More speed cameras for WA
Paul Lampathakis
Perth Western Australia January 12, 2008
SPEEDING motorists beware - WA police plan to increase the number of speed and traffic-light cameras by a massive 350 per cent.
Currently, there are 25 Multanovas and 30 red-light cameras in the state. T
he proposal, contained in a police-commissioned consultants' report, says: "... additional cameras are planned (an increase of 350 per cent) to achieve targeted reduction in speed and red-light violations, and hence road-related deaths.''
Police would not reveal whether the plans involved increasing each type of camera by this amount, or both combined.
If the number of each type was increased, it would result in up to 112 speed and 135 traffic-light cameras on the state's roads.
Police confirmed the report had gone to the WA Government for consideration, as part of a "broader approach to road safety.
The report, titled Infringement Management Service Provision, Project Steering Committee 1, said: "(WA Police) is facing a challenge in delivering on its road-safety objectives, as a result of constraints being experienced in its speeding and red-light camera, and traffic-infringement operations.
"(It) currently takes nearly six months to process an infringement, a delay that erodes the effect of cameras on driver behaviour.
"Further, additional cameras are planned (an increase of 350 per cent) to achieve targeted reduction in speed and red-light violations, and hence road-related deaths, placing further strain on the current operation.''
Opposition Leader Paul Omodei said the report showed the Government was on the wrong track because increasing the number of speed cameras had failed to curb road deaths.
Since 2006, Multanova numbers have nearly doubled, from 14 to 25, yet the death toll shot to an 11-year-high of 235 last year, he said.
"If the State Government is planning to go ahead with this, when speed cameras have proven ineffective in reducing the number of people dying on our roads, then the question must be asked, is it more about revenue-raising than road safety?'' Mr Omodei said.
"I have had enough of hearing about mothers, fathers, sons and daughters dying on our roads, while this Government sits on its hands, refuses to take road safety seriously, and then moves down the same failed path of putting in place more speed cameras as a silver-bullet fix.''
He said the Liberal Party wanted a parliamentary inquiry to come up with solutions.
"We want to look at aspects of road safety, from driver training to the condition of our roads and the amount of time police have to spend off the road to do administration work, rather than patrolling,'' he said.
"There is no doubt that we need more police on our roads. I want to see at least a 25 per cent increase in the amount of time spent by police officers on traffic patrol after 2007's shocking road toll.''
He also said that only 21 cameras were operating and only five of those were based in regional areas where many road fatalities occurred.
A spokesman for acting Police Minister Eric Ripper said the plan was "among all the things continuously being considered''.
He denied it was about revenue, saying speed was a direct contributor to the deaths of about 60 people on WA roads every year.
Western Australia Speed Outrage
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Article from:
Speed outrage
Amy McKenna
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Western Australia: SPEED cameras set up on Mandurah Road over the weekend captured more than a thousand speeding motorists in a result that has outraged Peel police. During a total of 11 and a half hours on Saturday a speed camera erected southbound near Lakelands caught 1040 speeding motorists.
The highest speed was clocked at 124km/hr in the 80km/hr zone followed by a motorist at 121km/hr and several between 110 and 120 km/hr.
In two and a half hours on Monday morning, a camera in the same location caught a further 254 motorists exceeding the 80km/hr zone.
The average offender was travelling at 20 to 25km/hr over the speed limit,” Superintendent David Parkinson said.
“There is a severe attitude problem,” he said.
“The thing that amuses me is now we will have people calling it revenue-raising. but the mental capacity and IQ levels of people is that low it’s not funny.
“The answer is don’t speed and you won’t have to put your hand in your pocket.”
Despite the number of crosses marking road deaths in the area motorists seem to take no notice according to Supt. Parkinson.
“Will it stop? No,” he said.
“There were more deaths in the Peel region than anywhere else, so what does that tell you?”
Policespeedcameras Comments: "During a total of 11 and a half hours on Saturday a speed camera erected southbound near Lakelands caught 1040 speeding motorists." That is a ridiculous number of fines. The question is whether the speed limit is set too low for that section of Highway? Obviously it is! People will not stick to a speed limit that is set too low for common sense driving. At least this way we can do away with police childish abuse.
Rider Denies He was Speeding Hoon
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Police turn over Marchesani house and lock him up without bail - Multanova had good pics of his tattoos
Dude, if your going to poke fun at the camera, you got to be smarter than that! |
14th May 2007, The West News
PETA RULE and ALISON BATCHELER
A motorcycle rider allegedly photographed by a multanova making obscene gestures and speeding in a suburban street has had his application for bail refused.
