# Captain Gatso



## spindrift (4 Jan 2008)

January last year, Captain Gatso firebombed a speed camera on the A217. 

6 months after,


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/...death+that+killed+three+pensioners/article.do


Three people killed by a speeding driver.

The anti-camera websites link to pictures of burning cameras and post "jokes" about killing cyclists.





.


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## Pete (4 Jan 2008)

spindrift said:


> January last year, Captain Gatso firebombed a speed camera on the A217.


I take it that this individual is not the late and not-universally-lamented Mr. Psmith in person, but evidently someone with close links to him?

Doubly scary for some of us, because that stretch of A217 is only a mile or two away from a section of the A217 which forms a significant part of Simon's FNRTTC route (Reigate Hill-Lonesome Lane section).


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## andygates (4 Jan 2008)

Has anyone raised this on the speedophile sites?


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## Nigel-YZ1 (7 Jan 2008)

As usual both of them preserve their 'right' to take to the roads again after their bans (after retest etc...)

They've proven they cannot handle the responsibility of driving on public roads. So why are we scared of banning them for life?

As for the camera? They'd have slammed on the anchors, then floored it again 20 yards later - gives them a chance to show their penis size when it comes to 0-100mph acceleration times.
(Shame we don't put a hidden camera 50 yards down the road from each visible one).

Mention this on SS all you'd get is abuse or total ignorance. They're too obsessed with driving with their fist at 12 o'clock, stereo full blast, hounding the world with the farting trombone they stuck on the back of their 1.0 litre Saxo's exhaust.


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## andygates (7 Jan 2008)

No, someone _ought _to mention it. It's pretty compelling evidence that you cannot trust people to stick to a "safe speed" based on their skill and judgement.


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## Tony (8 Jan 2008)

Andy, anyone who mentions anything that punctures the cosy bubble of inSSanity over there gets banned ASAP.


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## spindrift (8 Jan 2008)

They operate "Open review" on safespeeding so anyone can challenge their opinion. If you do so, you get deleted and banned. It's a watertight system, fingers in ears and go "La la la la la la".


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## Cab (8 Jan 2008)

That sentence... Gosh, but it wasn't an accident that occurred here, it was the predictable consequence of their behaviour. Drive like that and people die, its a no brainer. Surely we need a legal system that treats the predictable killing of someone in this fashion as manslaughter, if not murder?

I'm not 100% clear on whether it is the same stretch of road where the speed cameras were burned and the accident occurred?


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## Tony (9 Jan 2008)

See my thread "Blameless" for the latest development.


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## andygates (9 Jan 2008)

That only covers the general issue, not this specific.

Does anyone live nearby who can scope out the area? Carefully of course, given the cretins speeding past...


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## Pete (9 Jan 2008)

andygates said:


> Does anyone live nearby who can scope out the area? Carefully of course, given the cretins speeding past...


I think the Pikes* do. I know the area a bit to the south of there fairly well. Have to admit that - as a cyclist - the 217 is a 'road to avoid'. 

*on ACF.


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## freakhatz (10 Jan 2008)

Cab said:


> ..we need a legal system that treats the predictable killing of someone in this fashion as manslaughter, if not murder?
> 
> *I'm not 100% clear on whether it is the same stretch of road where the speed cameras were burned and the accident occurred*?



Apparently so:

http://www.surrey-safecam.org/fe/default.asp?n1=52#help20agk


> A safety camera was originally located on the A217 northbound approach to the Banstead crossroads. When the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership was formed in April 2005, the site was reviewed and it was decided that *even better casualty reduction figures could be achieved by moving the camera close to the A217 junction of Burgh Wood near to the Banstead Infant, Junior and the Priory Schools. This was the site of a tragic collision last April resulting in three fatalities.* The new camera was installed last October in the central reservation to maximise the visual deterrent to oncoming motorists and to allow enforcement in both the southbound and northbound directions.
> 
> The opportunity to continue reducing casualties at a site near a number of schools is now threatened by this crass act.
> http://www.surrey-safecam.org/fe/default.asp?n1=52#help20agk


http://www.surrey-safecam.org/fe/default.asp?n1=52#help20agk




> Judge Neil Stewart told them: "It is impossible to achieve a sentence which reflects the enormity of the consequences of what you did.


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## spesh (13 Jan 2008)

From what I remember of the Brighton Road between Burgh Heath and Sutton, I could never understand why the northenmost camera in the borough of Reigate & Banstead was just before the Banstead crossroads. With the benefit of hindsight following the incident in which the people pulling out of Burgh Road were killed, it would have made more sense to install a camera between the junction with Burgh Wood, and the Garratts Lane traffic lights. The A217 starts to drop downhill about 200 yards north of the latter juction, which limits the sight lines for anyone joining the A217 from Burgh Wood, so you want to concentrate the minds of motorists before that junction...

