Fizzle
So, a number of letter bombs have gone off, causing reasonably minor injuries to those post-room operatives unlucky enough to open them, the most recent turning up at the DVLA in Swansea. Police seem to be making a link between the destinations of these pyrotechnic A5 Jiffy bags that points to an "extremist motorists' group or individual." (One tabloid I read over someone's shoulder on the train this morning labelled this a "TERROR BLITZ", naturally. What would they call an actual terror blitz?) Run that past me again - an extremist motorists' group? There are motorists who are that angry at the Congestion Charge and some speed cameras that they'd actually set out to maim innocent office workers? Surely, I mean surely, there are more important things to get angry about? A woman was injured in the offices of Capita, the company that collect the Congestion Charge. That's really hitting them where it hurts.
In the Guardian it said, "an angry motorist could well be responsible for the latest attacks, according to 'Captain Gatso', the campaigner responsible for attacks on speed cameras and who operates under a pseudonym."
Captain Gatso isn't his real name? How disappointing. He told them, "What we are looking at now is a war on the motorist." That's like saying rain is a war on umbrellas. I assume he thinks petrol should be free and all zebra crossings should be rubbed out with Turps. What a melodramatic Captain he is. It turns out he represents Motorists Against Detection. "The motorist is fighting back," he said. "It's payback time." No it isn't, it's set fireworks off in the faces of some people who work in offices time.
Gatso denied that he and his group were responsible for the letter bombs or had ever been responsible for attacking people rather than machines. "I would happily punch Ken Livingstone on the nose," he said. Well, that's assault, Captain Gatso, go right ahead. See what happens. Ken Livingstone is no saint, but the Congestion Charge is intended to reduce traffic in the centre of London. You're still allowed to drive through the capital, you just have to pay, just as you have to pay to park in a car park or in a parking space in London.
"My group only terrorises the government's cash machines, he says. He's talking about speed cameras - geddit? His group claim to have carried out 1,000 "attacks" on speed cameras, causing more than 29 million quid's worth of damage. And who does he think pays for the replacement of these cameras? Taxpayers and road-users. Captain Twatso, more like.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 12:21 PM
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People who complain about speed cameras make me cross. I just don't get the problem, and congestion charge even more so. Reminds me of a Jerry Seinfeld observation that we (or rather they, in the US, or parts of it) have to have laws to make people wear crash helmets, otherwise they wouldn't. You can't help some people. At least bare-headed bike riders are only endangering their own lives. Bah.
Oh don't get me started on motorists and their tenuous relationship with the law.
I was reading something the other day by a woman objecting to the proposed new road pricing scheme where each car would have a device allowing it to be tracked and charged accordingly. One of her main objections was that this device would also record speed so that if you 'accidentally' went over the speed limit you might get a ticket.
I am now keen to apply this principle to all areas of my life. So if I 'accidentally' steal something from a shop I can be justifiably outraged if I'm prosecuted. And if someone 'accidentally' exceeds the drink-driving limit and kills a pedestrian I'm sure we'll all be very sympathetic to their plight.
Speeding must be one of the only offences that is seen by a large portion of the population as somehow optional - a law to break with impunity providing you can get away with it.
Outrage at speed cameras being employed to catch people who are breaking the law is the equivalent of being outraged when the police turn up to catch burglars.
And I bet the majority of these angry motorists are the kind of Daily Mail reading moralists who spend the rest of the time bleating about the sanctity of law and order.
This bloke's organisation is called 'Motorists Against Detection'. Splendid. I look forward to lending my support to paedophiles against detection, murderers against detection and other groups unfairly victimized by the law.
Muppet.
I'm rather hoping that Jeremy Clarkson is behind the letter bombs so that we have an excuse to lock up the pompous oaf (not that we should need one...)
I did warn you not to get me started on this.
Well said. I don't like Ken Livingstone at all, but the Congestion Charge has been fantastically good for London, and hasn't caused the economic apocalypse some people thought it would.
Even slightly.
People like Captain Gatso really piss me off - he's effectively condoning dangerous driving. Motorists have got off far too lightly over the years, given the damage that they can cause.
My wife used to work in Job Centres and got no end of grief when Unemployment Benefit turned into Jobseekers' Allowance. People seemed to think that shouting at her and threatening her would change everything. Gaaah! If you want to complain, at least go to the right people...
I'm really sick of these selfish, whining drivers - and yes, I drive, but it's once a week to the supermarket and the occasional tootle out. There are a parade of whingers going on about box junction fines in my local rag this week; the answer to which is 'If you don't want a fine, go by the rules of the road and make life easier for everyone else.'
Thanks for the mention of turps, Andrew. Took me right back.
Spot on. Like you, when I first heard this was being perpetrated by some deluded motorists I started f-ing and blinding. An unjust cause and a completely misjudged target.
