Traffic Cameras - Have They Gone Mad?

[f-wolf]

Illegal mobile speed cameras revealed

May 25th, 2010

While the police and private mobile speed camera operators police everything related to speeding, nobody polices their conduct.

During a road test through suburban Geelong, Victoria, CarAdvice encountered a mobile speed camera operator flouting the law, hypocritically booking motorists for speeding, while they themselves were breaking policy.

The operator established their vehicle on a steep stretch of road, outside of their designated work zone, working directly against the very policy that is claimed to be “fair, impartial and objectively administered in the community interest”.

At : Illegal mobile speed cameras revealed | Car Advice | News | Reviews

[Auscraft]

F-Wolf , good one,

These operators should be penalised with big fine, or sacked.

[Iconic Bionic]

  On 24/05/2010 at 2:51 AM, Auscraft said:

Have a look at this: Drivers will face fines for unlocked cars

Not securing a vehicle has always been an offence. Its just rarely enforced.

I.B.

[Auscraft]

They can fine you for using your in-car CD or radio. Is that sensible?

I've also heard that the police is recruiting 2000 more officers. But what I don't know if the Police needs those extra man/women to fight crime or to fight/terrorize motorists.

[Rudiger]

IB, from memory the offence was "Leave vehicle unattended - Keys in the ignition". Never knew there was one for leaving it unlocked. Obviously there is. Maybe its a good law, maybe bad, but the *beep* that enforce it are idiots I'm afraid.

As far as "Road Safety Cameras" are concerned, the jury is out for mine. I certainly feel they are a necessary evil, however, when they are not installed where collisions occured it can be argued quite reasonably that they are simply revenue raisers.

The system is now so automated, and the legislation so tight that you have little option but to accept them as accurate. That annoys me the most.

But when you look at it, what a bargain. $80k for a Gatso (The Camera device), $100k (Approx) for site installation. So around $180k for a simple fixed speed cam site.

Let say they nab 50 per day @ a conservative $200 a hit, that's $10k per day, times 365 days a year equals $3,650,000 in a single year for one site...and you wonder why there are so many?????

We will never be rid of them..simple. Sorry to dapen your spirits. Not unless they can be proven to be counter productive ie they cause more accidents than they stop, or they are shown to be inaccurate.

But if you want to whinge, look at bank fees. We accepted ATMs while bank staff got made redundant, now we are charged to use ATMs but also charged to go inside and use a teller. Who's fault is that? Ours, cause we let it happen. Same with speed cameras. We voted for the governemtns who put themin. Yes you will say either side will isnatll them...but we still vote for them. Double jepeordy.

I could go on. I hate them, I truly due. Takes the joy out of driving. You get a fine 1, 2 or 3 weeks after and sit there for an hour trying to remember when and why you were driving along that road at that time. In the meantime, you are so concerned with watching your speedo you don't concentrate on the road properly.

I think I'll move to the NT where all I have to worry about are Camels, Kangaroos, and the odd indigenous person who happens to fall asleep on the road.

[hypnodoc]

  On 25/05/2010 at 2:39 PM, Auscraft said:

They can fine you for using your in-car CD or radio. Is that sensible?

I've also heard that the police is recruiting 2000 more officers. But what I don't know if the Police needs those extra man/women to fight crime or to fight/terrorize motorists.

It's to terrorise motorists motorists. I've never seen such a pathetic cash grab as the leaving your car unlocked nonsense. Man I'm glad I'm out of the place. Democracy in Australia, not any more

[Auscraft]

"Democracy in Australia, not any more"

Can't agree more. Its all down hill.

[Paulie2256]

  Quote

Cameras are money makers

• Neil Mitchell

• From: Herald Sun

• May 27, 2010 12:00AM

THERE haven't been too many parties or grand speeches but Victoria's speed cameras turned 20 last

month as drivers still grizzled, idiots still drove like idiots, and politicians kept counting the dollars.

Forget all the self-righteous words. It is impossible to believe that our political leaders don't want the revenue

from the cameras, because if it wasn't there they'd have to find half a billion dollars somewhere else.

That's how much is predicted to come in over the financial year - $476 million. That's almost $1000 every

minute.

Need more evidence that they have spread like weeds and are an unavoidable part of life? Well, last calendar

year there were 1,258,491 speed camera fines. Vehicles will be checked about 34 million times this year.

And still, the politicians and sometimes the police don't get it. The issue is all about trust.

If we're going to hand over our lives to these things we must be able to trust that they are accurate, a little

flexible, and placed where they should be placed to save lives rather than bring in the dollars.

After all, the devices are police, judge and jury in a box. They decide our guilt and we must prove otherwise.