Samson man, Christian Nicola Marchesani, 28, will remain in jail under May 21 when an application for home detention will be considered.
Mr Marchesani was charged on Sunday in relation to stunt riding at speed through a multanova camera in January.
In Fremantle Magistrate's Court today, Mr Marchesani's lawyer told the court that his client would admit to owning a motorbike but disputed that he was the rider depicted in photographs widely broadcast by media on the weekend,
Lawyer David McKenzie said his client claimed the tattoos on the motorcyclist photographed by the multanova differed to his own.
Mr Marchesani did not enter a plea to two counts of reckless driving, two counts of driving without a licence and possessing unlicensed ammunition.
Police allege that on January 27 this year, Mr Marchesani rode a Honda motorcycle past a multanova on South Street in Samson.
Prosecutor Sgt Stephen Thompson said the multanova captured two photographs of the same offender just 23 minutes apart.
The first photograph showed the man sitting on the fuel tank with his legs hanging over the handle bars and travelling at 130kmh in a 60kmh zone.
Sgt Thompson told the court the second photograph showed the same man passing the same multanova 23 minutes later travelling at 88kmh with his legs resting on the fuel tank and making an obscene gesture.
Mr McKenzie said Mr Marchesani had admitted to police that he owned a motorcycle but had made no other admissions.
He made a bail application on behalf of Marchesani and said he was not a flight risk and could provide a substantial surety.
Sgt Thompson opposed the bail application saying public safety was at risk and Mr Marchesani had a record of similar offences.
In refusing bail, Magistrate Peter Michelides said strong similarities between arm tattoos, facial features, the bike helmet and gloves of the accused and those in the speed camera photographs added weight to the likelihood Mr Marchesani was the rider photographed, as police allege.
Four previous bail breaches and a string of previous driving offences which made him a risk to public safety were factors in the decision, Mr Michelides said.
Mr Marchesani was remanded in custody and will reappear in Fremantle Magistrates Court on May 21, following a home detention report.
New speed cameras twice as effective
20th April 2007,
New high-tech speed cameras which could see the number of speeding tickets double are being tested on Perth’s streets as police consider several new models that will also allow speeding motorcyclists to be caught for the first time.
Police advertised a tender last year for cameras that would finally be able to photograph speeding vehicles from behind in an attempt to put an end to the free ride for motorcycles, which have only rear number plates.
But the new cameras, tested on the Mitchell Freeway on Wednesday, could also double the number of cars that are checked because the cameras supplied by one of the leading bidders can detect and photograph vehicles going in both directions.
Cameras supplied by German company Vitronic can take speed measurements across four lanes of traffic in both directions using laser technology which is understood to have been developed for military use.
It can take digital photographs from the front and the rear, which can then be reproduced on the speeding ticket.
While the tender closed in December, police would not comment on the process yesterday and have previously stated they hoped the new cameras would be on the streets by July. They expected the cameras to cost $75,000 each, though it is not known how many will be bought.
Figures released by former police minister Michelle Roberts in 2005 showed police estimated more than 18,000 speeding motorcyclists were photographed by speed cameras each year.
The tickets were all written off until last year when police introduced a companion system which used a video camera next to speed cameras to capture footage of speeding motorcyclists.
State Government plans to force riders to fit front identifiers to their machines have been hampered by researchers who have not been able to come up with a number plate that would suit the many different motorcycle styles.
SEAN COWAN
Police Want Freeway Cameras
Nicole Cox - Sunday Times
September 16, 2006
POLICE are considering permanent speed cameras along the Mitchell and Kwinana freeways to curb speeding-related road deaths.
Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said officers were sourcing infrastructure and digital technology for the system, which could be operating in a year.
The network would start with two or three cameras and expand, Mr O'Callaghan said.
This year, 137 people have died on WA roads -- 24 more than at the same time last year. Thirty-eight fatal crashes have been attributed to speeding and 31 to vehicle occupants not wearing seat belts.
Mr O'Callaghan said the number of complaints about hooning motorists warranted fixed speed cameras.
"I get a lot of complaints about members of the community,'' he said. ``People are sick and tired of it, particularly hoons who just fly along.''
But the RAC criticised the plan, saying freeways were the ``safest pieces of road'' and funding should be directed to high-risk stretches. ``With fixed speed cameras, it seems to be a bit pointless,'' RAC member safety executive manager David Moir said.
