NEWS: Radar detectors, police speeding
fine and laser jammer news 2008.
Australia: 650 Bogus Toll Road Photo Tickets
Refunded
 Australian
toll road operator admits 650 were wrongly fined by
photo ticketing cameras.
The operators of an Australian toll road have admitted
to falsely accusing 650 motorists of skipping tolls and
agreed to cancel fines and provide full refunds.
Connector Motorways admitted to problems with the
automated ticketing machines used to catch those eluding
the toll gates in Sydney's Lane Cove Tunnel between
March and August. In a statement issued Wednesday by the
toll operator, thousands of license plate misreads were
blamed on drivers.
"Misreads during this process can be attributed to
non-standard registration plate frames and obstructions
such as tow bars and non-standard numbers," the
statement read. "Misreads were an isolated incident and
confined to (almost 2000) of the 1.7 million motorists
who used the Lane Cove Tunnel in August."
The struggling Lane Cove Tunnel depends on the pricey
citations for revenue as the project is nearly bankrupt.
In May, Moody's reduced its assessment of investments in
the Lane Cove Tunnel to junk bond status. The tunnel had
relied upon measures to create congestion on Epping
Road, a nearby free route, to generate paying traffic.
When these efforts failed to generate the expected
traffic, operators needed to look to other sources to
boost the road's cash flow.
Despite recent efforts of the New South Wales government
to make ticket photographs available online, recipients
of the bogus Lane Cove citations had no access to the
alleged evidence. Those who receive such citations are
presumed guilty unless they are able to prove their own
innocence.
Source: Lane Cove Tunnel bungle as thousands fined
(Sydney Daily Telegraph (Australia), 9/3/2008)
Alcopop and Multanova slugs just a futile excise
 WA NEWS. Paul Murray 1st May 2008, 14:15 WST
It used to be that the two absolutes in life were death
and taxes. These days it seems more about death by
taxes: the new certainty of government. There is a
belief among some politicians that you can change
adverse public behaviour by taxing it out of existence.
Not only is this myth unsubstantiated, but it is
cynically manipulated to enrich governments while giving
the appearance of acting in the public good.
There are two current examples on the Federal and State
levels. From Canberra we have the ramping up of excise
in a bid to stop the abuse by young people of so-called
alcopop drinks. From the Carpenter Government there are
plans for a massive increase in the deployment of speed
cameras and therefore the amount of money they bleed
from drivers.
We hear endless complaints that interest rates are a
blunt instrument to dampen consumption, causing much
pain for little gain. In these two cases, taxation is
even blunter and success more illusory.
Both these initiatives call into question the level of
our stupidity. Any analysis of the scant figures
available shows that to achieve their revenue aims there
has to be virtually no change in the human behaviour
they are designed to affect.
On Saturday, the Rudd Government increased the excise on
alcopops from $39 a litre of pure alcohol to $67. The
effect was to increase the price of drinks like Bacardi
Breezers and Vodka Cruisers by between 30¢ and $1.30 a
bottle.
Health Minister Nicola Roxon has declined to release the
modelling that would show how such a price increase is
likely to affect consumption.
But the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia
says consumption would need to hold up at present rates
for the Government to reap the extra $500 million a year
for four years that it is predicting.
“They must be making the assumption that there’s no
reduction in the volume despite the price going up,”
council spokesman Stephen Riden said. “They’ve either
got bad maths or the health prevention goal is out the
window.”
Ms Roxon’s office has continued to mouth that increasing
the price of alcopops will decrease their attractiveness
to teenagers without providing any evidence.
Common sense tells me a 30¢ increase will not have any
effect —and if it does it will probably only shift them
to a cheaper form of booze.
Probably the best that can be hoped for is that the
extra cash will be used in a feasible preventive health
strategy, to be announced in this month’s Budget.
The parallel with the Carpenter Government’s approach to
speed cameras is interesting. I have no compunction in
calling speeding fines a form of taxation because any
examination of how they work leads to that conclusion.