Actually, if Reigate & Banstead really wanted drivers to stick to 40mph all the way between the M25 and the Banstead Crossorads, they should have installed SPECS cameras instead...


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## spesh (13 Jan 2008)

Pete said:


> I think the Pikes* do. I know the area a bit to the south of there fairly well. Have to admit that - as a cyclist - the 217 is a 'road to avoid'.
> 
> *on ACF.



I used to live near Banstead, and my personal recollection is that I didn't have any grief at the times I used to cycle on that road.


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## Gandalf (23 Jan 2008)

As I live in Sutton I cycle along that stretch quite often. The main and most consistent problem is speeding vehicles passing with centimetres to spare. They do this even when the outside lane of the dual carriageway is completely clear. The limit is 40 mph....you can guess the rest. It can be terrifying.

I saw 'Captain' Gatso being interviewed on television wearing a balaclava. When quizzed by the interviewer about his desire/obsession with breaking the law with regard to speed limits, he replied _"well it's only a number"_.

I can't help, wondering if he's mentally disturbed in some way.


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## Danny (25 Jan 2008)

Gandalf said:


> I can't help, wondering if he's mentally disturbed in some way.



While I am sure he is a complete obsessive, he is unfortunately just an extreme manifestation of the mentality that seems to afflict many car drivers who seem to believe that any attempt to ensure that drivers comply with the law is totally unreasonable.


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## Bad Company (29 Jan 2008)

I would say that they both got what they deserved although I think the sentences were rather lenient.

I don't see why you guys link this to SafeSpeed. I'm fairly sure that nobody on SafeSpeed or Pistonheads etc., would defend these criminals.


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## Bad Company (29 Jan 2008)

User said:


> I seem to recall the cretinous Mr Smith doing exactly that - 'bigging up' Captain Gatso for his direct action.
> 
> Though I'm sure his minions will have excised any such references from the SafeSpeed threads now, so at to keep his memory shiny...



User as you well know I was referring to the two motorists NOT Captain Gatso.


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## spindrift (29 Jan 2008)

safespeeding linked to pictures of burned out gatsos, and printed the private names and addresses of people who dared ask for lower speeds in their village.


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## Bad Company (29 Jan 2008)

User said:


> Hmmm - I'd call it 'incitement'.



You would be wrong then.


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## andygates (29 Jan 2008)

Yeah, that's not incitement, it's intimidation. The cowards hope that sensible locals will be so scared of what might happen that they don't dare speak up. But they don't have what it takes to actually hassle anyone themselves, the gutless toads.

Bless.


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## andygates (29 Jan 2008)

Captain Twatface can, though. Someone should lock him and Tom Cruise in a room. Twat baiting. Sport of the new millennium. (kinda like Soapbox)


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## Bad Company (29 Jan 2008)

I doubt Captain Gatso would approve of the driving of the 2 guys convicted (remember them). As I said previously most of the guys on Pistonheads & SafeSpeed are campaigning against profiteering from motorists who stray slightly over the limits. That has nothing to do with the way these 2 behaved.

Having said all that if I saw somebody torching a camera I would not report it.


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## Bad Company (30 Jan 2008)

> Come on BC. You've spent time over there.



If you are referring to SafeSpeed yes I spend some time over there and on Pistonheads. What is your point please?


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## Bad Company (30 Jan 2008)

Mr P. Perhaps I am not making myself clear. I am saying that neither I nor others at SafeSpeed would support the drivers who caused the deaths of 3 people (see the start of this thread).


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## Bad Company (30 Jan 2008)

> Do you not remember the thread about the uninsured taxi driver who killed a student on a crossing in Birmingham? There are several pages of posts trying to divert the blame away from the clearly guilty driver. It was the parents' fault, the road layout fault (based on lies), etc etc.



Can't say I remember that thread but that doesn't mean that it did not happen. SafeSpeed has a forum where people can say what they like. Those views do not necessarily represent most SafeSpeed supporters.

From my point of view I campaign against what I see as the persecution of and profiteering from motorists who may accidently creep accidentaly slightly over the limit. That does not mean defending blatantly dangerous drivers.


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## Bad Company (30 Jan 2008)

No not backtracking Mr P., just making a point. As I said SafeSpeed is an open forum.

Tell you what I will post a similar thread over there and we can see if those guys get any sympathy. Wadayathink????


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## andygates (30 Jan 2008)

Sigh... would you two get on to the make-up sex already?


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