Police Radar Laser & Speed cameras in Victoria, detectors, jammers, fines

VICTORIAN Police Minister Tim Holding has overturned the Government's longstanding resistance to revealing the locations of speed cameras, listing 2593 potential mobile camera sites statewide.

Despite his predecessor's claim that divulging the locations of mobile speed cameras would undermine their deterrent effect, Mr Holding said yesterday he wanted to reassure motorists the cameras were deployed properly.

But the locations of cameras on a daily basis would not be revealed because motorists should not be encouraged to slow down only at specific locations.

"We believe it's time to move on from the debate about where potential speed cameras can be located and instead focus the debate on the things that we can do as a community to get motorists to slow down," Mr Holding said.

He said more than 30 per cent of serious crashes in Victoria were related to speeding, and the Opposition's policy of encouraging greater tolerance of speeding would lead to more accidents.

Releasing the Victoria Police speed camera manual, which sets out where mobile cameras may be located, Mr Holding said he wanted a "transparent, open and accountable" policy and to show cameras were not put in "sneaky locations".

"This manual puts to bed some of the myths about the deployment of speed cameras," he said.

The manual suggests that speed cameras not be located on downhill sections of road, on bends, or within 200 metres of a change in the speed limit. But exceptions are made for sites with a history of major speed-related crashes, children's crossings and school zones.

Speed camera vehicles are not to be disguised as breakdowns and camera equipment is not to be hidden by posts, rubbish bins or vegetation.

Opposition Leader Robert Doyle said the Government's changed stance demonstrated "breathtaking hypocrisy". He said the Opposition had repeatedly called for the sites to be made public.

"A little more than two years ago, Labor was accusing the Liberal Party of encouraging speeding with this policy, but is today prepared to adopt that policy following a Liberal Party and media campaign," Mr Doyle said.

RACV public policy general manager Ken Ogden applauded the release of the camera sites and said a mix of overt and covert enforcement measures was the right approach for road safety. He said the public would now know where the cameras could be without knowing whether they were functioning on a given day.

"Our view is that enforcement is an important part of road safety but the cameras should be located at sites where there is a speed safety problem," Dr Ogden said.

NSW police alert drivers to the presence of mobile speed cameras with warning signs, and in specific campaigns during holiday periods will alert drivers to speed camera locations.

A NSW police spokeswoman said the warning was considered appropriate because drivers would not necessarily know they had been caught speeding as they would not receive an on-the-spot fine. "A lot of these cameras are placed at black spots where we need people to slow down, and if that's happening, that's a good thing," she said.

Victorian Assistant Commissioner Noel Ashby said police took account of practices interstate, but set policy according to what was best for the state.

"Victorians ought never forget that we are world leaders in road safety," Mr Ashby said. He said the mobile cameras were supported by hand-held radar and mobile radar equipment in rural Victoria.

Mr Ashby denied that releasing mobile camera locations was a response to public pressure.

State speed cameras to be tested (source)

By Jamie Berry, Richard Baker
November 11, 2003

Police have ordered tests on all Victoria's speed cameras after another suspect camera was detected and taken out of operation.

In the latest incident, a fixed camera in the Burnley Tunnel recorded a truck travelling at 174 km/h in an 80 km/h zone on October 23. The Volvo F Series truck has a maximum speed of about 140 km/h.

Last month a fixed speed camera on the Western Ring Road at Deer Park came into question after it recorded a small Datsun sedan, almost 30 years old, travelling at 158 km/h.

Vanessa Bridges doubted her car could travel that fast and paid to get it professionally tested. Mechanics said the car's top speed was 117 km/h.

After that first incident, acting Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) Bob Hastings expressed confidence that there were no problems with the rest of the speed camera network. "There's no evidence to support that any of the other cameras are malfunctioning . . . in any other way," Mr Hastings told reporters last month.

