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Tall poll camera van on Gunnersubury Lane??? 

Does anyone know what the white van with small Ealing Council signs on is doing along Gunnersbury Lane (by the car dealers and Greek restaurant? You can't miss it - it has a massive pole with a camera sticking out of the roof pointing towards Acton Town station.I've seen it there for weeks during the day (from 8am at least) and in the evening (past 6pm) for a few months now.Any ideas?

Verification Required ● 6557d7 Comments

Yes I've seen it there too - sometimes a white van and sometimes blue. There was also a static police car with video camera at the bottom of Argyle Rd today and also a Police speed check van on Whitton Ave East which might have caught me out as I had accelerated to about 36mph!I think its just easy revenue pickings. There also seems to be an Ealing Council white van marked "CCTV traffic enforcement" which I've noticed cruising up & down the A40.Personally I'm getting really fed up with this Big Brother attitude towards the driver.

Pete Gregory ● 6557d

Is the council one checking number plates for un-insured/un-taxed cars.Easy pickings - yes. one in seven drivers not insured, which probably also means no MOT etc etc.No wonder Big Brother is picking on the poor poor drivers.

Norma Harrison ● 6557d

More likely that the Police would do that Norma.They have numberplate ID Cameras.I hope your not infering that its OK to drive around untaxed and un insured.

Colin Vaughan ● 6556d

Are you sure? I've seen the DVLA driving around slowly with a camera at each corner.Of course I'm not saying it's ok drive around untaxed! Far from it - the sooner fuel duty doubles and the government improves the resources to catch untaxed cars the better.

Norma Harrison ● 6556d

Well I didn't think you would really condone such evasion Norma, just checking.If the Vehicle has London Borough of Ealing signs on as stated in the original message then its far more likely to be portable CCTV.Many parts of London have these vehicles including Barnet, Brent etc. I hardly think that the LBE is working on behalf of the DVLA.If it was a Police vehicle, then as they are equiped for number-plate recognition then that would be more likely.The old Red Herring of increasing Fuel Duty, will only have the effect of increasing prices on any product you like to mention.That will affect non drivers as well, but the Super Rich won't worry.

Colin Vaughan ● 6556d

Philip,I expect that the van is one of our parking enforcement CCTV vans - I have seen it myself.  They will probably be checking out the zig-zags in front of the station.  I often drive by here in the mornings and too often I see people letting their passengers out on the zig-zags.  This really does endanger pedestrians using the crossing.  The worst case I saw recently was a foreign registered car (a Smartcar I think) that pulled off the road on to the entrance to the crossing to let their passenger out - crazy.

Phil Taylor ● 6556d

Thanks for the update Phil - fully support this plan. What happens to those caught on camera? Are they fined?I can't believe how thick and rude - plus dangerous - some people can be with your example of the smart car!One thing I would say, to improve safety for motorists and people crossing the road by the zebra crossing - that is to install barriers between the pavement and the road (by the zig-zags). So often people cross on the zig-zags walking out in front of cars. When the crossing was relocated from its old position outside the station, barriers weren't installed.

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