There is no victim other than the driver when you are
snapped for doing something like 5kmh over the speed
limit. So it is hard to see the fine as a punishment
when there’s been no offence against anyone.
The majority of speed camera fines are for low-speed
offences. They are therefore such a small relative
penalty as to be useless in changing behaviour.
So, in my view at least, speeding penalties have more in
common with a road use fee than a punishment. They are
more of a tax than a fine.
Independent MP Dan Sullivan used Freedom of Information
laws to uncover a report to the Carpenter Government
recommending an increase in the use of speed cameras to
increase revenue from speeding fines by some $200
million a year.
There would be a six-fold increase in speeding fines to
more than two million each year.
But, just like the alcopops strategy, the report by
Monash University academic Max Cameron indicates that
for the associated revenue targets to be reached there
is the assumption of very little change in driver
behaviour.
“This report is conclusive proof that the State
Government is more interested in using speed cameras to
raise revenue rather than reduce the road toll,” Mr
Sullivan concluded.
“It is clear that the Government’s only new speed
enforcement strategy involves increasing the number of
speed cameras in a way that maximises its revenue from
speeding fines.
“The report contains no analysis of the benefits of
increasing the visible presence of police on our roads
or providing better driver education instead of
increasing the reliance on speed cameras, probably
because these strategies cost money rather than raise
it.”
Mr Sullivan noted that the 2006 Monash report stated:
“No crash-based evaluation of WA’s Multanova speed
camera program could be found.”
The report showed the Government was considering
installing 24 speed cameras on the Mitchell and Kwinana
freeways, even though it found a low rate of accidents
on those roads.
“Despite not knowing what effect speed cameras have had
and in the face of a worsening road toll the Government
remains hell-bent on introducing more of the same,” Mr
Sullivan said.
A subsequent report by PA Consulting Group warned the
Government that a big increase in the number of speed
cameras and fines would push the police infringement
processing department to breaking point.
lantes
destroy or damage speed cameras in Maryland and
Somerset, UK.
Maryland, UK Speed Cameras Vandalized, Destroyed
 Vigilantes
destroy or damage speed cameras in Maryland and
Somerset, UK.
Vigilantes have taken action against speed cameras in
Maryland and the UK this month. According to the
Gaithersburg, Maryland Gazette, four Montgomery County
speed cameras have been vandalized in the past several
weeks. Officials would only confirm that a camera
stationed at Georgia Avenue the between King William
Drive and Queen Mary Drive in Olney had suffered damage.
Police learned of the attack on the morning of August 1.
County police prefer to withhold all other facts
regarding the damaged cameras, even going so far as to
refuse to identify the locations of the attacks.
Although media reports of damaged cameras in the US are
rare, at least fourteen attacks have taken place in the
county in the fifteen months since the photo radar
program began.
In June, a red light camera in Santa Maria,
California was attacked. Other recent, reported
incidents involved the shooting of a camera in Tennessee
in November and the smashing of a control box in
California last August. In 2006, the German company
Traffipax had to lock down its speed cameras with chains
after one of the devices was stolen in Girard, Ohio. The
only other reported incident of a camera being bent
happened this January in New South Wales, Australia.
According to a witness, the device had been used "to do
chin ups."
In the UK, Avon and Somerset Police reported
vigilantes burned a speed camera on the A37 Ilchester
Road near Yeovil last Thursday. A burning tire was used
to destroy the £45,000 (US $90,000) automated ticketing
machine.
Source: Four speed cameras vandalized in county
(8/21/2008)
Police grapple with defective detectors
Asher Moses Sydney Morning Herald.
Supposedly high-tech scanners bought by NSW Police
this year to catch motorists with speed radar detectors
installed in their cars are unable to detect models that
are more than two years old, tests have shown.
Earlier this year Police Minister David Campbell
announced 50 highway patrol cars in NSW would be fitted
out with the scanner devices, confusingly dubbed radar
detector detectors (RDDs).
Mr Campbell said the scanners - made by Queensland
company Stealth Micro Systems with the model name
Spectre - would cost police $4000 each.
Motorists caught with a radar detector could be fined
more than $1200 and lose nine demerit points.
