A NEW generation of fixed speed cameras in unconventional roadside locations will target speeding motorists in a major rethink on road safety strategies.

The first hi-tech camera will start snapping motorists in a trial next month.

Up to 20 will be deployed across the state if that is successful. For the first time, the cameras will be positioned on open stretches of road. The state’s 77 red light/speed cameras are now mounted at intersections and pedestrian crossings.

Road Safety Minister Michael O’Brien insisted the initiative was not a “revenue raising” measure, with roadside signs warning of the cameras.

He said only a “screaming idiot” would not be aware of the new cameras. The first of the “mid-block” cameras – so-called because they will be set up midway down a street block – becomes operational next month on Glover Avenue, Mile End, near the Bakewell Underpass – where research shows most motorists ignore the 60km/h speed limit.

“These cameras are a new weapon in the State Government’s arsenal to reduce the road toll and they are a very effective weapon because they won’t cause resentment among motorists,” Mr O’Brien said.

“If the feedback from the Bakewell Underpass camera over the next six months is positive, I will be taking to Cabinet a proposal for a further rollout.

I can’t see why SA would be any different to Victoria, NSW or anywhere else in the world in using these cameras to deal with the road toll.

Mr O’Brien said the cameras would be located “anywhere we have an issue with fatalities and serious casualties” across the state.

“I think the number to eventually be rolled out will be determined by analysis of accident black spots but we could see as many as 18 to 20 new cameras,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said recent research had shown more than half of all motorists were speeding through the underpass.

“A recent seven day trial showed 58.5 per cent of 56,202 west-bound vehicles were exceeding the speed limit, 14 of whom were doing above 100km/h and were suspected of engaging in street racing,” he said.

If this experience was repeated next month when the camera is operating it could potentially raise almost $7 million in speeding fines a week.

But interstate experience shows such a revenue windfall is highly unlikely. Instead, the camera is likely to change driver behaviour so they stay within the speed limit.

Mr O’Brien said NSW data showed the incidence of speeding at locations where new mid-block cameras were installed fell by by 85.5 per cent within 12 months.

This showed the cameras, which cost $100,000, were about saving lives and not raking in revenue.

“The big savings will be in reducing the cost of road deaths, treating injuries and the emotional stress suffered by the community as a result,” Mr O’Brien said.

According to Adelaide University’s Centre for Automotive Safety Research, “black spots” which could be targeted by the cameras include:

WAKEFIELD St, city.

THE PARADE, Norwood

UNLEY Rd, Unley.

PROSPECT Rd, Prospect.

GOODWOOD Rd, various suburbs.

GORGE Rd, Adelaide Hills.

VICTOR Harbor Rd.

PORT Wakefield Rd, various locations.

STURT Hwy – DUKES Hwy.

They also could be erected on expressways such as near the Heysen Tunnels and various locations on the Southern Expressway.

The Centre For Automotive Study said mid-block speed cameras were “very effective” in reducing driver speed and crashes. “They are fixed and signposted so you can put them anywhere on the state’s road network where you have high accident rates and people will know they are there,” centre senior research fellow Dr Jeremy Woolley said.

“So rolling out these new cameras will be an effective way of decreasing the road toll.”

Dr Woolley also highlighted a 2005 evaluation report of fixed mid-block cameras in the UK which found: “Fixed camera sites were more effective at reducing casualties than mobile cameras.”

The state’s largest motoring organisation has also thrown its support behind the Government’s new camera strategy.

The RAA said motorists would appreciate being informed by signs in advance of passing a fixed speed camera. The organisation would be happy to sit down with the police and Government to identify black spots to be targeted by the mid-block cameras.”Our view is speed cameras are a part of the overall road safety strategy,” the RAA’s principal engineer, Peter Tsokas, said.

“And fixed speed cameras have been shown interstate to be effective in reducing speeds, particularly when used in locations which have a history of crashes.”

Once the expected 20 new cameras are installed the total number of fixed and mobile speed detection cameras in SA will reach 115.