"The most effective speed cameras are where the location is a bit unpredictable. Freeways are generally very safe roads compared to the high volume of traffic they carry. Freeways would be a low priority because they are safe pieces of road.''
He said road safety should include highly visible police patrols, clear speed-limit markings on road surfaces and mobile speed-alert trailers.
WA Road Safety Council chairman Grant Dorrington praised fixed speed cameras on freeways. He said it was essential speed and traffic monitoring technology was built into future road designs.
"(Cameras) are there to protect the majority of people who do the right thing,'' he said.
"Unfortunately, there is a percentage of people on the roads who do not listen to education and don't care. Some people won't speed when they are watched.''
The plan comes after Mr O'Callaghan this week quashed a move to make the locations of mobile Multanova speed cameras secret.
"There is a benefit in letting people know,'' he said. ``(But) if people don't behave themselves, we will reconsider.''
Half the state's Multanovas were moved to regional areas last week in an effort to cut the country road toll.
Of this year's road deaths, 78 were in the country and 59 in the metropolitan area.
Two of the eight country speed traps are in Bunbury and Peel to target Mandurah, Busselton, Margaret River and Augusta.
(Editor Police SpeedCameras.info - I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of listening to mindless propaganda from the WA Road Safety Council chairman Grant Dorrington. Labor or Liberal Governements would do better to scrap the Road Safety Council and put the money to better use.)
WA Freeway Cameras? - Victorian Drivers shoot at freeway cameras
Read full article
Police Want Secret Camera Sites
Sunday Times: Exclusive: Joe Spagnolo
September 02, 2006
MOTORISTS will no longer be told the location of the state's 17 mobile Multanova speed cameras under a controversial new proposal by police and the WA Road Safety Council.
Assistant Traffic Commissioner John McRoberts said yesterday that police had no choice but to look at tough new measures in the wake of alarming road-toll figures that showed 128 West Australians died on WA roads this year -- 22 more than at this time in 2005.
Defending police against Opposition claims that not disclosing speed-camera sites was a ploy to add to the $30 million collected from red-light cameras and Multanova fines each year, Mr McRoberts said driver stupidity had forced police to take drastic steps.
``This will generate enormous public debate. Some will be in favour, others will not -- but the challenge I have is to reduce the road toll,'' he said.
``We are doing it for the right reasons. We want to stop people getting killed on our roads and it has nothing to do with revenue raising. Multanova fines are a voluntary tax. If you don't speed, you don't pay.
``Coles and Myer don't announce at the front door that, `The person in the red jacket is a security detective so be careful'. So why should I tell people where speed cameras are so that they speed anywhere but at those locations (where they know the speed cameras are)?''
This week, police gave The Sunday Times figures that painted a disturbing picture of driver stupidity on WA roads.
About 30 of the 128 people who died on WA roads were not wearing seat belts; speed and alcohol were blamed for 35 fatal crashes; 97 crashes were on dry roads; 54 were on straight roads and most crashes occurred in daylight and on Sundays.
Most of the dead were aged 17-24.
According to a Road Safety Council report, nine out of 10 West Australians support the use of Multanovas to detect and fine drivers who speed.
But Opposition road safety spokesman John McGrath said not disclosing the location of cameras would be met with cynicism by the community.
``If they drop the advertising of Multanovas it will be seen as a revenue-raising exercise,'' Mr McGrath said.
``As it is, I don't think the Multanovas are going into the right places. They're being put in areas where there are high traffic volumes rather than in high-risk areas.''
Mr McRoberts hopes to stop disclosing the loaction of the Multanovas by Christmas -- a proposal endorsed by the Road Safety Council this week -- and further discussions will take place with Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan in the next fortnight.
Mr McRoberts said it was a police decision and did not need Government approval.
Premier Alan Carpenter this week implored West Australians to take responsibility for their driving behaviour.
``We can't make people listen. I am asking people to take responsibility. Listen to what's being told,'' he said.
``Look at the tragic deaths that are happening on our roads. Don't be one of them.''
Static Speed Cameras for the first time
May 2006 Static Speed Cameras for the first time in Western Australia - Thanks to the WA Labor Party, we are now to get 32 new static speed cameras it was announced in the state budget this week. The existing red light cameras will be replaced with new dual purpose cameras designed to catch speeding motorists.