I heard this morning that tests were being carried out on the postmarks and THE HANDWRITING. Do you not think that any professional terrorist would not use their own handwriting. Or maybe they want to be caught. It all sounds like quite an amateur operation.
I think moderate motoring organisations should take action against the extremists in their midst.
When I see someone get out a car, I cross the road to avoid them. You can't be too careful.
what idiots like Gasto forget is that driving is not a right it's a privilege. It is also not essential to life.
Presumably in the spirit of hysteria surrounding these antics, I received an old chestnut of a 'petition' this afternoon (forwarded by someone who should know me better); You may know the one... I was asked to sign up to stop certain government proposals 'aired on Sarah Kennedy's show' (well!) which further attack the rights of motorists. It seems we're all going to be charged hundreds of pounds to have a compulsory 'device' put in our cars, which will track us and record our mileage, and then we'll get MASSIVE bills, oh yes we will. In the predictably feverish nature of such things, the 'petition' turned from speculation to statement of fact within a couple of paragraphs..."a single mum taking her kids to school was charged £86 for a month!" Very impressive for a scheme which doesn't exist and in all probability never will.
I smell the foul hand of Gatso at the wheel. I'm not saying he's a bomber, but he writes a truly rotten petition. Great name though.
Motorists kill more people each year than any other terrorist group. And it's the extremists - the ones who believe in their divine right to speed - who are responsible for most of the deaths. Why do these dickheads still have licences?
I've had a few speeding tickets from Gatsos over the years and have come up with my own extreme solution. I've slowed down a bit.
I have people speed past my house and would quite like a Gatso at the bottom of my drive. (Better still, at the bottom of next door's drive. )
I think I might suggest it to the council. If they refuse should I petulantly start sending 'packages' to South Staffs CC?
I was short-changed in the newsagent this morning. Maybe they're next in line for my wrath...
Or what about that 6 Music Presenter who keeps playing Girls Aloud?..
But as mail is now priced depending on size as well as weight, was it a Letter bomb, a Large Letter bomb or a Packet bomb?
I have never understood the concept of "the motorist". Maybe that's because I have attained the grand old age of 43 without learning to drive or ever having owned a car. I have always been able to organise my life so that I have been able to walk to work or (in extreme circumstances) use public transport.
I have turned down higher paid jobs that involved travel in favour of more modestly paid ones within easy distance. No stress in my life!
Our mad economic system has millions of people going in one direction to work while an equal number go in the opposite direction and they probably all trade amongst themselves in a way where geography is quite meaningless.
Home grown "terrorists" with a hatred of speed cameras and traffic wardens! At least other "terrorists" have higher aims!
On the subject of terrorist overreaction - recently someone put a (presumably unwanted) rucksack in a bin in the street of a small town near me. Big mistake because of course the local paper (well they don't usually get a lot of news) screamed "Terrorist Alert in Johnstone". Of course this warranted a huge front page article about how terrorism had come to this small town along with a picture of a very unassuming street. I think the bomb disposal people carried out a small controlled explosion. All because someone's rucksack had got a bit tatty and they wanted rid of it.
Hmm. I saw a police representative talking about this on the news. I think the quote was "We are looking at the possibility that the person responsible is either a disgruntled motorist, animal rights activist or possibly, though less likely, a terrorist."
Now:
1. That doesn't really narrow it down much, does it?
2. Surely the word "terrorist" means "one who cases terror", and so the perpetrator IS by definition a terrorist, whether he's an animal rights activist or an Arab (which I presume is what he meant, if only subconsciously), or, indeed, an Arab animal rights activist.
3. If you had a bob (or five, at the last count) would your prime target be the DVLA? Really and truly? I will stop right there in case the government uses this comment to indict me on some kind of spurious intention-to-incite-terror charge, but anyway, you see my point...
Have a good weekend.
Px
I'm always a bit baffled when people complain about speed cameras. To me it seems like they're saying "I've decided that I'm going to break the law and I think it's wrong that I may get caught even when there's nobody around". Presumably they think that all security cameras should be removed just in case the captured images lead to a burglars being caught.
Anyway, surely if Captain Gatso was any sort of a superhero he wouldn't be travelling in a car but donning a cape and flying across the camera free fields!
I agree with all of the above. I just don't understand how speeding is so universally accepted. It needs to become unacceptable in the same way as drunk driving.
I am continually surprised at the number (and type) of people who complain about speed cameras and getting fines. If you don't like the fines, or getting caught, then don't break the law - keep to the speed limit. How difficult is it?
My biggest surprise is when they actually brag about how fast they go on the roads. They think it is acceptable to do 80-85mph on the motorway. Why? Why do they think the speed limit is 70mph? Probably because some people who know about these things thought it was the safest speed to do on the motorway.
I just don't get it!
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