They even insist that we betray our children, dobbing them in as drivers if they are using the car and get

snapped. Where else would we accept that?

But if they demand trust to work properly, yesterday was a very bad day for the cameras. First, a senior and

respected officer was found to have sworn that some years ago the Government put pressure on him to book

motorists, despite some cameras being dodgy.

Then, former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby, who is not so well respected, said when he was boss,

revenue pressure was common and the police kept secret a policy that let more drivers off so the Government

wouldn't try to block it.

The man now in charge, Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay, said he had never felt such pressure and wouldn't

cop it, something the Government would do well to believe.

But the reassurances of the Premier and others that they don't care about the revenue don't ring true. Seriously,

try standing between any politician and a tax dollar.

Of course they are concerned about road safety. They are not ogres. But all those cheques are an extremely

welcome side benefit.

The money grab is only one certainty about the cameras. Another is that they do reduce speeds and thus save

lives.

But they don't deter true idiots like the policeman caught doing 163km/h on his motorbike this week, and they

do make mistakes.

In July 2003 a geriatric Datsun that would have struggled to outrun Joe Hockey was booked at 158km/h. That

was nonsense and proved wrong, but the Government and police kept snapping away.

Then an ancient truck was recorded at 174km/h - uphill in the Burnley tunnel - and more cameras were found

to be hopeless. It took five months to turn them off and after yesterday's revelations we might again ask why.

Police Minister Bob Cameron doesn't understand all this but he'd do well to read the history and forget the

bluster. Motorists have not forgotten.

It is all very well to trust Ken Lay, he's a good copper. But trust in the operation of the cameras must be

improved because as long as they are linked to revenue they'll be suspect.

There are ways to do this. Why not cut fines? What about serious point penalties for speeding but only add

heavy fines at higher levels?

What about portable signs warning of speed cameras ahead? That would slow people down, and isn't that the

aim?

And at the most basic level, a driver who thinks they have been unfairly or wrongly booked should be able to

appeal to a tribunal rather than battle the legal system.

The tribunal could be chaired by an independent person and include expert technicians and scientists. Drivers

could lodge a refundable bond to have the accuracy of their ticket tested, something the courts can't really do.

We all know the list of "dodgy" sites. Even Jeff Kennett thinks he has been wrongly booked. This tribunal

would remove the doubt.

But there's an attitude police could change to build trust, and it goes beyond cameras.

They need to be more open, and less political in the way they function.

This week a death in custody became public only because an interpreter, who watched the man crawl from the

cells, bravely came forward. The public should have been told well before she stood up for decency.

Last week, after years of official denials, Deputy Commissioner Sir Ken Jones finally agreed that gangs do

operate in Melbourne and can be extremely dangerous.

He was not popular with the politicians for telling the truth but his candour and directness were refreshing.

And finally, the police should share facts with the public. At the moment their common reaction is to block

Freedom of Information requests.

They want to bill the Opposition $17,000 for certain crime statistics and have obstructed requests about speed

camera testing and maintenance.

Sometimes they seem more politicians than police, and whether it's about speed cameras or public safety,

that's certainly guaranteed to undermine public confidence.

Victorians want to believe and trust their police. But first the police need to trust them with the truth, and all

of it.

Cameras are money makers | Herald Sun

[f-wolf]

Queensland's Covert Speed Cameras Not About Saving Lives: Police Union

Jun 3, 2010

As the Queensland Government hails the use of covert speed cameras for the state's dramatically lower road toll this year, the police union has described them as "poker machines on wheels."

Speaking with AAP this week,Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers said the deterrent effect for speeding motorists is non-existent.

"There is not a shred of evidence that they have had any positive impact in reducing fatalities on our roads," Mr Leavers told the AAP.

"I fear that the Bligh Government is becoming addicted to the revenue of speed cameras."

. .The news follows the rollout earlier this year of a fleet of unmarked mobile speed cameras, including four cars and two motorcycles.

Mr Leavers said that while there have been 54 fewer road fatalities in Queensland this year, the number of weekly deaths on the road had increased since the introduction of the covert cameras.

In the months leading up to April, there had been 3.7 road deaths per week - a number that grew to 5.1 in the weeks since the cameras had begun operating.

From : Queensland's Covert Speed Cameras Are Poker Machines On Wheels: Police Union | Reviews | Prices | Australian specifications

Edited 03/06/10 01:56 AM by f-wolf

[f-wolf]

Some more here :

QLD Police Union Oppose Covert Speed Cameras

June 3rd, 2010

Could it really be? An Australian Police Union actually publicly stating that covert speed cameras don’t save lives?

From : QLD Police Union Oppose Covert Speed Cameras | Car Advice | News | Reviews