Speed Cameras & Speeding Fines Blog

Nearly 400 Sydney drivers will have their fines returned and their demerit points wiped out after the Roads and Traffic Authority admitted a faulty camera was randomly photographing cars.

The fixed digital school zone camera on the Kingsway at Miranda took photos of cars outside school zone times, and as a result incorrectly fined drivers for speeding, The Daily Telegraph says.

“Last week the RTA detected a timing error at the school zone speed camera on the Kingsway at Miranda, affecting speeding offences from May 23 to June 11 inclusive,” the RTA said on Friday.

“The timer on the school zone speed camera was out of sync due to a software error, which meant some motorists were being incorrectly detected for speeding.”

There were almost 400 penalty notices, worth about $49,000, issued to motorists during the period the camera was faulty.

“The RTA has asked the State Debt Recovery Office to withdraw the 380 penalties issued to motorists at this location during the time of the error,” the spokeswoman said.

The RTA said it was the first time such an error had taken place, but the technology downfall was similar to a faulty sensor on a camera that recorded incorrect speeds earlier this year.

Yet again more evidence that’s proves people making comments such as “don’t speed and you won’t pay a fine” or “it’s a voluntary tax” need to wake up and realize cameras DO make mistakes, and innocent drivers are being fined. Yes they admitted there was a fault with this one, but what about all the other times when people have claimed they were innocent. What about the 1000′s of drivers complaining about the Wellington Road cameras on Eastlink? How can 100′s of drivers claiming they had their cruise control set at (or below) the limit [and only being fined at that one point] all be wrong?

How much does the government actually cover up with repect to faulty equipment?