Yesterday Mr Hastings said the latest incident was an embarrassment. "It's embarrassing for everybody," he said. "Technology is technology and I think we have had indications where it doesn't say the right thing."

Mr Hastings said he wanted the community to have confidence in speed enforcement. "Most of our cameras are doing what's required of them and that is detecting speed at the right speed," he said.

All speed cameras in Victoria - including the 65 new red-light/speed cameras now being installed - are to be tested following the latest incident.

RACV public policy manager Ken Ogden said Victorians were disillusioned with speed cameras. "The public disquiet with speed enforcement has to be addressed and the best way to do that is to put the proceeds from speeding fines back into road safety," he said.

Premier Steve Bracks said yesterday that he maintained full confidence in the speed camera system despite revelations about the inaccuracy of the Burnley Tunnel camera.

"The fact that the police verification system found there was an error and have corrected that and not issued a fine is proof that the system is being monitored . . . effectively and well," Mr Bracks said.

He said Victoria was on track to record its lowest road toll in years and his Government would continue to focus on speeding motorists. The state's road toll is 288, compared to 338 at the same time last year.

State Opposition Leader Robert Doyle yesterday said he would not be surprised if motorists launched a class action lawsuit against the Government over inaccurate speed cameras.

"These speed cameras need to be accurate, their readings need to be valid or else the public will completely lose confidence. I think we're already on the way to that," Mr Doyle said.

"This does nothing to prove up what Steve Bracks is saying about speed cameras being about road safety - they are not," he said. "Obviously they're about revenue. Why can't they even get this right?"

Mr Doyle said the Government should reconsider the contract with speed camera operator Tenix, given the recent problems with inaccurate readings.

Victoria's speed camera saga continues (source)

There's enough resentment of speed cameras amongst Australia's motoring community that the saga of Victoria's nightmare over faulty speed cameras hasn't attracted much public sympathy.

In fact, the Government's been left with a whopping bill and a public relations disaster.

Critics say failed technology may have created the problem, but Government mismanagement turned it into a full-blown disaster.

Mick Bunworth reports.

JILL COLGAN: It's a breach of trust that's left Melbourne motorists questioning the very system that is supposed to make their roads safer.

CHRIS DALE, VICTORIAN LAW INSTITUTE: I think where perhaps great amounts of revenue are being derived through speed cameras, there's perhaps an unwillingness to think that modern technology could be defective, but clearly it was.

MICK BUNWORTH: Vanessa Bridges was one of the first to challenge the accuracy of fixed speed cameras on Melbourne's Western Ring Road six months ago.

Vanessa's car was clocked at 158km/h by a fixed camera - a speed she knew was well beyond the 4-cylinder Datsun 120Y which has been putting along for close to 30 years.

After unsuccessfully querying the fine, Vanessa faced a mandatory loss of licence, but rather than trusting the technology she sought another opinion.

VANESSA BRIDGES: We got the car tested not only for the maximum speed it could go, which we found out it could only be 117km/h, but we also did a test on the actual speedometer and we found that when the needle was on 100 the car was actually only doing 90.

This is the fine that I received.

The police still dug their heels in and they said, "Oh, no, no no, the fine still stays.

We're not dropping the fine at all," and I even ended up receiving a letter in the mail saying that, "Oh, yes, the letter of rejection has been accepted and your court date will be advised shortly."

So, it was very stressful and I was basically treated like a criminal, and it was horrible - absolutely horrible.

MICK BUNWORTH: It was only when more motorists complained of inaccurate readings that the cameras were tested and found to be faulty.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Poltech, the company the Government had contracted to supply the cameras, went into administration.

VANESSA BRIDGES: We'll be investigating all legal options against Poltech International, which was contracted by Vic Roads to install, to maintain and to fix the cameras while they were under warranty.

MICK BUNWORTH: But Poltech's administrator says as far as he's aware when the company offered the Victorian Government a maintenance contract it was rejected.

The reason's not clear, but it's not as if money was an issue.

