It could not happen in NSW: No Way! Thousands of speed tickets are possibly unlawful
Corrupt speed camera company Redflex cops millions in COVID-19 bailout | Auto Expert John Cadogan
Paying a faceless company to pay someone else to babysit a camera and not even have to get out of the car and put down two small signs behind parked cars? Easy. Just wait for the cheques to roll in and for little to no improvement in the road toll.
Agreement means security firm will avoid prosecution for overcharging the government for tagging offenders
The company running NSW mobile speed cameras is a partnership between G4S and Acucensus, which I thought was an acne medication. G4S is a giant security company offering just under sixty grand to its operators to sit in a parked car and pretend not to sleep. Whereas a NSW probationary constable takes in just over $73,000 and costs a lot of money to train and equip. And costs more again for highway patrol.
Transport officials have revealed around a third of mobile speed camera cars may have to be replaced after the NSW government backed down on a controversial decision to remove warning signs.
Key points:
- Forty-seven of the 143 speed camera cars are too small to carry the old warning signs
- Some cars may need to be replaced altogether
- Transport of NSW says it's exploring light-weight signs but they had concerns they could blow away
Earlier this month, the government announced the signs would be reinstalledfrom January 1 next year after they were scrapped in 2020 to change driver behaviour
Warning signs now too big for NSW mobile speed camera cars, Transport for NSW tells budget estimates
Why NSW speed camera sneakiness can’t continue, and isn’t saving lives – COMMENT
A NSW parliamentary inquiry into the rollout of unmarked mobile speed cameras – and the reduced threshold for speeding tickets – starts today. Despite millions of dollars in fines, they have not saved one life. In fact, they have likely ruined many livelihoods
Bizarre detail in $462 red light fine leads to shocking discovery
Receiving an expensive traffic fine in the mail can result in a horrible, sinking feeling.
But for Melbourne man Angelo, that feeling only got worse when he inspected photos taken by the red light camera which had pinged his vehicle with a $462 fine last month.
His family's car had been snapped driving at 2.52am on the other side of the city, where they rarely ventured.
Illegal mobile speed cameras revealed
While the police and private mobile speed camera operators police everything related to speeding, nobody polices their conduct.
Three out of four COVID-19 fines are overdue seven months after the end of the Delta lockdown, with more than 46,000 NSW residents owing $42 million between them.
Revenue NSW figures show police issued nearly 62,000 fines totalling $56.4 million from March 2020 to April 2022 for various breaches of the public health orders to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘People are struggling’: $42 million in unpaid COVID fines after lockdown blitz
A bungled rollout of mobile speed cameras has resulted in motorists in southern NSW avoiding fines in July while those in the state’s north, including parts of Sydney, have been caught out.
The state government has blamed the situation on the company that was awarded a $77 million contract to operate mobile speed cameras in southern NSW being unable to buy enough vehicles due to COVID-19 disruptions.
Labor described the rollout of the new three-year contract as a “massive administrative failure”.
Speed camera bungle: Motorists in NSW’s south escape fines but not in north
Bizarre: Record number of speed fines issued in NSW | 7NEWS
22 May 2022 The number of speed camera fines has doubled in four years, raking in more than $200 million last year, as road safety experts call for a cut in inner-city speed limits.
Data from Revenue NSW shows more than a million speed camera fines totalling $201 million were issued in 2020-21 – double the 479,489 speed camera fines worth $105 million in 2016-17.
And the figure will be even larger this financial year, as more than a million speed camera fines worth $198 million have already been issued in the nine months to March 2022.
Labor’s roads spokesman John Graham said there had been a significant increase in fines for low-range speeding offences up to 10 km/h over the limit.
Graham said the community expected “record” fine revenue to be spent on road safety infrastructure.
Metropolitan Roads Minister Natalie Ward said “every dollar” from speed camera fines went into a fund for road safety infrastructure such as traffic signals, pedestrian crossings and testing and rating child restraints.
“Speed cameras are not about revenue raising, they are one part of our approach to saving lives,” she said.
Greens transport spokeswoman Abigail Boyd said speed camera fines in NSW were no longer about deterring speeding, “they’re about raising revenue”.
“A progressive fine system, tethered to a percentage of a person’s income, would be best equipped to curb the reckless driving of privileged people in fancy cars without unfairly disadvantaging those already doing it tough,” she said.
Fines surge
Speed camera fines in NSW
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said the removal of mobile speed camera warning signs had led to the “record-breaking” increase in speeding fines. The state government this year reintroduced the warning signs, despite warnings from road safety experts the decision would cost lives.
“On any roads which are likely to have lots of pedestrians around ... there is evidence that a 30 km/h speed limit will save lives.”
Ingrid Johnston, Australasian College of Road Safety chief executive
Data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics shows there were 1123 road deaths in Australia in 2021 – compared to 1095 in 2020. Traffic fatalities in NSW dropped to 271 last year from 284 in 2020. Speeding contributes to about 40 per cent of fatalities on NSW roads.
Raphael Grzebieta, emeritus professor at the University of NSW’s Transport and Road Safety Research Centre, accused politicians of ignoring road safety when setting speed limits and making decisions about enforcement.
“Speed limits set throughout Australia are often inappropriately high for the road conditions within which vehicles have to travel,” he said in a submission to the federal government’s 2021 Inquiry into Road Safety.
Speed limits on some inner-city streets could be cut to 30km/h to make roads more appealing to cyclists and pedestrians, the Herald reported earlier this month.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore expressed support for a congestion charge and lowering of speed limits to 40km/h or lower on every street within the City of Sydney’s boundaries.
“Ultimately, we would like to see speeds further reduced, with a target of 30km/h on streets where safety is paramount,” she said. “This limit is consistent with many high-density cities around the world.”
Graham said the state government had a “secret transport plan” to lower speed limits in the city and the bush.
“There might be places where it’s sensible to do this, it won’t be everywhere,” he said. “These decisions should be based on science.”
Speed camera fines hit $200m as experts push for 30km/h limit in city