> I don't know about the US and UK, but whenever the Korean police installs a speed camera, they put up a clear warning sign 500-1000m before the camera. There is absolutely no secret or surprise about the location of a speed trap, and the police apparently doesn't care, either.
Of course they care. That's why the sign is there.
The objective of a speed trap is to make drivers slow down, not punish them. If it's hidden and the driver does get ticked it means it failed at it's goal because you had a speeding car on the road anyway.
But that can result in people only slowing down where there are cameras. If you don't tell people where the cameras are, in theory (if there are enough of them and the punishments are harsh enough) people should slow down across the board.
There are of course issues with this (sudden braking when a camera is spotted can lead to accidents in itself, it punishes low income earners harder than high ones etc.), but I have noticed that in Australia, with relatively harsh speeding punishments and the majority of speeding cameras being hidden, there is a much lower incidence of speeding than in the US.
If the goal is to make people drive slowly in general, FUD might be more effective.
If the goal is to make people slow down in places where they really do need to slow down (e.g. before curves), visible warnings might be more effective.
Outside of large cities, most of Korea has a mountainous terrain. A highway with an official speed limit of 110km/h can be perfectly safe to drive at 130km/h in one stretch but dangerous to drive at 90km/h in another stretch just a few km away. So I think it makes sense for the Korean police to focus on making people drive more slowly in some places than in others. Maybe the priorities should be different in a large flat country like Australia.
In the UK, fixed speed cameras are often preceded by warning signs. Not so in Australia - I think we've had cases of them being hidden in roadside bins. It's common to see a police car with speed gun behind bushes at the side of the road.
> The objective of a speed trap is to make drivers slow down, not punish them. If it's hidden and the driver does get ticked it means it failed at it's goal because you had a speeding car on the road anyway.
The objective of a speed trap is money. Speed traps are a safety hazard. Causing drivers to slow down suddenly and then speed up again as soon as they pass the camera is significantly more dangerous than them driving at a constant higher speed. It also causes more pollution and consumes more fuel. Jurisdictions not interested in generating revenue don't install them.
Of course they care. That's why the sign is there.
The objective of a speed trap is to make drivers slow down, not punish them. If it's hidden and the driver does get ticked it means it failed at it's goal because you had a speeding car on the road anyway.