| Good article and one that points out the fact that many police figures look at accident rates and determine that speeds have to be reduced in the interest of public safety. Though I don't agree with the full logic of all of that, there is a genuine concern about making the roads safer notwithstanding the 'street smarts' of folks like me who get on the gas right after a speed camera. 50 deaths sounds high for a small area, though I am sure they are not all related to speed.
Anyway, there are fixed cameras here in Japan, but they face forward to get the license and face and they only go off when speed is 30 kmh over posted. Sooooooo, bikes are at least safe from them as there are no front numbers and the eyes alone in a full face helmet will not stand up in court. Mobile units are another story and they are not cameras, just radar traps. Further, there are a number of fairly high performance unmarked patrol cars on the highways and they have high res video cameras that are calibrated with the speed reader. They come up behind you (got caught doing 176 on my STS4) video the whole episode with the speed added to the image and then pull you over. Luckily I was honest with the guys, as they had only been able to get me at 122 on their screen, by telling them I was way over that earlier, way over! They laughed and changed the ticket to a warning! God bless the sense of humor of the Japanese police!
BTW, I hear France is really getting heavy on speed cameras as well. Saw that when I was there in Sept.  |