However, tests performed by radar detector sellers
and an independent testing body have found that the
Spectre scanners are useless at detecting at least two
models, the Beltronics STI Driver and the newer Escort
Passport 9500ci, which are freely available to buy in
Australia.
Radar detectors were banned from being sold or used
in NSW 21 years ago, but they are still legal for sale
in other states such as Western Australia. That means
police are powerless to stop people from buying them
from online stores interstate, such as radars.com.au.
Police say the use of the detectors encourages
dangerous driving as people could speed without fear of
being caught.
Nick Balgowan, owner of radars.com.au, said the
number of undetectable radar detectors was growing and
even a budget radar detector was electronically much
quieter than models from several years ago.
"All the radar detector manufacturers have the police
scanners so they're working on ways around it all the
time," he said.
Balgowan, who has worked in the industry for 10 years
and has first-hand experience testing the technology,
said the police scanners were designed to detect
electronic noise emitted by the devices. However, the
$800 Beltronics and $2500 Escort models include metal
plates that prevent the noise from leaking out.
Tests conducted by Speed Measurement Laboratories,
which tests radar detectors and related technologies for
manufacturers and law enforcement agencies around the
world, also found that the Beltronics model was
undetectable by the Spectre police scanners.
The Escort 9500ci is based on the same design as the
Beltronics model but includes a built-in police laser
jammer.
The US distributor of the Spectre scanners, Stalker
Radar, admits on its website that the devices are
capable of detecting "all but two" radar detectors.
Further, even non-stealth radar detector models, such
as the $495 Whistler XTR690, could detect the police
scanner long before the motorist was caught because even
the RDDs - which are essentially modified radar
detectors - produced noise, Balgowan said.
The Herald asked NSW Police if it was aware that the
RDDs it uses were not completely effective, and whether
the revelations would undermine its efforts to catch
radar detector users.
The traffic services commander, Chief Superintendent
John Hartley, said: "Our RDD are state of the art and
the software is immediately upgradeable by our supplier
to combat any new radar detectors that are introduced on
the market."
Balgowan, who said he had not received a single
report of a customer being caught by police in more than
two years, dismissed the response as nothing more than
"scare tactics".
"They can upgrade their RDD software to scan more or
wider frequencies when radar detector manufacturers
bring out new radar detectors with mixers on different
frequencies," he said.
"But as some of these designs have either no
detectable emission (microwave or radio waves
essentially) or extremely low emissions, then there is
simply nothing for the police RDD to even look for."
Tuckey loses court speeding challenge
The Western Australian News Paper. 5th July 2008,
6:45 WST
MICHAEL BENNETT
 Controversial
Federal MP Wilson Tuckey has lost his fight to beat a
$150 speeding fine after nearly three hours arguing his
case in Narrogin Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Tuckey, representing himself, tried to persuade the
court that there was no evidence the speed picked up by
a police radar was his.
He was caught travelling in his Holden Commodore SSV8 at
123kmh in a 110kmh zone on Albany Highway near Williams
last September on his way to Frankland with his wife.
He told the court there was no evidence that the radar
equipment was trained on his vehicle.
But Magistrate Elizabeth Hamilton said the only logical
inference was that the radar was trained on Tuckey’s
vehicle.
“Being that no other vehicle was on the road at the
time,” she said. The police officer who issued the fine
told the court that Tuckey became angry and agitated
when she told him he had been pulled over for speeding.
“He said, ‘I’m a member of Parliament’,” Const. Jordana
Leavesley told the court.
She said Tuckey told her his cruise control was set at
“around 110”.
“He evaded the question of what the cruise control was
set at when I asked him later,” she said.
Magistrate Hamilton repeatedly told Tuckey that he had
presented no evidence to the court to prove his
assertion that the radar device was deficient. She said
he must present expert evidence.
“You are in a court of law, not standing in Parliament
making a parliamentary speech,” she said.
Tuckey said his main motivation for bringing the case
was the fact that speeding fines from radars meant the
average person had to prove innocence rather than the
prosecution proving their guilt.
