Television News & Videos
Cop speaks out about speed cameras
Reporter: Andrew Bourke
Broadcast Date: May 03, 2007
Over the years, police have defended speed cameras insisting they are used to prevent deaths on the road but one cop is speaking out against them.
If you have ever had the suspicion speed cameras were just cash cows for the government, then Amy Pridham may well be the whistleblower you have been waiting for.
"Nothing is done by the book or how it should be done," she claimed.
She is a former police officer and is dirty on the force for using speed cameras to fill government coffers.
"It would generally be a sergeant and they would say 'Amy you've only got six traffic infringement notices in the last 4 months, you need to get more'," she alleged.
Amy alleges she was encouraged to add to the $20,000 speed cameras make a day, which is more than $7 million a year.
She claims speed cameras were set up at sure thing infringement hot spots, not necessarily dangerous black spots.
"It's a pretty simple piece of machinery to use but when it all boils down to it to be able to prove something in court is completely different to being able to press a button and know something works," she said.
Amy's former boss, Head of Traffic Superintendent Tony Rankin defends the current system.
"There are processes in place, people are trained to use speed detection devices and the expectation they will use them in accordance with that training," he said.
"If Amy has information and wants to talk to me about it or anybody else about it, so that it can be fully investigated, were willing to do that."
Amy has since moved on with her life, insisting she is not bitter about her time in the force.
"I don't know where the funding is going from all these infringements," she said.
"It's definitely not going where it should be going to train the police officers to do the things that need to be done."
Cop speaks out about speed cameras
A Victoria's Speed Camera Saga: Inaccurate cameras catch safe drivers
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There's enough resentment of speed cameras amongst Australia's motoring community that the saga of Victoria's nightmare over faulty speed cameras hasn't attracted much public sympathy.
In fact, the Government's been left with a whopping bill and a public relations disaster.
Critics say failed technology may have created the problem, but Government mismanagement turned it into a full-blown disaster. RealPlayer
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ROBERT DOYLE, VICTORIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Because they wanted these big dollars, they rolled out all of these speed cameras far too early without a proper maintenance schedule, and now they've been caught with a bill of $26 million to pay back motorists who have been unfairly fined.
MICK BUNWORTH: With fixed speed cameras gradually being introduced across Australia, there seems little doubt other jurisdictions will be double-checking their maintenance systems in the wake of Victoria's costly speed camera fiasco.
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ABC 7.30 Report 2nd June 2004 - Speed Cameras: Victoria's Speed Camera Disaster Costs Drivers Millions.
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The Victorian Government's been left with a whopping bill and a public relations disaster after mismanagement and failed technology turned into a full-blown disaster.
Vanessa Bridges was one of the first to challenge the accuracy of fixed speed cameras on Melbourne's Western Ring Road six months ago. Vanessa's car was clocked at 158km/h by a fixed camera - a speed she knew was well beyond the 4-cylinder Datsun 120Y which has been putting along for close to 30 years. After unsuccessfully querying the fine, Vanessa faced a mandatory loss of licence, but rather than trusting the technology she sought another opinion.
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VANESSA BRIDGES:"We got the car tested not only for the maximum speed it could go, which we found out it could only be 117km/h, but we also did a test on the actual speedometer and we found that when the needle was on 100 the car was actually only doing 90. The police still dug their heels in and they said, "Oh, no, no no, the fine still stays. |
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The police were not dropping the fine at all," and I even ended up receiving a letter in the mail saying that, "Oh, yes, the letter of rejection has been accepted and your court date will be advised shortly."
So, it was very stressful and I was basically treated like a criminal, and it was horrible - absolutely horrible.
It was only when more motorists complained of inaccurate readings that the cameras were tested and found to be faulty. As if that wasn't bad enough, Poltech, the company the Government had contracted to supply the cameras, went into administration.
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In the previous year, the Government had managed to recoup around $176 million from speed cameras fines.
In the past six months, motorists using other roads - the Citylink tollway and Monash Freeway in particular - have also reported discrepancies.
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The Law Institute says the Government's tardiness in dealing with faulty speed cameras would be unacceptable in the commercial world.
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The Victorian Government has announced it will reimburse fines paid by 90,000 motorists on the Western Ring Road at a cost of almost $14 million.
It's also established a $6 million fund for motorists seeking compensation for hardship suffered due to incorrect licence cancellation.
DR KEN OGDEN, ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF VICTORIA: "This has always been our concern about the accuracy and indeed the deployment of speed cameras, that it's very important that it is seen by the public as being related to road safety, that it's accurate, and that it's not about revenue raising.
NSW Roads and Traffic Authority took six months to test its fixed cameras, some of which were supplied by Poltech, and says the review turned up no inaccuracies. (Yeah right! - Who wants a scandal like Victoria's I wonder who did the testing?)
The RACV's Dr Ken Ogden says transparency is the key.
DR KEN OGDEN: Independent auditing is of course perfectly normal in the private sector with the books being audited. We would like to see that analogy carried over here so that if somebody has a complaint there's an independent body that they can appeal to.
MICK BUNWORTH: Like Victoria, the ACT uses fixed Poltech cameras but they're independently certified and calabrated by the CSIRO.
The Opposition argues the Government rushed fixed speed cameras into service.
ROBERT DOYLE, VICTORIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: Because they wanted these big dollars, they rolled out all of these speed cameras far too early without a proper maintenance schedule, and now they've been caught with a bill of $26 million to pay back motorists who have been unfairly fined.
MICK BUNWORTH: With fixed speed cameras gradually being introduced across Australia, there seems little doubt other jurisdictions will be double-checking their maintenance systems in the wake of Victoria's costly speed camera fiasco.
VANESSA BRIDGES: I think a lot of innocent people will be less trustworthy of these cameras and I - yeah, I think it will take a long while before people regain their confidence again in the camera system.
Your Only Defence is the Protector Number Plate Cover that will defeat faulty over-head speed cameras - Available from
www.GhostPlates.com
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