Camera ‘cash cow’ but safety slow to improve
Maitland Mercury - 01 February 2008
Sydney - Drivers speeding through Lochinvar paid more than $2.3 million in fines after being caught by a speed camera.
More than 18,600 speeding offences have been captured by the fixed speed camera since it was installed in 2003.
This makes the average fine about $125.
The figures were revealed in NSW Office of State Revenue documents obtained by the Maitland Mercury under Freedom of Information.
But despite the money raised from the Lochinvar speed camera the majority of Maitland schools still do not have flashing lights to indicate to motorists they are entering a 40kmh school zone.
The Government has previously pledged that money raised from speed cameras would be used to help fund the flashing lights.
Hunter MLC Robyn Parker said a survey conducted by her office on Thursday of 33 State primary and secondary schools in Maitland revealed that only two – Ashtonfield Public School and East Maitland Public School – had flashing lights.
Mrs Parker did not dispute the need for the speed camera on the busy section of the New England Highway at Lochinvar, which has been the site of a number of fatalities over the years.
But she said that while the speed camera was a good money spinner for Iemma Government very little of the revenue raised from it was being spent back in the Hunter.
Mrs Parker, who is the State opposition’s parliamentary secretary on education, said the Government’s promise to roll-out flashing lights to 400 schools over four years at a cost of $46 million was not good enough.
“I’m still firmly of the view that the only safe way is for all schools to have flashing lights,” Mrs Parker said.
“Research indicates that flashing lights do slow down traffic.”
Mrs Parker said there were more than 11,000 school zones across NSW and at the rate the government was rolling out the flashing lights it would take more than a century for every school to have them.
Some schools in NSW had become so desperate that their communities were paying for the flashing lights themselves, she said.
But a spokesman for roads minister Eric Roozendaal said the $46.5 million roll-out over four years was a major investment in improving school safety.
Flashing lights technology had been found to be reliable and effective at slowing down motorists, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said that further schools would be selected to have the technology installed throughout 2008 but he was unable to say if any Maitland schools were on the list.
The RTA’s NSW Centre for Road Safety selected school zones for the installation of flashing lights using criteria which includes traffic volumes, crash history, vehicle speeds and pedestrian activity, he said.
The NRMA supports speed cameras in known blackspots.
An NRMA spokesman said the government had installed flashing lights at the first 100 schools and a new round was soon to be introduced.
It was anxious for the new lights to be installed as quickly as possible because it was technology proven to reduce speed, the spokesman said.
But the Government needed to spend more money on road safety including additional highway patrols, he added.
In May 2006, NRMA chief executive Tony Stuart said he hoped the flashing lights would be installed by Christmas.
“If they are going to be able to take revenue from speed cameras and put it back to flashing lights there is no reason why every school can’t have flashing lights within the next year,” Mr Stuart said at the time.
No waiver for 6,000 speeding fines: govt
November 7, 2007
The NSW government says it will not overturn thousands of tickets for speeding on Sydney motorways, despite cancelling a swag of similar tickets incurred in the early days of the Lane Cove Tunnel's operation.
Transport Minister Eric Roozendaal ruled out any mass quashing of 6,425 tickets issued for speeding in or about the Cross City Tunnel and the M5 East Tunnel when the speed limits were temporarily reduced for roadworks.
News Ltd reported that the fines were imposed despite there being no lane closures, witches hats or workers on the road - similar circumstances to those which led to the waiving of the Lane Cove Tunnel fines.
Mr Roozendaal said he would not overturn the penalties.He said just because motorists could not see the workers did not mean maintenance wasn't underway.
"They can be only inches away from the road on the other side of those (tunnel wall) panels," he told reporters.
"The choice for the government is to slow down traffic while we do important maintenance and repair work or to close the tunnels which would inconvenience a lot more motorists."
The minister said he would write to the tunnel operators to ensure the 40 km/h roadwork-related speed limits were used in accordance with guidelines.
He also said any motorists who felt they had been unfairly treated should write to the RTA which could revoke the ticket if they had a proven case.
"Lane Cove was a very special set of circumstances - a large number of drivers caught in a very small period of time on a brand new piece of road infrastructure," Mr Roozendaal said.
In May this year, the government yielded to public pressure to waive 6,028 fines for speeding in the newly opened Lane Cove Tunnel due to a lack of signage.
Angry drivers join speed camera protest
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By CHARLES WOOD
RON FIDLER and Bryce Houston are calling on drivers to join a protest convoy past the controversial St Helena speed camera.
The plan follows revelations the Pacific Highway unit ranks number eight on the State's top 20 speed camera revenue earners.
Figures from the Office of State Revenue show that in the financial year 2006-2007 the camera generated almost $1.2 million revenue. Only speed cameras in the Sydney metropolitan area earned more.
Mr Houston, a South Golden Beach resident who has received three infringement notices from the camera, believes the readings are incorrect and it should be shut down and replaced with another form of speed deterrent.
It's robbing innocent people," he said. |
Mr Houston has joined forces with Mr Fidler, of Coorabell, who is calling for expressions of interest in launching a class action against hundreds of infringement notices.
Mr Houston and Mr Fidler said they are disgruntled with State Member for Ballina Don Page's pledge to press for government intervention over the fines.
