I got a speeding ticket from Heddlu Gogledd Cymru. That’s the North Wales Police to those of you who don’t speak Welsh. I don’t speak Welsh either, but maybe I look Welsh in the picture taken by the speed camera that was cleverly obscured by the leaves of an overhanging tree, because the ticket I’ve been sent to my English home address is written entire in Welsh!
Araf is one of the few Welsh words I know. It means Slow the f*ck down! I know this because it’s written in huge letters on many of their roads and signs. Those who live in or near to North Wales know that you need to heed those warnings too because the Heddlu (police) enforce their speed limits with a merciless ferocity that Darth Vadar would envy.
For that reason I watch my speed on the popular tourist routes of North Wales where orwellian speed cameras stand beside the roads in strategic positions to catch even the slightest infraction. The camera that snapped me caught me going 47mph in a 40mph zone. However, my annoyance was that I was under the impression the road was a 50mph zone. On later inspection I had failed to see a heavily obscured change of speed limit sign shortly before the ‘safety camera.’
I could go to court armed with evidence that the sign was obscured and therefore at 47mph I thought I was within the limit, but it would likely be a fools errand and if found guilty the fine would increase, plus I would have to pay court costs. On this occasion I can avoid penalty points on my licensee if I agree to pay the £60 ($120) fine and attend a speed awareness course. I’ll take that offer of course, but I’m no less annoyed.
I’ll suck it up of course, but getting this ticket just reminds me that in the UK you’re never far from a camera watching your every movement. We are the most surveilled country on earth, and that makes me feel more than a little uneasy.
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Looking at this site made me feel a bit better
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Try your hand at speaking Welsh
Wrote the following comment on Jun 27, 2008 at 11:24 pm
So, what does a Welsh person look like? What are their distinguishing features? When I was young and my aunties on my Mom’s side were tracing our family heritage I often heard that we were English, Irish, Scotch and Welsh. (Pretty much the whole frikkin U.K, wouldn’t you say?)
Paula said that you said that all of us Americans claim Welsh heritage? Well all I have to say to that is “cnych off ya little cachiad. So, what if we all are Welsh!”
:-)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 27, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Sorry, shouldn’t laugh…
Well, seems you managed pretty well, you got the gist of it….! At least they use the same alphabet.
I wonder if Mr Wolfendale can read Welsh. But I like the cultural diversity.
I also like the “free country” sticker on one of the photos on your link.
When I got back from Asia, I quickly became very aware how knowing you’re being watched all the time conditions my behaviour… And I have never shop lifted in my entire life, and I’m not a vandal either.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 28, 2008 at 12:19 am
I have often thought about flipping a tire over a speed camera and setting it ablaze. The heat a burning tire generates cannot be survived by a speed camera and it would feel like sweet revenge for all three of the speeding tickets I have gotten since I passed my driving test back in 88. All of those speeding offenses were caught by cameras. But I wonder, has speeding decreased since 1988?
Wrote the following comment on Jun 28, 2008 at 7:42 am
its too bad you have to pay court costs… that seems a little unfair. i have a friend here, chip, whos taken many a case to court on his own and gotten out it…. but then we dont have court costs for defending yourself. that’s really too bad
Wrote the following comment on Jun 28, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I got a speeding ticket last summer for running a red light. The intersection crosses 4 lanes, so if you are than like say 40 ft from the light when it turns yellow, youre not going to make it. They sent me a ticket through the mail. What got me was, they didnt know if I was driving or not obv, but the car is registered to me. My ex has a car registered to me as well. He was supposed to get it in his name…..but he is a lazy a-hole. The ticket was $75. I paid it because I was guilty. lol.
Shame, shame. 47 in a 40. Thats ridiculous!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 30, 2008 at 2:50 pm
If you get a ticket by mail just throw it away. They cannot prove that you ever received the notices (unless it is signature required on delivery).
Wrote the following comment on Jul 2, 2008 at 1:28 am
unless, of course, they saw you receive it, look exasperated, and then throw it away on a CCTV.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 24, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Seems fair game – you have been caught – you get on with it. I can’t say unlucky as the cameras are there for a reason – you got caught.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 24, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Thanks for the comment “S”, though I wasn’t looking for sympathy. I got busted and so I’ll do the speed awareness course. My only annoyance was, as I stated, that the change of speed limit sign was heavily obscured and I thought I was under the speed limit.
It’s possibly a little different where you are just outside of Newcastle, but North Wales has a reputation for being somewhat sneaky in catching motorists speeding. They employ a variety of methods on popular tourist roads for that express reason. Road safety? Well maybe, but North Wales derives an income from speeding tickets like anywhere else, so like many before me, I suspect there is at least an element of commerce in the decisions to use cameras in the way that they do.
Anyway, it’s no problem. My speed awareness course is in October. No points no punishment, just a couple of hours to watch some gory pictures on a video, that’s all.