In the previous year, the Government had managed to recoup around $176 million from speed cameras.

STEVE BRACKS, VICTORIAN PREMIER: You can't just sheet home the responsibility onto the operator and say, "Well, you know, it was a delegated responsibility."

I think the Government needs to ensure that there is proper maintenance and to oversee it.

We're talking very large sums of revenue.

MICK BUNWORTH: In the past six months, motorists using other roads - the Citylink tollway and Monash Freeway in particular - have also reported discrepancies.

The Law Institute says the Government's tardiness in dealing with faulty speed cameras would be unacceptable in the commercial world.

CHRIS DALE: Companies every day have to respond far more quickly to product fault and take it upon themselves - a self-imposed plan - to communicate to consumers, recall product and disgorge any monies obtained from those products, and they do so voluntarily and they do so far more speedily.

What we say is that in the total context a 6-month period is a very long time and it's certainly led to a great deal of inconvenience, and in some cases a sustainable loss.

MICK BUNWORTH: The Victorian Government has announced it will reimburse fines paid by 90,000 motorists on the Western Ring Road at a cost of almost $14 million.

It's also established a $6 million fund for motorists seeking compensation for hardship suffered due to incorrect licence cancellation.

CHRIS DALE: As this experience has shown, if things go wrong it's government that gets it in the neck.

MICK BUNWORTH: While the Victorian Government has appointed former Auditor-General Ches Baragwanath to investigate the handling of the Western Ring Road's contract, the RACV says fixed speed cameras need a more permanent watchdog.

DR KEN OGDEN, ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF VICTORIA: This has always been our concern about the accuracy and indeed the deployment of speed cameras, that it's very important that it is seen by the public as being related to road safety, that it's accurate, and that it's not about revenue raising.

MICK BUNWORTH: Like Victoria, the ACT uses fixed Poltech cameras but they're independently certified and calibrated by the CSIRO.

NSW Roads and Traffic Authority took six months to test its fixed cameras, some of which were supplied by Poltech, and says the review turned up no inaccuracies.

Tasmania also has some Poltech fixed speed cameras, but, again, no problems have been reported.

Fixed speed cameras are not used in South Australia or Western Australia.

The RACV's Dr Ken Ogden says transparency is the key.

DR KEN OGDEN: Independent auditing is of course perfectly normal in the private sector with the books being audited.

We would like to see that analogy carried over here so that if somebody has a complaint there's an independent body that they can appeal to.

MICK BUNWORTH: Victorian Premier Steve Bracks declined the 7.30 Report's request for an interview.

The Opposition argues the Government rushed fixed speed cameras into service.

ROBERT DOYLE, VICTORIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Because they wanted these big dollars, they rolled out all of these speed cameras far too early without a proper maintenance schedule, and now they've been caught with a bill of $26 million to pay back motorists who have been unfairly fined.

MICK BUNWORTH: With fixed speed cameras gradually being introduced across Australia, there seems little doubt other jurisdictions will be double-checking their maintenance systems in the wake of Victoria's costly speed camera fiasco.

VANESSA BRIDGES: I think a lot of innocent people will be less trustworthy of these cameras and I - yeah, I think it will take a long while before people regain their confidence again in the camera system.

14/11/2003
VANESSA Bridges was celebrating yesterday - right on the bonnet of the little old Datsun that helped bring down Victoria's speed camera system.

Months after being snapped at an impossible 158km/h in 30-year-old "Charlie", she was told that a $430 speeding fine, which carried eight demerit points and a one-year licence cancellation, had been withdrawn.
"It's just unbelievable," Ms Bridges said. "I'm so stunned at how far it's gone."

In July, Ms Bridges was booked at 41km/h above the speed limit on the Western Ring Rd at Deer Park.

She contested the fine after checks found her car could not go faster than 117km/h.

Two weeks ago, police conceded the camera that nabbed Ms Bridges was faulty.

