Speed Cameras and General Road Safety laws.

[Belladonna]

Well, hubby has just helped generate some income for the council! Just received a speeding fine back here in the UK for being caught on camera back in September on the motorway! Managed to pay on line and got a 50% discount too - bargain! Thats us told then, and will now crawl along the motorway even when its empty! So its taken 5 months for them to send on the fine. Good photos though!

 

[Sparky]

Oh dear i suppose it was only a matter of time before the local authorities here started to do what the UK have been doing for years. Gran Hermano has arrived in Mallorca .

P.S. Be very careful where you park peeps, the police are bored and are doing their best to fill the municipal coffers.

 

[Belladonna]

Looking at the photos, this particular camera is on the roadside under a bridge. Pretty sure it would have been a fixed camera, as we certainly would have seen the police at some point.

 

[Mark]

The cameras are very well hidden, I will see if I can find a picture of one

If it is the camera I am thinking of you would have been travelling along the motorway towards Palma/ the airport rather than heading up to Pollensa ?

 

[Belladonna]

I'm pretty sure you are right Mark. We can usually spot them, but this one may well have been disguised as an orange tree or something!!

 

[usandthewoof]

Speed cameras

We always knew Mr BD was a boy racer at heart !

There are 2 speed cameras on the motorway to Palma that we know of, one in each direction. They are both located under bridges and are pale grey in colour and "blend" in to the bridge structure.

I am going to Palma today as cabin fever has set in and Mr UATW is getting me and my plaster caste off out for a drive. I´ll make a note of what exit numbers the cameras are between / near and let you all know.

 

[sws97sdg]

Of cause you could all just stick to the speed limit and not break the law,that way you do not need to know where they are! Just a thought.

P.S. Be very careful where you park peeps, the police are bored and are doing their best to fill the municipal coffers.
Speaking of which Sparky, might it be worth reminding everyone what the rules are, I get confused with the different zones. I thought we had a link on the menu to instructions for parking in the port, but I cant find it, especially as it sounds like they will be hotter on this now!!

 

[eleanor]

SWS, I don't think anyone actively goes out with the intention of breaking the law but sometimes it is difficult to know exactly what the law is especially as it does seem to change quite often.
Thankfully there are kind people who give us information which helps us to keep within the law.
I think perhaps your interpretation of this information is that it will help us dodge the law by slowing down by these cameras?
I'm sure that the majority of people who visit really can't be bothered by racing around dodging cameras but just want to be assured that they are aware of the rules of the road and where these cameras are to ensure they keep to the limit - if you know what I mean.

 

[cumberland8]

Well put eleanor that describes us perfectly.

 

[Mark]

Of cause you could all just stick to the speed limit and not break the law,that way you do not need to know where they are! Just a thought.

Absolutely agree although on the motorway the limit can change from 120 to 90 then back to 120 in some areas if I remember correctly and its not always easy to know the speed limit as the signs are easily missed when concentrating on the traffic.

My Tomtom satnav shows me the speed limits on the Motorways etc and makes a 'bong bong' noise to warn me if I am speeding so I am OK as long as the sat nav is switched on.

The cameras in the UK are yellow and highly visible as a deterrent and to slow people down, in Mallorca they are very well hidden as they are just to generate revenue rather than any road safety improvements.

 

[whaleywanderer]

My Tomtom satnav shows me the speed limits on the Motorways etc and makes a 'bong bong' noise to warn me if I am speeding so I am OK as long as the sat nav is switched on.

Just curious but how does Tomtom satnav know when the council of Mallorca have changed the speed limits!! Also, thinking about it, how does it know what the speed limits are anyway? It's magic!!

 

[sws97sdg]

Agree that the speed limit does change as you go along the motorway or other roads, but thats the same as here, you look for the signs and that tells you, speed cameras dont tell you what the speed limit is, its much better to remind people what the limits are.
Again I am sure we had a link to the speed limits as well in the main menu, perhaps the same place as the parking, is it still there somewhere?

Found the driving advice at the bottom of the car hire section from the main menus, also links to web pages with more info as well

 

[Sparky]

There is some basic info here Discount Car Hire - Mallorca - Majorca - Palma Airport and more details here Driving in Spain, speed limits in Spain, driving laws in Spain, Spanish motoring rules and regulations.

 

[Mark]

Some pictures.

The first one is of the camera on the Motorway when travelling back towards palma. It is near a bridge where the MA-3016 crosses the motorway just before the festival park junction 8 at KM marker 9 ( look in the picture below)

A link to google maps is here:

pollensa - Google Maps

picture of the camera as you approach it, screen grab from google map linked to above, can you spot the camera easily

As you have driven past the camera and look back it will look like this:

---------------------------------------------------
Another one on the motorway when travelling from Palma towards Pollensa, near Inca. Just before junction 17 near KM marker 16.

pollensa - Google Maps

Approaching the camera:

Looking back as you have passed it:

Very sneaky cameras but the blue sky looks lovely and I want to be there.

Don't speed and drive safely.

 

[Mark]

Agree that the speed limit does change as you go along the motorway or other roads, but thats the same as here, you look for the signs and that tells you, speed cameras dont tell you what the speed limit is, its much better to remind people what the limits are.

Absolutely agree although many of the drivers in Mallorca will be tourists and might be having their first experience of driving on the 'wrong' side of the road so might not see the signs as they are few and far between.

Another couple of pictures, I like pictures

Every Kilometre along the roads in Mallorca there are marker signs to show how many Km you are along the road.

Here is a picture from the internet of a Km marker on the motorway:

The common sense approach to improve road safety and make people aware of the speed limits would be to put a speed limit sign on every Km marker.

I created a quick mock up just now in photoshop as an example:

If there where more signs people would be more aware of the speed limits.

The money raised from speeding fines could be used to pay for the signs and there are plenty of people in need of work.

 

[Mark]

Just curious but how does Tomtom satnav know when the council of Mallorca have changed the speed limits!! Also, thinking about it, how does it know what the speed limits are anyway? It's magic!!

If the speed limit rules change often TomTom wont know for a while as the maps are not updated very often, usually every 3 months.

When the maps are created there is data embedded so that it knows where each speed limit starts and ends and it is fairly accurate unless there are recent changes.
Certainly works on nearly all roads in UK and main roads in Spain I have tried it on.
The Tom Tom I have is about 5 years old and it still works just fine.

A picture found on the internet as an example.
Look at the bottom right and it shows 69/70 that is 69 mph in a 70 limit.

--------------

Another TomTom picture from Malaysia by the looks of it:

Look at the bottom left and you can see the driver was doing 68 km/h in an 80 max limit, it is a very useful feature especially when driving in unfamiliar areas.

 

[sws97sdg]

Quiet morning Mark?

 

[Deanscroft]

Dont forget the one on the road from Pollenca Town to Sa Pobla by the Golf Club. I think this one is far easier to `trip´as the limit here is a lot lower (90kmph) and it is on a nice straight piece of road with good visability. Come to think of it that is probably precisely why it is there.

 

[El Gordo]

...........Have a look at the Map I previously posted.

Proposed Locations

I have checked the locations between Palma and PP and have found the information accurate, and the cameras are now installed.

Take care

This shows the installed cameras at April 2008 and some additional proposed ones.

Can anyone update this please?

 

[Belladonna]

Your photos were definitely of the camera we were caught on Mark. Infact, the dark car on the outside could well have been ours! Thanks for making others aware of the position before they were caught too. You live and learn as they say!