Speed camera regs

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Originally Posted by BigBlueOne

People could just follow the road rules and not speed and they wouldn't have any problems. The speed limit is set for a reason. Cops and speed cameras should be hidden to catch the people who speed. People whinge about getting fined when they have broken the rules. It's simple really.

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Problem is one set of rules by the state over-rides another set by the federal govt called ADR's, up until about 2002 or 4 the ADR rules stated your vehicle had to read within +OR - 10% . This meant your speedo could show 100kph but you could be doing anything from 90-110, problem occured when certain state govt's in a pure grab for cash set the tolerance below the 10% level with vic giving fines for 2-3kph over. Now with an average aussie fleet age around 10years old this means about 1/2 the cars on the road are easy targets for revenue raising.
As someone else stated, get pulled over, it stops you speeding/driving dangerously then and there. Get a ticket in the post 2+weeks later helps who?
Our state govt, barry who, has had the brainfart of using the fire fighters to run non urgent abulance jobs, putting response times to fires out the window, why not train the cash gun operators to paramedic level, equip their vehicles to an ambo level and suddenly have a dual detterant and response vehicle at the same time in "high accident zones"??????:)

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Originally Posted by FireFox

If they catch you doing the wrong thing somewhere, does that not mean they are justified in being there. My 2c

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Not necessarily. If they are breaking the law themselves in the process (parked illegally, causing a traffic hazard to others, etc) then no, they are not. Additionally, if they are on private land pointing the radar gun down through the trees at the road, then the landowner has the right to tell them to **** off.

But that aside, I think that nobody here is questioning that speed should be controlled - I think the issue at hand here is that the tactics used by the officers point towards the real motives behind the speed traps in place. Bright liveried police car with officer in visi-vest pointing camera down the road in a high incident area to me points toward a genuine intent to reduce speed and thus accidents in that area. Officers hiding in camo gear in the woods pointing camera out towards a downhill section of road where cars will have the tendency to drift over the posted speed limit smells more of filling the coffers than of any tangible intent to reduce speed in an area.

Its for this reason that the UK government started painting speed cameras flourescent orange rather than battleship grey a few years back - the more conspicuous cameras now actually prevent drivers from speeding in the first place, rather than just mail them a photo in the post a few weeks later.

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Originally Posted by FireFox

If they catch you doing the wrong thing somewhere, does that not mean they are justified in being there. My 2c

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I do, occasionally exceed the speed limit and on as many occasions travel below.
My speed control in the Commodore (daily drive) is excellent but in the Merc. (sunny Sundays only) is appalling. Plus the Commodore over reads by 10%, The Landy is spot on and the Merc is anybody's guess. I often have to adjust to different vehicles.
What I am trying to say is I often go 3km/h above or below the speed limit without the intent. Would it be fair for me to cop a fine for exceeding the speed limit by 4km/h from a hidden camera when for that days travel I had been travelling at the speed limit to the best of my ability.
When I received the fine in the post of an offence I allegedly committed at a location I can't remember where and I'm sure didn't happen, is justice seen to be done?
When driving, if I see a police car, the first thing I do is check my speed.
If the government said "We're having hidden speed traps (and note: these are not operated by the police) to raise revenue through a form of indirect taxing", then, so be it.
But, they wave the road safety flag. There are far better ways to improve road safety. Unfortunately, it involves spending money (employing more police in vehicles) rather than collecting money.
If the government were serious................
but they're only interested in the cash cow.