Is there any point in updating cameras

Joined
Aug 22, 2011
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10
Is there any real point in paying to update the speed camera database when, in these cost cutting times, they are not adding any cameras and it's estimated that forty percent of them don't work anyway.
It hardly matters for those that have been removed and still show up anyway because it just means you'll slow down a bit which will do you no harm.
Isn't it just another waste of money?
 
Frankly, many in the UK realize how useless TomTom's database of cameras really is ----outdated, inaccurate, etc.

We have quite a few members who subscribe to a 3rd party database which is up to date, accurate, etc. Here is a link to a top one at PocketGPSWorld:
Pocket GPS World - SatNavs | GPS | Speed Cameras Forums-viewtopic-Why choose the PGPSW database?

As a bonus, two of our supermoderators here (Mikealder and Andy_P)are also mods there. They will take good care of you. :)

And, no, we don't get a penny to promote their site. Our only interest is to provide the best information to our members, wherever that information comes from.
 
But if nobody is putting up any new cameras (and many counties are putting them into disuse because of cost cutting)
what's the point of paying anyone (including pocketgps) for databases that are not really seeing any updates.
 
The PGPSW camera database that Mike mentioned above, gets updated every Wednesday. Here are some stats for the changes each week over the last month or so.

Version 9.074 - 27 Jul 2011
This release sees 74 static and mobile speed cameras added/removed/modified across the various speed camera databases.

Version 9.081 - 04 Aug 2011
This release sees 70 static and mobile speed cameras added/removed/modified across the various speed camera databases.

Version 9.082 - 11 Aug 2011
This release sees 53 static and mobile speed cameras added/removed/modified....

Version 9.083 - 17 Aug 2011
This release sees 42 static and mobile speed cameras added/removed/modified....

There was no database release on 24th August due to staff holidays, so there were twice as many changes the week after...

Version 9.085 - 31 Aug 2011
This release sees 111 static and mobile speed cameras added/removed/modified across the various speed camera databases.

So I think that blows your theory out of the water!
 
Added, removed or modified. For that you can read removed in the vast majority of cases which means they will still show up on your old database but that won't matter because it will make you slow down a bit which won't do you any harm.
You'll notice that they don't actually tell you how many have been removed or added or modified because then folks won't keep paying the money . . . . .
 
You'll notice that they don't actually tell you how many have been removed or added or modified because then folks won't keep paying the money . . . . .

Wrong again...
Every month they provide subscribers with a detailed breakdown (individually for every country) stating the numbers of:
Active Gatsos
Active Mobile sites
Active Specs cameras
Active Redlight
Active Truvelo
Active Monitron
Active RedSpeed
Pending Mobile sites
Temporary Gatso
Temporary Specs

So if you wanted to take the time to compare the numbers month by month, all the detail you want is there to see.
 
Re-read Andy's previous reply, the changes reported are by country not county, the figures supplied come from the database not the authorities.
SPECS cameras on the motorway network tend to change quite often and the locations where mobile cameras operate are often altered, these are the one's most probable to catch you out resulting in a fine and points, your choice whether you want to use the best database for speed camera locations or not - Mike
 
you say that as if there's some central government database which gives out this information but there isn't.
The various databases come from companies who originally gather information from the public and then charge for updates which, by their very nature, are unreliable since you don't know if there's even a camera inside the box.

It's another one of those things that people trust as coming from an official body of some kind when it isn't really.
That's why I posed the original question to see if anybody out there thought it was worth it to keep paying the money for it.
I appreciate the replies by the way.
 
With a good few thousand users of the PGPSW database also supplying updates which are then administered in to a weekly updated release covering many countries (including the UK) its probably better data than you would ever get from any of the authorities. The whole system is incentive based where a member can earn a free lifetime subscription to the database for being the first to report a new camera location (subject to verification). Many lifetime members continue to report camera updates as they appreciate the accuracy of the database, any little ammendment is for the benefit of all users.

For a start mobile locations are accurate to within a few yards of the actual location where the camera is used, fixed cameras are probably more accurate in terms of their individual coordinates. I agree you won't know when driving whether a fixed camera actually contains a working camera but I have no intention of playing "Russian Roulette" with my license in order to find out which are live and others that are dummy boxes. Also consider the fact the authorites move the camera from location to location so on any given day it could be in use contained within any fixed camera, better to know where the camera structures are rather than whether they actually contain a working unit that could even have run out of film.

The same applies to mobile locations, there is no way of knowing whether a site will be manned on the date/ time you pass it but I would rather know where the locations are rather than nothing at all.

The database isn't intended to aid speeding its there as an aid to road safety as a reminder to the applicable speed limit in force on any particular section of road, its up to you as to whether you see it of benefit or not, at the end of the day its an individuals choice as to what their nav unit is capable of - Mike
 
This is complete nonsense because many police forces will not give out this information

you say that as if there's some central government database which gives out this information but there isn't.

To be absolutely clear... The figures that PGPSW release every week are breakdowns of the numbers of cameras IN THEIR DATABASE.
No-one said they came from any official body, it is a simple count of what camera locations they know about.

You can argue the toss about how many cameras are dummies etc. but the point remains that there are dozens of reports of new cameras or changes to existing ones made every week by users and around 50-70 of those changes are independently verified and make it into the next database version.
A radar detector is used where possible to check for dummy cameras, as we KNOW that the live cameras get moved around especially in the variable speed zones on UK motorways.

So to say the situation is static is simply wrong.
 

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