Who are the Talivan?

The DVLA was hit earlier in the week by a letter bomb explosion at its headquarters in Swansea. It was the seventh such incident reported at a UK agency linked to traffic enforcement in the past three weeks, and the third in three days, according to the Guardian. A total of six people have been injured so far, according to a statement issued by police.

There are rumours that a disgruntled motorist is to blame. The idea seems to have hit a nerve. No-one wants to see anyone hurt or blown up, but most motorists share the anger and frustration at the way the system seems to be rigged to catch them out at every turn. Speed cameras, parking charges, congestion zones, parking tickets, fixed penalty points and so on are the bane of our lives. And soon, with road pricing, we'll be charged to drive along our own streets. It will be a tax to leave your house.

If you abide by the law, why complain, people ask? But going about a seemingly normal task becomes a deeply stressful experience. For example, here are some typical challenges I face: on my commute to work I have to take the car because my company has moved its offices which were once across the road from a station, to a business park which requires me to take a bus from the station, adding one hour per day to my previous commute time. The car is now quicker. Taking the car is also approximately 20% cheaper, It also guarantees me a seat. On my commute I drive past approximately 10 to fifteen speed cameras. Soon, I will need to pay the congestion zone (as it extends west) in order to park my car on my street, despite the fact I already pay a residents permit fee. When I tried to load/offload on my street (hazard lights on), a parking warden threatened me menacingly and only ran away when my husband appeared. When my husband chased after him, he refused to disclose his ID and pretended to be on the phone. I wanted to pick up some friends visiting from abroad who were staying about 5 minutes away from me who have 3 children (including a 6 month old baby) to come over for tea to my home. However, since I currently do not live in the congestion zone, and they do, despite their proximity I would have had to fork out eight quid just to pick them up. There was no direct bus route and with the cold and baby this was not a viable option. I received 3 points for driving at 34MPH in a 30 zone (the guy on the phone told me he hadn't seen that before), and I received another 3 points for driving at 35 in a 30 zone on my way to a funeral when I was late. When I explained that the person who had died had been my godfather, and that he had died the previous day, that I would accept the speeding ticket, but would they be able to release me so I could make the funeral on time, all the police officer could think to tell me was that I shouldn't have been in such a hurry and then proceeded to take his sweet time. Not even condolences or an apology. I could go on... (this post was only supposed to be a couple of lines long!)

So I was tickled by this site describing the Talivan.

A Talivan - A van containing one or more speed cameras used for the purpose of ruthlessly
extorting money from drivers, a practice based upon a fanatical belief in 'speed' being the cause of all road accidents. Terrorize drivers into gorping mindlessly at their speedometer instead of looking where they're going.Origin - term originally used to apply to such vans in Hawaii on or before 16th January 2002, possibly coined by someone named Derek Source. Hawaii subsequently scrapped it's Talivans after massive public protest.

The Talivan - A collective term for those organizations which use Talivans. Often known
officially as "safety camera partnerships", prefering to use the term "safety cameras" rather than "speed cameras" for propaganda reasons. The truth is that a speed camera cannot tell if a vehicle is being driven safely. It is perfectly possible to drive within the speed limit in a dangerous manner, or above the speed limit in a safe manner