At one stage, he produced a tuning fork and banged it on
the lectern to show how flimsy the testing procedures
were for police radars.
Magistrate Hamilton told him he needed an expert to
prove this.
Tuckey was ordered to pay the $150 fine as well as
$110.20 in court costs. He said he would consider
appealing against the decision.
Outside court, Tuckey said there was more protection in
the law for terrorists than there was for motorists.
“I am very passionate about this and there is absolutely
no doubt that the easiest thing for me to have done was
to pay the fine,” he said.
Multanovas soon to be 24/7 !!
6PR Radio Perth, 26/6/08
Confirmation that the revenue raising Multanova speed
cameras will soon be deployed 24/7. Undoubtedly near
poorly signed speed changes, on hills, bends and other
inappropriate areas.
Hand-held speed detector may not be legal, says
solicitor. Call for police to stop using device
Published: 18/06/2008. The Press and Journal UK
ANOTHER Scottish solicitor and road-traffic expert has
claimed that a speed detection device which has caught
thousands of Scotland’s motorists might not be legal.
Road Traffic Law’s Graham Walker is calling for police
to stop using the Pro Laser III handheld speed meter as
it is not covered by the law for use in Scotland.
Already there have been several challenges to the
device, including an unsuccessful one at Portree
District Court and at Inverness and Fort William sheriff
courts.
According to Mr Walker, the Pro Laser III is not covered
by current legislation allowing speed guns as it has
never been approved by statutory instrument as required
by the current law.
He claims that an approval order was granted, but that
this is not the correct type of secondary legislation
required in law – it is only effective in England – and
therefore evidence from the devices cannot be used to
prosecute drivers in Scotland.
The American-made Pro Laser III works by bouncing a
laser off a vehicle to determine its speed, as opposed
to devices which work by having the car go through an
induction loop or radar beam, the so-called GATSO
cameras.
Glasgow-based lawyer Mr Walker said: “In 1993
legislation was granted that allowed evidence from GATSO
cameras and other fixed devices to be used in evidence.
“However the Pro Laser III works by bouncing a laser off
the vehicle, so first of all there is confusion over
devices like the Pro Laser III being valid – because the
car does not pass through it.
“That may sound like a minor matter, but there’s quite a
distinction.”
Drivers who have lost jobs, mortgages, and even
relationships after convictions that caused them to lose
their licence might have an appeal point and should seek
legal advice as soon as possible said Mr Walker.
A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers
in Scotland said: “It’s a reserved matter. If it’s
passed by the UK Parliament it applies to Scotland, so
when such a statutory instrument is signed it applies to
England, Wales and Scotland.
“We’ve had a lawyer look into this. This claim by Mr
Walker is without base.
“I think what’s happening is that he’s confusing the two
levels of government.
“Mr Walker’s concern is that a statutory instrument has
not been passed in Scotland. It doesn’t have to be when
it’s reserved matters.”
Australia: 1500 Police Officers Believe Main Job
is Revenue Generation
 Herald Sun (Australia), 4/11/2008
Survey shows two-thirds of Victoria, Australia police
believe speed cameras are installed only for profit.
A landmark survey of 3459 police officers in
Victoria, Australia today exposed a disturbing shift in
law enforcement priorities. A total of 42 percent of the
police surveyed by the Herald Sun newspaper believed
their primary mission has become revenue generation.
The shift is seen even more clearly in the attitude
of police toward speed cameras. A mere six percent
believed the government’s assertion that the purpose of
photo enforcement was to reduce traffic fatalities. More
than 70 percent of respondents insisted profit, not
safety, was the true motivation. The state earned A$147
million with 671,063 mobile speed camera fines in the
last fiscal year.
A spokesman for the chief commissioner dismissed the
revenue raising claims by pointing to a government
report that showed significant reductions in the number
of accidents and injuries where speed cameras are used.
In the Herald Sun survey, front line officers criticized
high-ranking police officials for manipulating certain
types of statistics to achieve a public perception of
success.
