I'm on leave for a week, my sister arrives tomorrow and then a mob of family and friends arrive on Friday but today I was on my own and as it was a beautiful day I got the bike out. What better way to pass the time is there than a big touring bike and miles and miles of tarmac on a sunny day?
I just had some cruising in mind so on the way through Langebaan I stopped at the KFC to buy some lunch, I don't eat it often but today it sounded good. On the R27 I headed south with a laybye in mind where I could stop and eat my lunch in peace. Just past the Engen One Stop I was surprised to see this gantry supporting cameras over the road,
I turned back to get the photo and had a chat with the workmen, they were just involved with installing a guard rail and as far as they knew this unit was already functioning. I "zeroed" my trip meter and headed off in search of the other one and sure enough exactly 20kms down the road I found the second one. In my eagerness I may have been travelling too fast, I hope that I haven't fallen foul of this bloody thing, Janet will not be too pleased with me if I incur another fine so soon after the last one!
This is a conspiracy! As far as I can see these are the units that measure the time that you take to pass between the two and then work out your speed, so you guys and girls riding up from the Cape will have to behave yourselves for twenty kilometres or else stop for a smoke break between the two gantries!
Hell and damnation I am not happy about this kind of thing, unless as I suspect they are going to ignore bikers and only concentrate on cagers - yeah right!
Keep in mind this trap section is in between the West Coast National Park and the Engen One Stop at the Langebaan turnoff.
Still angry I pulled in to the next shaded laybye to enjoy my lunch and actually it was very pleasant, apart from the noise of the occasional car or truck passing by there were lots of bird sounds and as I relaxed I felt the anger draining away.
A "Streetwise two with chips and four zinger wings" I discarded most of the chips as they were pretty dry but the chicken was good.
I behaved myself on the way home apart from the last stretch down the dual carriageway towards Saldanha, a guy in a Ford Ranger came up fast behind me and I let him through but then decided to show him that his vehicle was not really all that fast, I let him get ahead a bit and then took my bike up to a happy 210kmh and blasted past him in the left hand lane - "Don't think that you are faster than me buddy!" Happiness.
4 comments:
Saw the alien intruders on my way to Tableview today. There's another one a few k's back from the Atlantis turn-off. Right hand side of the road with cameras facing both ways. Just hope I wasn't snapped !
Hi Kat., yes this is getting really annoying - it's sort of making me feel claustrophobic in a way!
There a lots of these point to point cameras now in Australia. At the moment they are only for Heavy vehicles etc but how long before they make them for all vehicles.
I agree it's a lot of bullshit and we shouldn't put up with this crap in the name of safety cough cough. We all know its just revenue.
Unfortunately here in SA cameras are for all vehicles, and you're right it's all just revenue collection.
I went down to Capetown yesterday and saw three of these gantries completed, one under construction all 20kms apart so it looks like there will eventually be a fifth one on the west coast road, my worst nightmare is that eventually ALL the roads will have them!!!!!!!
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