Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you etc. etc. etc. Yes, that's right, the speed camera, one of modern Britain's most reviled inventions and a symbol of the misery of modern motoring, is twenty years old today.
It is twenty years to the day since former policeman Roger Reynolds turned on Britain's first Gatso on the A316 in Surrey.
Now, of course, speed cameras are ubiquitous and it takes an effort for many motorists to remember a world without them. The number of cameras in the UK rose to 1,600 by 2000 and rocketed up to 4,737 seven years later, mainly due to the introduction of safety camera partnerships which rewarded local councils handsomely when drivers got snapped.
Roger Reynolds was the man responsible for the first cameras but even he describes the current situation as a "fiasco." He has openly criticised the blatant profiteering carried out by safety camera partnerships that have been known to lower the trigger point of speed cameras which make little money to raise more revenue.
Reynolds claims that the original intention of speed cameras was to deter drivers from speeding, rather than catching them in the act. However, speed cameras consistently net the government over £100 million a year.
The number of new speed cameras has stalled since 2007 and many believe that the humble Gatso has had its day. Is this good news for the British motorist? Not really.
With telematics systems now routinely fitted to some cars and average speed cameras a common sight, it is unlikely that drivers will be let off the hook. In fact, it seems that an even more Orwellian system of traffic policing is just around the corner...
