James Deakin: "The truth about speed cameras down south"

[ghosthunter]

The truth about speed cameras down south
By James Deakin (The Philippine Star) Updated February 29, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (1) View comments



MANILA, Philippines - After months of threats and stiff warnings, the management of the Southern Luzon Toll Road plan on cashing in on their threats by tomorrow. Literally.

Yes, you heard right. The party is over. As of March 1, the South Super Highway is now strictly enforcing the posted limits. You have been warned. No more high speed runs down south or early morning blasts along the Skyway. The boys in blue are watching you. Okay, so they may not be in blue. But it’s hard to rhyme things with grey without being offensive.

The irony here is, after decades of suffering a snail’s pace, now that we can finally speed up, we’re not actually allowed to. It is kind of like the equivalent of the Germans tearing down the Berlin Wall only to replace it with lasers that sawed you in half if you crossed it. But fair enough, I say. For the speed cameras, of course, not the East German thing.

But since the warnings were issued to motorists some months back, there has been a lot of rumor and urban myths spreading around cyberspace, which is why The STAR decided to go straight to the source to set the record straight once and for all.

In the interest of professional journalism, and to avoid the awkwardness of quoting myself in this piece, we spoke to the operations manager of MATES, Patrick Nicholas David, who is directly in charge of the entire stretch from the Alabang viaduct to Sto. Tomas, Batangas, to see if we could save our readers a thousand bucks or so and a trip down to East Avenue or Lipa, Batangas.

Fact 1: There are only two hand-held laser speed guns operating at any given time between the 36 kilometer stretch. These guns are capable of recording your speed and photographing your vehicle simultaneously and are accurate to within 3 inches by 3 inches. And contrary to public belief, while camera equipment does tend to struggle in low light, these ones can function at night due to the improved street lighting. They cannot, however, function properly in heavy rain. Then again, neither can you and your vehicle. So do us all a favor and keep it under the limit, especially in wet conditions. Please.

Fact 2: The entire expressway is covered by CCTV cameras. There is one every kilometer and they are capable of zooming in as far as two kilometers, which means that there are no blind spots along the highway. No, they do not record your speed or photograph you, but they do act as alarm bells to the control room. When a vehicle is traveling at a significantly faster or slower pace than regular traffic, it sticks out like Carlos Celdran in Manila Cathedral and (in both cases) a patrol unit can and usually will be dispatched. No offense, Carlos...

Fact 3: There are no fixed cameras. And sadly, no choppers either.

Fact 4: And the scariest one yet: Your entry time is encoded on your toll card. The computer software will easily detect if you have exited in under the allowed time – which in the case of Sto. Tomas to Alabang, say, should happen in around 21.6 minutes in perfect conditions. If you arrive in 10 minutes, you might want to have your license handy. They will apprehend you and ticket you. This, however, does not apply to Epass holders. Yet. Once the new system is up and running, all entry/exit times will be recorded and travel times will be monitored.

Fact 5: All MATES, NLEX, SCTEX, Skyway O&M and any other patrol units of any toll operator in this country are deputized by LTO, which is why you will need to claim your license in East Avenue Quezon City even if you get caught in Susanna Heights. Likewise, if you are apprehended in San Pedro Laguna or further south, you will need to claim your license from LTO Lipa, Batangas, which if you happen to live in Makati, would drastically chew into any time you may have gained from speeding.

Fact 6: The speed limit is 60 km/h minimum, 100 km/h maximum. The fine for over speeding is P1,500, while under speeding will set you back P500. These are the rates prescribed by the LTO, who justify the difference by classifying one as reckless driving and the other as obstruction. I’ll leave it to you to work out which is which.

Fact 7: Toll operators are not on commission. ALL revenue is collected by LTO and stays with the LTO, hence the need to settle your fine there. The only incentive the toll operators have to enforce the speed limits is to avoid scraping up twisted chassis and limbs off the side of the road.