The biggest revenue-raising fixed camera is located at the intersection of South Tce and West Tce in the city. Last year motorists caught speeding by the camera were fined a total $1,501,423.

So far this year, 73 people have died on the State’s roads compared with 46 at the same time last year.

A lawyer for independent MP Bob Such has told Adelaide Magistrates Court he wants a hand-held laser made available for independent testing to verify if they are capable of giving incorrect speed readings.

Mr Such is on trial charged with speeding after a motorbike patrol police officer used a hand-held laser gun to clock him at 69 kilometres per hour in a 50 kph zone at Aberfoyle Park.

The MP is challenging the accuracy of the hand-held laser and contesting a $300 fine.

His lawyer Michael Woods told the court the lasers could give incorrect readings if, for example, the beam was aimed at the slanted bonnet of a car or if it reflects off another surface.

Mr Woods told the court the Australian Standards document, with which all officers must comply, specifies the risks of panning or sweeping the laser.

But the prosecution disagreed, saying a laser gun was sophisticated technology and would not give any reading if aimed incorrectly.

Mr Woods said he wanted a copy of the manual and a laser gun for independent testing, requests the manufacturer has repeatedly refused.

The case will be back in court next week.

Michael Woods, for Such, today asked the Adelaide Magistrates Court to consider issuing a subpoena on the laser guns, which he says falsely recorded his client travelling at 69km/h in a 50km/h zone in Aberfoyle Park in 2008.

“They do it (independent testing) in New South Wales, they do it in Queensland, but good old South Australia does not,” Mr Woods said.

He said he wanted a “suitable expert” to do the testing instead of “relying on a so-called expert” presented by the prosecution.

He said he had made “every endeavour” to get access to the laser gun manufacturers instructions but has been denied every time.

Senior Sergeant Fred Wojtasik, prosecuting, said the lasers were “highly sophisticated” pieces of equipment and it was in the “public interest” the technology be protected.

He denied the lasers were capable of giving a false reading as they registered an error code if their operation was in some way obstructed or inconsistent.

The trial, which was due to finish tomorrow, was adjourned to enable the parties to get specific instructions on both the expert’s and the instructions availability.

A MT Barker magistrate has challenged police to prove a speed camera offence – without the photograph.

South Australian Magistrate Clynt Johansen yesterday dismissed the photographic evidence showing Mt Barker resident Kenneth Bulgin was speeding, ruling the reflection from a fence could have caused an inaccurate reading.

In a South Australian first, the burden of proof has now been put on police to prove Mr Bulgin was speeding along Pine Ave in May, 2007 – without the photographic evidence.

Mr Bulgin’s case, if successful, could open the floodgates for all motorists to challenge speed camera fines.

Mr Bulgin, 68, who hired a professional engineer to testify in his defence, has gone to trial to have the speeding fine dismissed.

Under road traffic laws, a photo taken by a speed camera is considered proof of the offence. The defendant must prove he was not speeding.

Staging a defence against speeding fines is usually a costly exercise as the defendant is forced to hire experts to prove his case. If Mr Bulgin, who police alleged was travelling at 71km/h in a 60km/h zone, wins his trial, it will set a precedent that all road users can apply when defending speeding fines in the future.

During the trial, speed detection radar expert Dr Wolfgang Nicholas Garwoli said a speed camera’s accuracy could be affected by radio frequency from power lines, large surface objects and large structures such as bridges.

Mr Johansen agreed that the nearby fence may have affected the speed camera’s reading, and dismissed the speed camera photo as evidence.

“The front fence particularly could cause reflection of the speed camera radar so as to cause an incorrect reading,” Mr Johansen said.

It is believed police will appeal against the decision.

Magistrate Johansen, however, upheld another speed camera photo that Mr Bulgin was trying to have dismissed.

He was photographed driving at an alleged speed of 75km/h along a 60km/h zone in Main Street, Hahndorf.

The trial is continuing.

source: news.com.au/adelaidenow/
ANGRY motorists – some armed with bricks and rocks – are attacking speed camera operators in increasing numbers leading to calls for better police protection.

