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Breaking News - Europe
Speed camera bombing suspect blew off his hands
Thursday May 29, 2008
PARIS - A French postal worker who blew his hands off while holding an explosive device is the chief suspect in last year's bomb attacks on speed cameras, the Paris public prosecutor's office said.
Frederic Rabiller, 29, was rushed to hospital early on Wednesday. Investigators say they think he set up and was the only member of the group which claimed responsibility for the speed camera attacks in the Paris area last year.
They are questioning neighbours and associates to find out if he had any accomplices.French anti-terrorism services had launched an investigation into the self-styled Nationalist Revolutionary Army Faction (FNAR), which said it was behind about a dozen attacks on speed cameras.
"We are leaning towards the hypothesis that the FNAR consisted only of him," Paris prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin told reporters.In the last recorded attempt, explosive experts managed to defuse a device close to the village of Baillet-en-France north of Paris before it exploded. |
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Documents - Australia
Speed Camera Locations available for Australian States
- NEW DOCUMENT - Read a copy of the Victorian Speed Camera Operators Manual obtained under FOI Download - Victorian Speed Camera Manual (PDF Format)
*****REMOVED UNDER THREAT OF LEGAL ACTION from Victorian Dept of Justice*****
Well didn't the feathers fly when we uploaded a copy of this manual on our web site. What is the Victorian Government so worried about? We are in the process of making our own Victorian Speed Camera Manual to help readers understand the issues and possible loop-holes. This way you will be up to speed before you obtain your own copy using FOI legislation for use in court. |
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Speed Camera News - Australia
OUR "HERO OF THE MONTH" AWARD  
Goes to Mr Paul Murray Editor of The West Australian Newspaper for his comments 1st May 08 & 15th May 2008. His comments are a breath of fresh air in the speed camera debate.
Article West Australian - 1st May 08It used to be that the two absolutes in life were death and taxes. These days it seems more about death by taxes: the new certainty of government. There is a belief among some politicians that you can change adverse public behaviour by taxing it out of existence.
Not only is this myth unsubstantiated, but it is cynically manipulated to enrich governments while giving the appearance of acting in the public good.
There are two current examples on the Federal and State levels. From Canberra we have the ramping up of excise in a bid to stop the abuse by young people of so-called alcopop drinks. From the Carpenter Government there are plans for a massive increase in the deployment of speed cameras and therefore the amount of money they bleed from drivers.The parallel with the Carpenter Government’s approach to speed cameras is interesting. I have no compunction in calling speeding fines a form of taxation because any examination of how they work leads to that conclusion. Read the full story... Read the follow up article 15th May 08... |
Multanova photos ‘thrown out’
YASMINE PHILLIPS 17th May 2008,
Western Australia - Police were so far behind in processing speeding fines that thousands of Multanova photographs were thrown out last year rather than being used to issue fines to offending motorists, the Opposition claimed yesterday.
Figures supplied by WA Police in response to questions from the Opposition in Parliament show that about 28,000 Multanova images were discarded last year.
Shadow road safety minister John McGrath said the cancellations proved that police were forced to discard the photos because of the massive backlog in processing Multanova fines, which have an average delay of 53 days.
Police deny that the images were discarded because of a backlog in processing fines.
The figures also showed that the number of pictures taken by speed cameras had halved over the past four years despite steady increases in the number of Multanovas in use. Read more...
Brumby blasted over speed camera income
Victoria - Australia by Ewin Hannan | May 08, 2008
JOHN Brumby has been accused of "reprehensible" revenue-raising over a predicted speeding fine windfall on the yet-to-be opened Eastlink tollway.
The Premier yesterday shifted responsibility for the decision, claiming the Government was acting on advice from the police about the installation of 22 speed cameras along the roadway.
The Australian revealed yesterday that lead-foot drivers on the 48km stretch of road are tipped to deliver a 14.5 per cent jump in speeding fines into Treasury coffers. Revenue from fines is forecast to rise by $62million to $492 million next financial year.
The state Government said the increase was "principally" due to an expected rise in traffic camera and on-the-spot speeding fines arising from the planned opening of Eastlink later this year.
The state's peak motoring body slammed the predicted windfall as reprehensible.
Royal Automobile Club of Victoria general manager public policy Brian Negus yesterday said: "It's a bit tough on the motorists. We certainly believe people should comply with the speed limit but the Government needs to be more active in this area as well."
Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon confirmed that 22 speed cameras would be placed on the tollway.
Ms Nixon urged motorists to keep within the speed limit. Read Full Story...
110 drivers a day have licence suspended
New South Wales motorists are losing their licences at a record rate of 110 a day, because of accumulated traffic and speeding fines.
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 Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws show 40,437 NSW motorists had their licences suspended last year, up from 33,778 in 2006 and a big jump from 16,805 in 2003.
The proliferation of speed cameras is blamed for the surge in suspensions, with fines from fixed cameras almost doubling last year to more than 620,000 issued.
Fully licenced drivers must accumulate more than 12 demerit points before they lose their licence, with all speeding fines carrying a minimum three demerit points.
Peak motoring group NRMA says the rising rate of licence suspension was also a threat to economic productivity, with a recent survey of business showing 23 per cent had workers who were currently off the road.
Some businesses also reported they had fired staff who had lost their ability to drive.
The figures are reported in The Daily Telegraph.
Comments:
This phenomenon is occuring in all states of Australia and is a consequence of the low speed tolerance set before a ticket is issued. In Western Australia the official margin is 1kmh over the limit, which is not even within the tolerance of most vehicle speedometers. Read more - The growing fixed speed camera network bites hard.
