the law that there MUST be a warning sign for speed cameras at least 150m before each camera!

Confusing? That's Sweden for you!

It's actually an offence to warn other drivers. And if you don't want to get caught, then don't speed. It doesn't matter if you know the roads or not - speed signs are the same everywhere. It's not rocket science. Limits, not targets!

Jaxjacky

I’d warn them too Doodledog partocularly by our local school, I’d rather be penalised than a child injured.

Exactly this - whenever someone is racing towards me through our village I always flash my lights at them in the hope they’ll slow down. If they do so because they think I’m warning them of a speed gun who cares, it might save an accident. Prevention is always better than punishment in my book.

Pammie1

Whitewavemark2

Callistemon21

A woman has just received a speeding fine for doing 24mph in a 20mph area.

Yes, she was speeding but could that be considered a dangerous speed?

The same thing happened to a friend where there were newly erected 20 mph signs - but not one warning her that she was entering a 20 mph road from a side road.

I do understand that speeding is dangerous, but where are the police when drivers overtake at speed when we are doing 70 mph on a motorway? Some must be doing 100 mph.
Oh! They're busy trapping people doing 24 mph in a new 20 mph zone..

Much more likely to kill a child in a built up area than on a motorway. So I’m all for strict reinforcement of suburban speed restrictions, particularly around schools.

I’m all for restricted speeds in suburban areas, but the rule was always that if you couldn’t see a speed limit sign after joining from a side road, assume 30MPH. This is no longer the case, so appropriate signposting is essential.

Yes, this is exactly what I meant, Pammie1

Farzanah

The rule Pammie is that 30mph generally applies to all roads with street lights excluding motorways unless signs show otherwise.
I’m not trying to be a clever dick btw, I used to be an Observer for the IAM so have a special interest.

Yes, 30 mph

But now so many roads are 20 mph.
Doing 24 mph should surely require a warning, not a fine first time when there are reckless drivers out there who never seem to get caught.
It seems to be a money-making exercise in many cases.

Since 20 mph has been introduced in many areas of Wales including on some trunk roads,, I've noticed a short stretch of 30 mph has just been introduced on the approach to villages so at least motorists have a 100 yards or so to slow down from the permitted 60 mph, through 30 mph to 20 mph.

I’d warn them too Doodledog partocularly by our local school, I’d rather be penalised than a child injured.

As the title of the thread suggests this comes down to Old/New Testament views of life. Are you on the side of Valjean or Javert in Les Miserables?
I’d warn them - prevention of crime (or accident) being preferable to punishment in my view.

The rule Pammie is that 30mph generally applies to all roads with street lights excluding motorways unless signs show otherwise.
I’m not trying to be a clever dick btw, I used to be an Observer for the IAM so have a special interest.

Whitewavemark2

Callistemon21

A woman has just received a speeding fine for doing 24mph in a 20mph area.

Yes, she was speeding but could that be considered a dangerous speed?

The same thing happened to a friend where there were newly erected 20 mph signs - but not one warning her that she was entering a 20 mph road from a side road.

I do understand that speeding is dangerous, but where are the police when drivers overtake at speed when we are doing 70 mph on a motorway? Some must be doing 100 mph.
Oh! They're busy trapping people doing 24 mph in a new 20 mph zone..

Much more likely to kill a child in a built up area than on a motorway. So I’m all for strict reinforcement of suburban speed restrictions, particularly around schools.

I’m all for restricted speeds in suburban areas, but the rule was always that if you couldn’t see a speed limit sign after joining from a side road, assume 30MPH. This is no longer the case, so appropriate signposting is essential.

No, it is not good. They may be repeat offenders and one more offence would see them losing their licences. That would be far safer.

I am all for speeders being caught, but the point of the speed limit is to make the world a safer place. If these warned cars slowed down then that is good.

Callistemon21

A woman has just received a speeding fine for doing 24mph in a 20mph area.

Yes, she was speeding but could that be considered a dangerous speed?

The same thing happened to a friend where there were newly erected 20 mph signs - but not one warning her that she was entering a 20 mph road from a side road.

I do understand that speeding is dangerous, but where are the police when drivers overtake at speed when we are doing 70 mph on a motorway? Some must be doing 100 mph.
Oh! They're busy trapping people doing 24 mph in a new 20 mph zone..

Much more likely to kill a child in a built up area than on a motorway. So I’m all for strict reinforcement of suburban speed restrictions, particularly around schools.

Farzanah

That has been mentioned 2 or 3 times WW

😀 must be true then eh?

We had 12,066 fatalities here in 2023. With a much smaller population than the UK, I think we have a problem. A lot of those were out in the country where they just let rip. Also a lot of trucks were involved, sleeping at the wheel, speeding, under the influence etc. They don’t get killed but the car drivers do.