The public servants are demanding police upgrade their cars with reinforced glass to prevent windows shattering in the event of a missile attack.

It comes after a rash of attacks against the public servants has sparked concern from the Public Services Association about the “health and safety” of its members.

Among the more alarming incidents revealed by the PSA were:

A PROJECTILE fired through the rear window of a car narrowly missing a female operator while she was parked on Main North Rd, Elizabeth and;

A BALACLAVA-wearing assailant hurling a brick through the windscreen of another operator’s car near Mt Gambier in February 2008.

PSA acting general secretary Neville Kitchin wrote to Police Commissioner Mal Hyde last month seeking an “urgent meeting” to discuss the attacks.

“The PSA is concerned for the health and safety of its members conducting traffic camera operations,” he wrote in the April 2 letter.

“A number of incidents have been reported were SAPOL vehicles conducting traffic camera operations have been target by members of the public.

“The PSA considers that the incidents are serious and every measure should be taken to ensure the safety of our members.”

He said the PSA wanted safety film applied to windows to prevent them “being penetrated” by projectiles thrown from passing vehicles.

“It would also improve safety when members of the public attempt to break through the glass by striking the windows with bricks, rocks etc,” he said.

There are up to 40 staff in the Traffic Camera Unit who are deployed across the state to detect speeding motorists.

The details of the attacks come as police figures obtained by the Sunday Mail through Freedom of Information laws reveal operators are reporting increasing levels of abuse and assault.

Figures show there were 59 reported incidents of assault, abuse and threats in 2008, compared to just seven in 2005.

A former camera operator and Traffic Camera Unit supervisor who only gave his first name Ian said operators had been lobbying for protective film “for a long time”.

“I’ve had bottles thrown at me, I’ve had my car rammed and one guy hit me a couple of times and took my windows off,” said Ian, who worked in the unit from 2001 until 2008.

“There should be at least two people (in the car) in more hazardous areas, such as the northern suburbs and southern suburbs or in isolated locations and certainly at night time.”

In an emailed statement Police Minister Michael Wright said any intimidation or assault on Government employees was “totally unacceptable”.

“People need to remember the reasons these cameras are set-up, is to deter drivers from from doing the wrong thing, making our roads safer, and potentially saving lives in the process,” he said.

INCIDENTS AGAINST SPEED CAMERA OPERATORS:

ASSAULTS/THREATS

2005: 0

2006: 0

2007: 2

2008: 8

2009: 1

MISSILE ATTACK

2005: 3

2006: 2

2007: 4

2008: 4

1009: 1

VERBAL ABUSE:

2005: 1

2006: 12

2007: 16

2008: 21

2009: 3

PHOTOS TAKEN OF OPERATOR

2005: 0

2006: 0

2007: 11

2008: 17

2009: 12

Williamstown’s Queen Street has generated a financial windfall.

From January to December 2008, motorists were fined more than $153,000 while speeding along the town’s 50km/hr main stretch.

The country street has been revealed in South Australia’s top 20 speeding hotspots and falls closely behind suburban stretches.

Williamstown police officer, Sgt Brian Dicker, said motorists caught were a mix of locals and those who pass through the town.

“I know locals have been getting caught because they come in and complain,” he said.

Sgt Dicker said regular speed detections in the town have also shown drivers to travel in exc ess of 81km/hr and at times over 100km/hr.

“Any speed above the 50km/hr limit is too fast.”

Factors considered for placing the cameras during weekday afternoons and at weekends at the location include – the number of nearby accidents and reports of dangerous driving.

Sgt Dicker explained, most of the time motorists caught speeding are travelling into Williamstown from Lyndoch.

Meanwhile, Police Minister Michael Wright said these results should send a clear message to motorists.

“If they put their foot down near these speed cameras they will feel the pinch in their hip pocket,” Mr Wright said.

Last year, South Australia had a record low death toll of 99 on its roads.

This year 49 deaths (26 in rural areas) have already occurred, compared with 33 at the same time last year.