Minister for Police John Dorazio |
Police Minister Caught Driving Under Suspension
The Western Australian Minister for Police John Dorazio, after tripling speeding fines this months, was caught red handed driving while under suspension. Its about time some politicians got a taste of their own medicine. Find out why? Read full story... |
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Politicians Gone Mad in WA!
Do politicians have any common sense when it comes to making fair, just, and reasonable laws in this state? No is the answer.
Read Why |
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Catch me if you can!
WANTED: Dead or Alive -The "lunatic" motorcyclist caught doing 243km/h and 219km/h on the Reid Highway last month
Read Full Story. |
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WA Police Irradiate School Kids on their way to school.
Western Australian Police setup speed camera sting outside school zones. Trouble is that the radiation coming from that cone microwave horn is dangerous at those distances. Are they really so short staffed that they need to endanger children's health.
Read Full Story. |
Speed Camera Costs Too High Says Opposition. |
Acting police spokesman Murray Cowper says the Governments decision to allocate five extra Multanova cameras to regional WA will cost police more than $200,000 annually.
Read Full Story. |
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Police and the Road Safety Council are surprised and baffled at the sudden 20% drop in speed camera revenue this year it was reported on the Channel 7 News this week.
Read Full Story. |
State Parliament Question Time
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So what speed camera statistics do the Office of Road Safety take an interest in? I guess the simple answer is "Nothing that will give you ammunition to use against us!"
Read Full Story. |
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Well the Police Department in Western Australia has finally decided to copy our helpful idea and put the speed camera list for the Perth metropolitan area on the internet. Better late than never I suppose.
Read Full Story. |
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PERMANENT speed cameras in the Northbridge tunnel are expected to raise about $20,000 a day by targeting motorists on one of the safest roads in the city.
Read Full Story. |
New pictures of the Western Australia Police "Wheelie Bin" speed camera hidden behind a bus seat. This new camera setup first photographed 2/12/05 setup in Cannington shows the lengths the WA police are now going to, in order to disguise and fool vigilant drivers. Good to see the police are sticking to the moral high ground, even on a down hill slope!
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Police Minister Caught Driving Under Suspension
The Western Australian Minister for Police John Dorazio, after tripling speeding fines this months, was caught red handed driving while under suspension. According to official news Mr. Dorazio was caught by his own ridiculous legislation. |
You see, previously the police had to serve you with a suspension from driving notice before you had to stop driving. But with the huge work load from the plethora of new speed cameras, the onus is now on individuals to make sure they aren't under suspension. Well "Mr. Minister" didn't pay his fines now did he!
Isn't it wonderful when politicians get a taste of their own stupid driver onus laws. Now if Mr. Dorazio can manage a speeding fine under his own new "triple the cost" speeding fines, from one if the 32 new speed cameras, I promise I won't ask Santa for anything this Christmas!
What worries me is why the State Premier didn't sack Mr. Dorazio on the spot. He had to fall on his own sword and resign. Is it the old Labor buddy system at work again?
Huge Penalties in New WA Driver Identification Law
As of today 1st January 2006, Western Australians now have a new road law to contend with.
Vehicle owners unable to identify the driver at the time of an offence (e.g. speed camera and red light offences) will be given a $1200.00 penalty for a first offence and $2400.00 for a repeat offence under the new law. Corporations face a $5000.00 fine if they can't identify the driver.
According to the WA Acting Safety Minister John Dorazio, it is designed to stop hoons like "the unidentified motor cyclist who was clocked on a speed camera travelling at 243km/h on Reid Highway" (see below)
Identify motorcyclists? What, without a front number plate? Mr. Dorazio, there is no logic in that statement what so ever! Why not tell the truth? This new law is aimed at maximizing tax revenue at the expense of civil rights.
This new law, not only claims your GUILTY until proven innocent, but demands a "drivers scalp" or face the biggest traffic fine in Australian legal history.
These penalties are outrageous and a dangerous erosion of our civil rights. It will force honest people to lie to protect themselves from these ridiculously high fines.
The Madman They Can't Catch
06nov05
THIS is the biker police have dubbed a motorcycle madman – clocked twice in one morning at speeds up to 243km/h on a Perth road.
But the high-speed bandit won't have to pay a cent in fines for putting his and other lives at risk.
That's because the State Government has dragged its heels over legislation requiring motorcycles to have a front number plate, according to the R.A.C.
At the moment, rev-head riders cannot be identified in speed camera photographs because motorcycles have only a rear number plate.
The RAC says introducing front number plates is "not rocket science" and has called on the State Government to get its act together on new legislation.