Sure there are some loopholes. And yes, the clever ones will get away with it. Just as the clever gambler will walk away when he is ahead. But when it comes to your life, or that of your loved ones and other innocent road users that have chosen to just play it straight and follow the rules, are you willing to gamble?

SOURCE: The truth about speed cameras down south - The Philippine Star » Business Features » Motoring

[niky]

So... they have fines for underspeeding... measured via entry and exit? So every time I go to have a bite to eat, I will be fined for underspeeding?

As long as they do what they promise, I don't mind. Besides. Those areas without streetlights where the speed cameras won't work? That describes the entire stretch of the South Superhighway from San Pedro to the end... with just small islands of light near the exits.

[CVT]

Bakit nawala iyong tolerance nila for speeds up to 120KPH in 60sec for those overtaking vehicles?...

Talaga bang siyento lang ang limit?....

15.1K:bouncealt:

[CVT]

Was driving in SLEX and its extension, linking it to STAR this weekend,- it was a pleasant surprise to learn that you can use your e-pass in both SLEX and its extension (mahal nga lang sigurado... )

Anyway, I was observing the 100KPH speed limit at baka nanghuhuli na nga,- and would normally occupy the second lane, except when passing...

Kaso, sa dami ng mga mababagal nga sa passing lane na hindi lumilipat, halos weaving in and out na rin ako.... Wala bang nanghuhuli sa mga m*k*ng na ito?

And then, there was this car which I surmised was doing over 160KPH,- nahuli kaya ito?

15.1K:bouncealt:

[crazy_boy]

Was driving in SLEX and its extension, linking it to STAR this weekend,- it was a pleasant surprise to learn that you can use your e-pass in both SLEX and its extension (mahal nga lang sigurado... )

Anyway, I was observing the 100KPH speed limit at baka nanghuhuli na nga,- and would normally occupy the second lane, except when passing...

Kaso, sa dami ng mga mababagal nga sa passing lane na hindi lumilipat, halos weaving in and out na rin ako.... Wala bang nanghuhuli sa mga m*k*ng na ito?

And then, there was this car which I surmised was doing over 160KPH,- nahuli kaya ito?

15.1K:bouncealt:

dapat huliin nga yung mga nakababad sa overtaking lane.

with this, im sure marami na bibili ng radar detector.

[Ry_Tower]

Bakit nawala iyong tolerance nila for speeds up to 120KPH in 60sec for those overtaking vehicles?...

Talaga bang siyento lang ang limit?....

15.1K:bouncealt:

Bitin ba? heh, lalo na kung 100 din takbo ng sasakyan sa harap mo.

[Chito]

Last Saturday nasa skyway kami going to southwoods sabi ko sa boss kong kaskasero (expat) na speed limit lang 100 kph sumunod naman kaya lang may humarurot na mga 5 o 6 na mga ferrari (pga cars) di manlang hinuli sa skyway exit inggit tuloy boss ko.

[greenlyt]

kaninang umaga sa skyway north bound may nahuling over speeding na bus at white na range rover

[IMm29]

Was on SLEX March 3 and 4. Didn't see any folks on the March 3 trip, though that was just to Sucat. Perhaps it was a Saturday, hence the Skyway portion was not being monitored. 100 kph on the Prado was boring, but hey, if they can enforce a top speed of 100-120 kph, that's fine.

The March 4 trip was via SLEX and STAR all the way to Batangas city. There was a radar-toting (and shooting) cop at the back of a pick up stationed under an overpass at SLEX, and 2 separate service vehicles along STAR waiting under overpasses as well. I did not see the actual speed guns, but I'm guessing they were toting them.

Prior to the enforcement, I used to be one of the 120-140 kph violators. I wish they allowed some overtaking leeway on the overtaking lanes. There are still folks who were definitely going past 140 kph. Oh well, it's a good start at least.

[Retz]

mukhang mahirap malusutan ang Fact 4 ah.