“Everyone knows that the current crime figures are
incorrect and tweaked by command to ensure the force
looks good,” one officer wrote.
In 2006, the British Medical Journal compared
hospital admission records to UK police statistics to
conclude the police were underreporting the number of
serious injuries from traffic accidents. Experts
suggested that police officers were being coerced to do
this to create the appearance that speed cameras were
responsible for a reduction in serious injuries. The
Herald Sun survey showed officers in Victoria were told
to implement similar practices with respect to major
crimes in Victoria.
“They tell us not to report certain crimes as what
they actually are instead telling us to report them as
lesser crime, so it shows the stats for serious crime
are down,” another officer wrote.
ED: Nothing we haven't all known for a long time!
Story Radar ban plan may scupper 'lifesaver'
By MATT CALMAN - The Dominion Post | Monday, 16 June
2008
A new device that alerts drivers to road hazards has
caught the eye of the Fire Service, but it may be
scuppered by government plans to ban radar detectors.
The Australian Drivers Association intends to roll out
the transmitter in New Zealand. It is compatible with
the 100,000 radar detectors already on the market, after
success with it in Western Australia.
But the benefits of the system could be lost if a
proposal to ban radar detectors proceeds.
The Safety Warning System, a small portable transmitter,
works by sending specific alerts, such as "Emergency
Vehicle Ahead" or "Highway Work Crews Ahead", to any
radar detector that comes within one kilometre.
Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven announced in
December a proposal to ban radar detectors, which could
eventually see drivers fined $150 and slapped with 75
demerit points for using the device.
Mr Duynhoven said the sole reason for radar detectors
was to help drivers "avoid being caught for speeding so
therefore they can speed with confidence".
Australian Drivers Association president Glenn Secco
said the safety warning system could be set up at
schools, in emergency vehicles and at known black spots.
Research and Development team member Keith Whale, of the
Fire Service, said they were interested in the device,
after an approach from Mr Secco, but would wait to see
if the Government banned radar detectors.
They were also testing the device to see if it affected
any of the electrical equipment on their fire engines.
"There's no doubt that the idea offers considerable
value," Mr Whale said. "Anything ... that raises
awareness, makes our passage to the incident safer and
faster."
Mr Secco said radar detectors emitted a mixture of
warnings about speed cameras and a large proportion of
false alarms, which had the effect of slowing drivers
down.
"They tried to ban them in the US with the same premise
that it aids speeding drivers but they couldn't prove
it." A ban on radar detectors would render the safety
warning system useless, he said.
"They're throwing out this technology that slows down
the traffic and saves lives [and is] a privately funded
road safety project.
"There's no doubt this technology saves people's lives."
The implementation of the safety alert system was being
funded by a 5 per cent levy on radar detector sales.
Once transmitters were widespread, the 100,000 people
who used radar detectors in New Zealand would
automatically start getting alerts, he said.
"It basically screams at you to slow down."
Mr Duynhoven said the argument that warning systems
relied on existing radar detectors, was a
"justification" used around the world whenever a country
tried to ban them.
A simple device could be introduced to work with any
warning system at a fraction of the cost of some of the
sophisticated radar detectors on the market, he said.
ED: The police continual spill rhetoric claiming radar
detectors "cause deaths" yet there is no evidence to
support this blatantly false statement. it is a simple
matter to validate how vehicles in a fatal car accident
have been fitted with a radar detector, probably none or
very few. Why? Because radar detector owners are SAFER
drivers. Surely if radar detectors did actually cause
accidents, the police would love to publish this
information, but its not published nor even recorded by
the police as it would expose their own ignorance.
Road safety group criticises radar detector
motion
ABC News. 15/6/08.
The chairman of the Road Safety Council, Grant
Dorrington, says he is disappointed that a company
which profits from the sale of radar detectors can
employ someone to write a Parliamentary motion
espousing their benefits.
A Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) report
tabled during the week revealed that Liberal MP John
McGrath put up a motion that had been written by the
lobbyist Brian Burke designed to sideline plans to
ban radar detectors.
Mr McGrath was cleared of misconduct by the CCC.
