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Schools to get Speed Cameras

Randwick Liberal councillor Robert Belleli (rear of group) wants flashing school warning lights at all school crossings.

Southern Courier - by Cara Davis Thu 19 Apr, 2007

Randwick Liberal councillor Robert Belleli (rear of group) wants flashing school warning lights at all school crossings.

The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) has announced school zone speed cameras will be installed at Avoca Street, Randwick; Botany Road, Rosebery; and Malabar and Bunnerong Road at Maroubra.

Randwick Liberal councillor Robert Belleli has called for the State Government to allocate any increased revenue from the speed cameras to the installation of additional flashing lights in 40 km/h school speed zones.

Cr Belleli said flashing lights were a priority, not revenue-raising speed cameras.

"The residents need to see that ongoing funds from these State government speed cameras are diverted to flashing lights at all school zones first," he said.

An RTA spokesman said fixed speed cameras were an effective road safety tool. An independent report into the effectiveness of the cameras in 2005 revealed they dramatically improved road safety.

"The report found that fatal crashes are reduced by 90 per cent and injury crashes by 20 per cent at sites where speed cameras were installed," he said.

Flashing lights had already been installed in the school zones receiving the speed cameras, the spokesman said, "because they meet a range of criteria for the technology, including traffic volumes, vehicle speed, pedestrian activity and crash history".

Both the flashing lights and speed cameras in school zones were part of a major school zone safety package announced in May last year.

The cost of this package, including installation and maintenance of safety devices like flashing lights, was being funded from school zone speed camera revenue, the spokesman said.

The flashing lights should be installed in "all schools" in the Randwick and Botany Bay areas, Cr Belleli said.

Cr Belleli said he wanted a timetable for the installation of the flashing lights to be revealed.

According to the RTA spokesman, the effectiveness of the flashing lights at 100 NSW schools was currently being evaluated and would be completed by term three of 2007.

New players in former Federal Court judge drama

By Brad Clifton

April 20, 2007

IF MARCUS Einfeld wants to stay out of trouble with the law, there seems to be only one solution - he should have absolutely nothing to do with cars.

The former Federal Court judge appeared in court yesterday where an English academic and a New York-based Australian professor were named as new players in the traffic fine drama engulfing him.

And as Einfeld left the building, his legal dramas continued, with police investigating claims he was not wearing a seatbelt as he was driven away.

Earlier it was alleged in court Tim Oliver, of Derbyshire, England, and Professor Nadine Levick, the director of emergency medicine at a New York hospital, were falsely blamed for driving Einfeld's car when it incurred traffic fines in 1999 and 2003.

Their names now sit alongside that of deceased professor Teresa Brennan, who Einfeld claims was behind the wheel of his car when it was caught by a speed camera last year.

Strike Force Chanter investigators consider Einfeld to be a serial fraudster, alleging he has falsely claimed other people were driving his vehicle on at least three separate occasions to escape traffic fines.

The 68-year-old Woollahra resident faces 14 charges over alleged efforts to avoid paying fines dating back to 1999, when he was a sitting Federal Court judge.

Yesterday, eight months after he allegedly lied on oath in the Downing Centre Local Court while defending a January, 2006, speeding fine, Einfeld made a defiant return to the complex.

But, this time, he let his lawyer do the talking.

Barrister David Campbell SC said the charges would be defended. "There will be pleas of not guilty in each of the matters," he said.

Court papers allege Einfeld made a statutory declaration "falsely nominating Professor N.D. Levick as the driver" of his vehicle when it incurred a traffic fine in September, 1999.

He is also accused of "falsely nominating Tim Oliver of Hampton Court, Derbyshire, England as the driver" of his car, to beat a 2003 fine.

Both incidents pre-date Einfeld's claim last year that a speeding offence committed at Mosman in January, 2006, was the fault of Teresa Brennan.

The Daily Telegraph revealed Ms Brennan died in a road accident in the US in 2003 – three years before the speed camera incident.

Einfeld faces six counts of perverting the course of justice, two counts each of making and using a false instrument, three counts of perjury and one count of hindering police.

The perjury charges relate to statements made on oath by Einfeld last August that Ms Brennan was behind the wheel of his car in January, 2006, and that he was in Forster when the speeding offence occurred.

Following his brief court appearance yesterday, a silent Einfeld negotiated his way through a huge media scrum to a waiting black Honda sedan.

Also appearing in court yesterday was Sydney woman Angela Liati, 55, who is charged with perverting the course of justice and hindering the police investigation into Einfeld.

Einfeld is excused from attending when his case is re-mentioned in June.

Police said last night they were reviewing TV footage of Einfeld leaving the court in a waiting car, which appeared to show that he failed to fasten his seatbelt as the vehicle sped off.

"I don't know about the offences, per se. We're just reviewing the tape to see what, if any, police action will be taken," a police spokesman said.

HOW TO BEAT SPEED CAMERAS By Howard Gipps TV ACA March 13, 2007 AUSTRALIA - Michael Simotas was booked by the police who claim he was driving at 85km/h in a 60km/h zone. Using his car's GPS tracking, he was able to beat the charge. "I knew that I wasn't speeding so I thought why should I cop a fine for something I didn't do. "When I got home I downloaded the data from the unit and played it back on a map. It shows my position heading speed at all times and it shows that I wasn't speeding." The GPS tracking in Michael's car was able to show he was travelling at 59km/h and not 85km/h as claimed by the police. Michael's lawyer Dennis Miralis says the legal victory could set a new precedent. "It will allow people in the future who've got this and who've been charged with speeding offences to really challenge what the police say the speed was," he says. While the type of device used by Michael can cost several thousand dollars and he spent around seven thousand dollars on legal fees, he insists it's money well spent. View Trackstick at Ghostplates.com Sydney's Faulty Speed Cameras Exposed Police Speed Cameras Found Faulty Again. By Dale Paget National Nine News Motorists will have new grounds to challenge speeding tickets after an investigation by National Nine News showed hundreds of defects in Sydney's fixed speed cameras. A four month long National Nine News Investigation found that 568 faults had been discovered during 7,500 accuracy tests on the state's 117 fixed speed cameras. The Roads Traffic Authority claims no motorist was wrongly fined as a result of the faults but speed camera lawyers say the never before released maintenance records will be used to launch new challenges to speeding tickets. The RTA's Fixed Speed Camera Testing Records reveal that the normal operations of cameras were suspended almost 200 times to replace worn road sensors and when speed measuring systems failed, power was cut or there were camera technical problems. Read Full Story... The RTA admits other faults, including flashes that didn't work, image quality issues and camera component problems, happened dozens of times and caused the review and possible withdrawal of speeding offences which had been detected. "It shows we have a very rigorous testing regime," offered the RTA's Alec Brown. "No maintenance issues led to any speed measurement errors in the last year." But lawyer, Dennis Miralis, who makes a living fighting speed camera tickets, says it's the first time the RTA has publicly admitted maintenance issues could cause the withdrawal of speeding tickets. "We are talking about tens of thousands of motorists who are affected by these sorts of problems — motorists which the RTA now are publicly acknowledging could lead to the improper issuing of a ticket and the consideration of the withdrawal of a ticket." "These cameras are not invincible, these cameras are subject to error." The investigation also found that the RTA doesn't routinely compile a list of the camera faults its inspectors discover. Under Freedom of Information laws, National Nine News put in a request for three years of reports on the maintenance and accuracy of speed cameras. We were told by the RTA it would take a staff member 4 years to compile the information and cost $246,000. The request was refused by the RTA's records access unit on the grounds it was an "unreasonable diversion of resources."