Now, fines from the state's 47 fixed speed cameras have been frozen after a third malfunctioning camera was detected.

"I think it's a long time coming. They should have withdrawn it ages ago, when we proved the car couldn't do that speed. It's silly," Ms Bridges said.

Victorian Liberals to Scrap Hidden Traps (source)

Robert Doyle

VICTORIA'S hidden speed traps will be scrapped and there will be greater tolerance in the enforcement of speed limits under a future Liberal government, the party's state leader says.

Opposition Leader Robert Doyle pledged to "end Victoria's covert speed camera regime" by making speed camera vehicles identifiable and by publishing the location of speed camera sites.

He also said a future Liberal government would reintroduce the 10 per cent speed zone tolerance whereby drivers caught exceeding the speed limit by up to 10 per cent would not be booked.

Mr Doyle said it was unfair to fine people travelling a few kilometres over the speed limit, "particularly when the equipment cannot be measured that accurately".

"While we want people to slow down, we don't want to slug them unfairly," Mr Doyle said.

"At the moment, the Bracks Government is just collecting revenue, it's not about road safety."

Mr Doyle said highly visible speed camera vehicles were a better deterrent than receiving a fine in the mail one month after speeding.

The Liberals' plan also includes setting up speed cameras at dangerous, not high revenue, sites and rationalising "confusing" speed zones, he said.

Other measures include a plan to establish six driver education centres around the state, setting aside $4 million so learner drivers can receive three professional lessons and a requirement for learners to record 120 hours of driving practice in a log book.

The Liberals would also abolish the CBD and inner suburbs long-term parking tax, which began on January 1 at $400 and will double next year, reinstate the $80 car registration rebate for pensioners and encourage the use of public transport through free park-and-ride car parks at railway stations and bus interchanges.

Victorian Speed Cameras Most Despised (source)

Victorians are distrustful of speed cameras and disdainful of their ability to save lives, a survey released today shows.

Figures from motor insurance company AAMI show 64 per cent of Victorians believe speeding fines are primarily a revenue raising exercise, while 58 per cent of those surveyed indicated they didn't trust the accuracy of the machines. The state ranked first in both categories.

Victorian Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder believes the statistics show people are confused about laws regarding speed cameras.

"There is an awful lot of unknown with the system at the moment and that distrust has been created out of failure of equipment, failure to maintain equipment and a hidden law that no one understands," Mr Mulder said.

"They are also angry about the fact that there have been so many mistakes with speed camera equipment. They have no assurances that it's now operating accurately," he added. In a policy launch last week, the Opposition announced it would, among other things, publish the locations of all speed cameras in Victoria and fix the cameras' tolerance levels at 10 per cent.

In a statement, a spokesman for Victorian TAC Minister John Lenders said drivers put their lives at risk by breaking the speed limit and that it was never safe to speed.

Police declined to comment on the survey, with a spokeswoman saying police normally didn't comment on surveys done by outside bodies.

The new statistics were gleaned from the claims data of the car insurer and a survey of 2,400 people nationwide.

The release of the data follows an Easter holiday period marred by three road deaths in Victoria, and police also caught a P-plate driver travelling at more than 80kph over the speed limit.

"The weekend toll, and our research, suggests Victorians are failing to respect the laws and the value of human life, including their own," AAMI public affairs manager Geoff Hughes said today.

"We have seen drivers of all ages, both on motorcycles and in cars, driving at ridiculous and excessive speeds."

Meanwhile, 29 per cent of Victorian motorists also admit they will "sometimes speed to get to work or home sooner", according to the data.

"Speed cameras and speeding fines clearly have an image problem on Victorian roads," Mr Hughes said.

"But it is still no excuse for speeding and putting lives at risk."

The research also found 17 per cent of Victorian motorists admit to speeding more on country roads, and 11 per cent often sped on local suburban roads and around schools.

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Victoria's speed camera saga continues (source)