Mr Dorrington says the first priority of everyone in
Parliament should be to save lives on the roads.
"The people that are bringing these detectors into
our state are actually paying for people to make
comments in Parliament supporting their views on
road safety," he said.
"That is not right and we have an obligation to
protect the lives of our people, not encourage
people to cheat when they're driving cars at speed."
Mr Dorrington says he finds the action almost
unbelievable and WA is the only state in Australia
where the detectors are still legal.
"The Road Safety Council has recommended to our
minister to get rid of them and yet as I said again,
we find in Parliament that people are paying money
to have their opinions given to try and keep them in
Western Australia," he said.
ED: Of course, if anybody ACTUALLY listened to
Grant Dorrington, we would have cameras at every
intersection, and Multanova on every street.
See the next article to see why this makes NO sense.
There is not a single shred of evidence to support
outlawing radar detectors. The rhetoric that
speed kills is so over hyped. All other statistics
show radar detector owners are safer and more
conscientious drivers! How about poor roads, poor
signage, poor driver training and unsafe driving.
A speed camera does not curb any of these practices
- they actually allow them.
Speeding fines climb to $70m as road deaths soar
Written by Yasmine Phillips
The West Australia news paper
Thursday, June 12, 2008
 Revenue
from speeding drivers caught by Multanovas and
hand-held cameras almost doubled last year to more
than $70 million while the road toll spiralled to an
11-year high, according to figures that have cast
fresh doubt over the State Government's road safety
strategy.
The figures showed the total fines increased by
about 87,000 and that motorists who were caught
driving 10-19km over the speed limit made up the
greatest proportion of infringements, paying fines
of about $37 million.
The statistics, provided in response to Opposition
questions in Parliament, also showed drivers
speeding less than 9kms over the limit accounted for
45 per cent of Multanova fines and 26 per cent of
the revenue.
The Opposition said yesterday the statistics shows
the Government's tactics were failing to have any
meaningful impact on the number of road deaths.
The Government is considering a new strategy that
includes new high-tech speed traps on up to 40
roads. Shadow road safety minister John McGrath said
the figures proved WA's appalling road toll would
not be turned around with another strategy focused
on speed cameras.
"We think a stronger police presence on the roads
would act as a stronger deterrent that whizzing past
a Multanova and getting an infringement three or
four months later," he said.
Opposition Leader Troy Buswell said the statistics
indicated speed cameras were nothing more than a
revenue-raising trap.
Mr McGrath said Multanova revenue rose by almost 47
per cent between 2006 and last year while fines from
hand-held cameras increased by about 83 per cent.
The road toll climbed from 201 in 2006 to 236 last
year.
Police Minister John Kobelke said revenue increases
could be attributed to a tough new penalty system
introduced at the start of last year and Multanovas
being used in regional areas "which mean that the
overall number of images declined, but the hit rate
increase."
Mr Kobelke said the road toll had fallen since Labor
came to power in 2001.
The RAC said WA needed a comprehensive strategy that
addressed speeding and driver behavior as well as
safer roads and vehicles.
Legal Restraint
Michel Foucalt, Biopolitics, Chris Berg, Speeding
Cameras, Binge Drinking.
Laws are restrained by politics, society and culture to
an extent. A law which goes against standard and common
practice will get openly disregarded. In the same that a
law which is too conservative or archaic will be
disobeyed as social and cultural practice increasingly
liberalizes. The laws can be enforced but at great
expenditure of energy. Most police-states end up
consuming so much energy that they require propping up
by some resource (oil for instance) or they represent a
factional interest so exclusively they force the nation
into poverty and ruin (Myanmar).
Biopolitics is the process put forward by Michel
Foucault to describe how modern liberal democracies
protect life through law; whereas before laws protected
against violence. The conservative right to life faction
has ridden this wave and is many respects the most
visible face of this process. However the nanny-state
style policies of protecting people from themselves is
another insidious biopolitical practice. Alcopops is a
very recent example.
