Interesting Facts

Seemingly police in Yorkshire have been hiding speed cameras in rural areas - in tractors. (After a spate of accidents, they are trying to catch speeding motorcyclists, but it seemss a bit sneaky to me. I bet they've been having a field day.  (Sorry).)

The taxman looks set to be granted the right to break the speed limit in the UK. (At present only the emergency services; police, ambulance and fire, are allowed to break the speed limit, but under new rules other groups will be included: bomb disposal units, the blood transfusion service and mountain and mine rescue teams, oh and the aforementioned taxman.  The taxman - the fourth emergency service.)

A 37-year-old Swedish man was caught driving a black Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS from Bern to Lausanne at around 300 kilometers per hour (180 miles per hour) on a Swiss motorway. (He now faces a fine of nearly £650,000 ($1 million). Authorities said the man, who was not immediately identified, could be facing up to $1 million Swiss francs ($962,000) for his speeding offense, as fines in the European country are based on a driver's wealth, which in his case will work out at 300 days of fines at £2,166 a day. He's not the first to be slapped with a heavy fine: in January, a Swiss court slapped a $290,000 speeding ticket on a millionaire Ferrari driver who drove 60 mph (nearly twice the 30 mph limit) through a small village. And the head of Finnish communications giant Nokia was ordered to pay a $103,000 fine for a speeding ticket in 2002. Officers pulled over Anssi Vanjoki on his cherry red Harley Davidson in Helsinki after he was clocked driving 47 mph in a 31-mph zone. Ther...

The bird, the common swift (apus apus) has been recorded flying at a speed of 69.3mph (111.6km/h). (This wasn't just swooping and stooping, seemingly it flies at this speed horizontally and upwards. The record speeds were measured during bouts of mating, which are called "screaming parties". Hmm I've been to a few of those.)

The shire of Northampton has more speed cameras than any other part of the UK. (But don't worry, you can check on the Northampton police web site to see where they are! http://www.northants.police.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=2123 Is it just me, or is this daft?)

Police speed guns can be jammed by devices usually used to control electronic gates and garage doors. (It seems unfair that speeding fines can be avoided by people who have enough money for such luxuries. Me I have to open my gate myself and I don't even have a garage!) Source: Daily Express

In the future anyone caught over the limit on Swiss roads may have to pay up to €113,000. (The majority of European countries have a drink driving limit of 0.5 mg. Though some countries have outright bans on any alcoholic trace in drivers' blood, countries like the UK, Ireland, and Switzerland allow 0.8 mg, and the Republic of Cyprus (that's the southern Greek-speaking part that is now an EU member state) has a 0.9 mg threshold. Fines will be calculated according to the income of the driver. This means that a millionaire caught speeding will have to pay around €19,000. Of course the overpaid lawyers will probably get them off on a technicality.)