The calls come as the motorcycle madman was clocked at a staggering 243km/h in a 90km/h zone on Reid Highway at 7.15am last month. Two hours later, police believe the same rider was snapped again on Reid Highway, this time doing 219km/h.
"He's a lunatic at that speed, if he hits anything he's a goner," said Sen. Sgt. Carl Fisher. "It is absolutely farcical to think people can do these speeds and not injure or kill themselves and others. These people have small brains and big egos." (Oh that is personal isn't it! He did it to stir you up you silly Hobbitzes!)
Sen. Sgt. Fisher, the officer in charge of the traffic-infringement unit, said he was not surprised by the high speed.
"Nothing the public do on the roads amazes me any more," he said. "People are supposed to be sane and educated, but then you see idiots like this."
So far this year, more than 11,672 motorcyclists have escaped fines and demerit points because their bikes had no front number plate and could not be identified. In 2004, 16,654 escaped penalty.
RAC spokesman David Moir said it was time the State Government made it compulsory for bikes to have a front plate. The issue had been debated for years without any action.
(Anyone think of a camera that takes pictures from behind - Victoria did!)
"It's not rocket science to design a plate that suits a variety of the motorcycles that are on the market," Mr. Moir said. "You only have to take a drive to see the behaviour of motorcyclists shows they have little fear of getting caught speeding."
The WA Office of Road Safety said many road bikes did not have a suitable place to fit a standard metal number plate. It was monitoring a Victorian study that was trialing alternatives such as stickers, decals or rubber-mounted plates that could be fitted to various models.
Police Minister Michelle Roberts denied dragging her heels over the issue, saying WA would be part of a national approach when plate designs were finalised.
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Police "Nuke" School Kids
These speed cameras put out microwave radiation that up close like this, is very bad for your health. What do they think they are doing putting these devices on footpaths with school kids walking past?
If I were a parent, I would take this issue up with the school and the Minister for Police.
Are the police that short staffed that they need to resort to "nuking" our kids? |
133 cars speeding in 75 minutes outside a school
06nov05
(Editor - Up until now the police have not used speed cameras in 40km/h school zones very often because the speed zones are too short to comply with the law. At least that is according to a sergeant in the WA camera section. I guess they amended the law right? Don't bet on it! )
SENIOR police say they are appalled by WA drivers who are speeding through school zones in record numbers.
The problem is so bad that from tomorrow police will launch a two-week anti-speeding blitz outside schools to "hit motorists and hit them hard".
At some WA schools, more than half all passing motorists have been clocked breaking the speed limit.
And police say some road users including parents dropping their children at school are regularly clocked at more than 70km/h in the 40km/h zones.
Senior traffic police Insp. Neil Royle said it was disgraceful that so many motorists were putting young lives in danger.
"They're hopeless, absolutely hopeless," he said. "It's horribly unacceptable so many people are still flogging it on roads their own children are using.
"A school zone is only 50m of carriage way and speeding is only going to save you a few seconds of travel time. It doesn't make any sense."
Insp. Royle said police would go all out to catch offending motorists in the blitz.
"We're going to hit motorists and hit them hard," he said.
He warned motorists to forget suggestions that the blitz was deliberate revenue raising.
"Paying for fines is cheaper than paying for coffins," Insp. Royle said. "When it comes to school zones and kids' lives, most motorists would agree it serves you right if you're fined for speeding.
"We're not here to raise revenue, we're here to save lives."
On Friday morning, a police speed camera nabbed 133 motorists in 75 minutes at a school zone on Scarborough Beach Rd.
School traffic warden Alan Heathwaite said the road was often "like being at Bathurst".
"They come screaming through here, the speeds some of them do are bloody ridiculous," Mr. Heathwaite said.
"Police need to get out here because obviously kids' lives are at risk. It's only lucky someone hasn't been killed here already."
Police say other school-zone speeding hot spots are Embleton, Jolimont and Guildford.
Earlier this year, 347 vehicles were caught speeding through a 40km/h zone on Scarborough Beach Rd. between 2.30pm and 4pm.
This was a staggering 65 per cent of all passing traffic.
Speed cameras netted 260 lead foots outside the school two days later accounting for 57 per cent of all traffic on the road.
"Scarborough is hugely over the limit all the time," Insp. Royle said.
"It's right next to the police station and (drivers) are still rattling down the road at speed."
A total of 355 motorists were caught in Guildford during a morning blitz and 342 were fined in Wembley, also during the last dedicated school-zone campaign earlier this year.
