Have you ever wondered if it’s possible for a cyclist to set off a speed camera? Well, here’s some footage from Cardiff that proves it is.
Uploaded to YouTube in 2012 – and given a fresh airing on Wales Online yesterday – the film shows a the tell-tale flash as the rider flies past it on the Rumney Hill stretch of Newport Road, where the speed limit is 30mph.
As is pointed out in the excellent Cycling and the Law article on the BikeHub website, speed limits do not apply to cyclists, not least because bicycles aren’t fitted with speedometers – although it’s sensible to try and adhere to them to avoid a charge of “cycling furiously” or “wanton and furious driving.”
Luckily for the rider in this instance, the police car that comes round the bend seconds later seems to have missed him triggering the camera.
Further west on Newport Road as it heads into Cardiff city centre, at the junction with Colchester Avenue, is a speed camera condemned as a “cash cow” in October 2014 after it was revealed that in the first six months of the year, motorists had paid in excess of £800,000 in fines or fees for speed awareness courses after being caught speeding there.
Many would argue that viewing speed cameras as a money raising exercise misses the point that they are installed primarily for safety reasons – although in this case, the Institute of Advanced Motorists suggested that the sheer number of drivers falling foul of that specific camera should prompt the local authority to look at why so many people felt the need to drive above the speed limit there.