If Don doesn't come to Don's party over this, then we'll go to him in protest, Mr Houston said.
Mr Page reported that his inquiries revealed the RTA had checked the camera five times between March 28 and July 2, when most of the claimed discrepancies came to light, and found it to be working accurately.
That prompted NSW Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal to confirm that more than 800 fines would stand.
But Mr Houston and Mr Fidler aren't convinced by the RTA's response. They want motorists to turn out in force on October 20 to stage a mass protest convoy past the St Helena speed camera, at no more than 60kmh.
"We invite people to meet at Ewingsdale Hall at high noon and then head up St Helena", they said.
Mr Houston has paid his first two infringement notices, but plans to fight the third in court.
Ballina man Glenn Massey is also going to court just five days after the planned mobile protest and is facing the possibility of losing his licence.
Mr Fidler continues to receive calls and letters from drivers who claim they've been unfairly fined.
He said when drivers from outside the area saw Ewingsdale on the infringement notice they often didn't realise it was the Byron Bay camera and simply paid the fine.
For information on the convoy or class action call Mr Houston on 6680 5824 or Mr Fidler on 6684 7535.
Sydney - Speeders put tunnel in the money
Sydney Morning Herald - Jordan Baker and Alex Tibbits
August 14, 2007
THE Cross City Tunnel may have been a financial failure for its original owners, but not for the State Government.
On top of a $96 million upfront payment, government agencies have reaped $3.5 million in speeding fines. More than 80 motorists have been clocked at more than 125 kmh since the tunnel opened, according to figures obtained by the Herald under freedom of information laws. But until May not a single motorist had been fined for not paying the toll, having ignored two warning letters.
From its opening in late August 2005 until early June 2007, 26,780 motorists have been booked for speeding in the tunnel. Of those, a fifth were booked when the limit was lowered to 40 kmh or 60 kmh, and 84 were fined for exceeding 125 kmh.
There were 20,848 people billed for exceeding the limit by less than 15 kmh - almost 2000 of them when the limit was reduced to 40 kmh - earning the Office of State Revenue $1.6 million.
The 5269 people caught doing between 15 kmh and 30 kmh over the limit paid $1.3 million.
Road safety experts say drivers are more likely to speed on roads that are not congested. The tunnel is still Sydney's least used tollway, and in 2005-06 it was second only to the Eastern Distributor in the volume of speeding tickets.
The consortium chosen to build the tunnel paid the Roads and Traffic Authority an upfront fee of almost $100 million.
It drew criticism from the former auditor-general Bob Sendt, who said there was no consideration of how the size of the payment could increase costs for motorists. The tunnel went into administration less than 18 months after it opened. It was sold in June to a consortium led by ABN Amro and Leighton Contractors.
Meanwhile, the tunnel's operators have only recently started fining people for failing to pay the toll. Last September the Herald revealed that hundreds of drivers were using the Cross City Tunnel without paying because the operators had not forced a single toll evader to pay.
The RTA only sends infringement notices to toll violators when the motorway company passes on details of motorists who have ignored two warnings.
Freedom-of-information documents reveal that in May no fines had been issued for a failure to pay tolls in the Cross City Tunnel. However, the RTA said the tunnel operators had applied for the required consent, and "motorists are now receiving penalty notices when they fail to pay the toll".
Most of the fines for unpaid tolls were imposed on users of the M4 and M5.
NSW "SMALL PENIS = SPEEDING?"
"Do we really need to bring emasculating sexist man hating drivel into the speeding debate? I don't think so." - Editor PoliceSpeedCameras.info
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Your kidding right?
No, not according to a New South Wales Government advertising campaign that started last night 25th June 07 While it is never explicitly stated, it is clear the latest NSW Roads and Traffic Authority TV campaign which features onlookers wiggling their little fingers as they watch young men drive by — suggests that 'hoons' show off to compensate for their small penis size.
RTA director John Whelan says the
'Speeding: no one thinks big of you' campaign was shaped by findings that young
drivers are becoming desensitised to accident scene images explicitly portrayed
in recent ads. |
“We accept this campaign is controversial, but we must find new ways to make our anti-speeding message sink in,” he says.
“If the road toll is to be reduced further, we must make speeding socially unacceptable."
The ad shows one young man doing a burnout at traffic lights to impress girls, another speeding through a pedestrian crossing and a third fishtailing along a suburban street. In every instance, onlookers waggle their 'pinkie' in a suggestive manner.
The first stage of the $1.9 million campaign was rolled out across the state last night.
Road Law Needs Reform in NSW?
Arguing speeding fines an uphill battle in NSW
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Battling the courts against a speeding fine could save you from paying the hefty fine but not from losing your licence.
Under current laws, a judge can dismiss penalties for driving too fast but the RTA can still deduct points, even if no offence is recorded.
Legal expert Paul Kenny has told Jason Morrison (Radio Programme) it's unfair to drivers and it's not hard to change.
"This can be changed very easily by taking out three words from a particular bit of legislation. It's only the words, 'or found guilty' that we need out of a particular bit of legislation.
"The legislation says 'is convicted, or found guilty of a particular offence'."
