That's a very good point: if the cameras are there to prevent accidents, then these databases really are doing their job in making people slow down for them.
You can easily show those jerks by driving at high speed and braking like an idiot right before you hit a speed trap.
The reason the Netherlands employs so many mobile speed traps is because people quickly learn where the fixed speed traps are and simply ignore the speed limits in between, or try to "make up for time lost by having to brake for a speed trap" (yes, I've heard and seen plenty of people do this).
This is why radar detectors are illegal in the Netherlands.
Dutch people and government are obsessed with (limiting) speed, instead of focussing on keeping distance.
A nice effect of distance is less braking, which means less energy converted into useless heat and less ghost traffic jams.
It always amuses me to hear local radio news about yet another multi-vehicle collision.
In Germany, the country known for it's wonderful Autobahn, you can temporarily loose your license for tailgating.
The worst part of that is when overtaking ... a traditional Dutch driver will only look to see if he has the place to go, not if the car coming at the back is much faster than him/her.
So you end up with a lot of braking when driving on the left-most lane. The "funniest" is to see that happening with Dutch drivers outside the Netherlands ... because drivers from other countries are not used to that behavior :) (disclaimer : I live in NL, but I'm not Dutch and did not learn to drive in the Netherlands)
Mobile speed cameras that are announced on radio ...
Besides, there are still quite a few fixed speed cameras in NL AND some "trajectcontrol" camera (as mentioned by a previous poster). I actually find the latter one the only one worth it, because then you are sure that people slow down for a longer period.
But a loss for those of us who have two brain cells to rub together. We understand that the state now has an incentive to post and enforce unreasonably low speed limits that the vast majority of drivers will violate.
When they say it's about safety, not revenue... it's about the revenue.