PoliceSpeedCameras
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 Leadfoot MP John Della Bosca's speed finewithdraw
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By Kelvin Bissett, Investigations Editor May 26, 2008
ROADS Minister Eric Roozendaal last night denied his sudden decision to cancel 6000 Lane Cove Tunnel roadwork speeding fines last year was due to a ministerial colleague being among those caught.
Documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal a penalty notice for exceeding the temporary 40km/h roadworks limit in the Lane Cove Tunnel was issued to a vehicle registered to an unnamed minister.
But the fine was later withdrawn by Mr Roozendaal - along with 6076 others - after a surprise announcement he was waiving all roadwork fines issued by a fixed camera in the Lane Cove Tunnel between March 25, 2007 and May 30, 2007.
The mysterious fine was revealed in documents released under Freedom of Information that detail the traffic fines issued to ministers since January 1 last year
Read the full story...
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Blame for speeding truckies to be shared
Lisa Carty NSW Political Editor May 25, 2008
EXCLUSIVE
New South Wales - TRUCKIES who speed and take drugs to stay awake will no longer be the scapegoats for big companies setting unrealistic deadlines.
New laws to be introduced in NSW mean businesses sending and receiving goods on the road can also be charged and fined if truckies break speed and fatigue laws.
Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal will extend "chain of responsibility" laws, introduced in 2005 to cover overloading, to ensure all players cop the rap if truckies are pushed beyond their limits.
Read the full story...
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West Gate camera fault kept secret
Clay Lucas
May 23, 2008
Victoria - PREMIER John Brumby said it did not matter if the public had been deceived into thinking that speed cameras on the West Gate Bridge were working — even though they had been switched off for two years.
"I don't see why it matters whether they were or they weren't (operating)," Mr Brumby said. "The fact is that if people believed they were operating and that changed driver behaviour, that's a good thing."
Two banks of speed cameras launched in October 2005 at one of Melbourne's worst traffic blackspots were secretly switched off five months later because they were made unreliable by high winds, it emerged yesterday.
Of 17,000 motorists photographed speeding by the cameras, only 4000 received fines because the images generated were too blurred.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Ken Lay told Fairfax Radio yesterday that police and the State Government had kept the camera malfunction a secret because authorities believed they were an effective deterrent.
The speed cameras were turned off permanently in September 2006, two months before state elections.
Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu asked yesterday if the timing was related to the looming 2006 election.
"Who made the decision to switch off the cameras?" he asked. "Why wasn't it revealed? Was it because it was in that pre-election period?"
Our Comments:
It is astounding that Premier John Brumby finds nothing wrong with deceiving the public in this way. If deceiving the public about this issue is acceptable, what other lies are justified in his eyes? In my opinion, this is woolly thinking in the extreme. |
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The ridiculous focus on "speeding" continues to obscure what should be obvious to everyone - Bad driving kills, so train better drivers!
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Today's Comment
What on earth is wrong with Victorians allowing a State Government to do what they are doing to the general population? A small Australian state with 5 million residents, where 2.86 million warrants and Court orders exist for unpaid speed camera fines and tollway fines. Are Victorians so distracted with football that there civil liberties no longer matter? WAKE-UP!!!
The down side of nabbing the majority of drivers with a speeding fine is the inevitable rise in disqualified drivers and a steady rise in the road toll.
Concern has been raised by both supporters and opponents of speed cameras that the exponential growth in speeding offences detected will lead to a large increase in the number of people disqualified from driving, which causes severe economic consequences for those involved and may also encourage unlicensed (and therefore uninsured) driving.
Come to Victoria - The Speed Camera Mugging State of Australia. "If you come to our state with a drivers licence, we'll make sure you leave without one."
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 Microwave Radar Perimeter Protection - Infrared Perimeter Barriers - Surveillance Cameras - Surveillance Gear - Digital Video Recording Systems
Available in Australia
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Short News Articles
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Do Speed Cameras save lives? Statistics from around the world and Australia suggest not! Why? Because speed cameras target the vast majority of law abiding citizens who travel a few kms over the speed limit, not the true causes of road fatalities! Speed Cameras are "fools gold" for governments looking for a quick fix solution to road deaths, but prove a bonanza for cash strapped governments looking to reduce police manpower and raise revenue. Add to this mix speed detection technology that is inaccurate, low speed tolerance limits and a court system that is blind to these problems and you have a recipe for disaster. |
Road Patrol Cops Replaced by Cameras
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Why do you think speed cameras are so appealing to governments? Simple, speed cameras are cheaper to run than real police. Speed cameras don't ask for pay rises or let off drivers with a warning - Real cops do! It's based on a false economy to save money and raise revenue. What the community gets is a rise in road deaths and a bunch of young road hoons running the streets like a scene out of the movie "Mad Max" Don't believe it? I live in Western Australia where the Police Traffic Branch was amalgamated with the local suburban police stations. So who looks after the streets now? Basically, its a free for all.
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Ghost Plates™
Anti Speed Camera Protection Number Plate Cover
The Editor of The Observer wrote :
If safety were the concern, police cars would prowl our roads, booking people for real speeding, out of sight of cameras, tailgating, road rage, lane weaving and all the unsafe practices which have gone unpunished since cameras became a cheap substitute for a highway patrol
NSW - Almost 90 per cent of speeding fines were for travelling less than 15kmh over the speed limit, which costs three demerit points, or four in school zones. Thus 542,290 fines delivered $50 million into state coffers for such infractions as driving 66kmh in a 60-zone.
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