As Chris Berg writes trying to establish conventions
through the state that contradict common practice means
the convention is devalued, the institution ignored and
the process brought into disrepute as non-relevant:
It may well be that a third glass of wine
dramatically increases the risk of accident and injury
to the drinker. But what good are the federal
government's new healthy drinking guidelines if they
deviate so far from the norm of usual social drinking
practices?
The principle of self-governance seeks efficiencies
through spontaneous self-organisation with minimal
regulation. This process is accepted economically with a
free-market with minimal state interference. Yet in
other areas governments consistently intrude using
biopolitics, or the protection of life, or protecting
people from themselves, as the validation for it.
This week I was coming home down Route 101 north. It
is a three lane high way that runs up the East Valley of
Phoenix. There is currently a fourth lane being added to
the highway and there are jersey barriers in the left
lanes. Because of this construction the speed limit is
reduced to 55mph.
No-one does it. Not even the police that travel the
101.
The safe speed for this highway is somewhere between
65mph and 75mph. This is what everyone does. Foolishly
on Thursday night rush hour a mobile radar detector was
put on the 101 north. It caused a traffic jam. People
jumped on the brakes, and the free flow of
self-organisation was broken. Whoever did it worked out
it was a bad idea as it was removed the next day.
A study was done in New York where speed limits were
arbitrarily reduced to see what commuter behaviour was.
It turned out the speed limits were ignored and the
traffic continued at the speeds commuters considered
safe and appropriate.
When people see speeding cameras, whether in NSW or
Arizona, they throw the anchors out and pass by the
camera at 5pmh below the speed limit. This is more
dangerous than the free flow of traffic.
[US] federal and state studies have consistently
shown that the drivers most likely to get into accidents
in traffic are those travelling significantly below the
average speed. According to an Institute of
Transportation Engineers Study, those driving 10 mph
slower than the prevailing speed are six times as likely
to be involved in an accident. That means that if the
average speed on an interstate is 70 mph, the person
travelling at 60 mph is far more likely to be involved in
an accident than someone going 70 or even 80 mph.
The local council of Scottsdale has peppered the
north Route 101 from Shea Rd to Scottsdale Rd with
speeding cameras. IN rush hour there are always traffic
jams in that area. Yet the free flowing East Valley 101
from Shea Rd to Warner Rd does not have the same issues.
The difference is that the cameras are causing traffic
jams.
I have driven on the German autobahns. They are not
as open as they used to be, between construction and
local principalities putting speed limits on the
autobahn (to protect life, not enable liberty) means
that much of it is speed limited. As someone from a
country that is speed limited everywhere was that
Germans were very rule oriented in their behaviour; just
general consideration was enough to make the principle
of spontaneous self-organisation safe enough at speeds
of 170 kmh. The other interesting aspect was that people
did the speed they thought as safe and no-one beeped,
hassled or drove at them aggressively for it.
This is what gets lost in the over-regulation of the
biopolitical state.
Multanova photos ‘thrown out’
17th May 2008, 9:15 WST
YASMINE PHILLIPS
Police were so far behind in processing speeding
fines that thousands of Multanova photographs were
thrown out last year rather than being used to issue
fines to offending motorists, the Opposition claimed
yesterday.
Figures supplied by WA Police in response to
questions from the Opposition in Parliament show
that about 28,000 Multanova images were discarded
last year.
Shadow road safety minister John McGrath said the
cancellations proved that police were forced to
discard the photos because of the massive backlog in
processing Multanova fines, which have an average
delay of 53 days.
Police deny that the images were discarded because
of a backlog in processing fines.
The figures also showed that the number of pictures
taken by speed cameras had halved over the past four
years despite steady increases in the number of
Multanovas in use.
Mr McGrath said the declining number of photographs
was further evidence that the system was not coping
and that a parliamentary inquiry was needed to
identify the cause and extent of the problem.
“Are speeding drivers being let off the hook because
police are taking fewer camera shots or throwing
more film into the bin?” he said.
“I think the public needs some answers on Multanovas
and how they work. We don’t expect the police to
tell people the great intricacies but we do need to
be confident that the system is going to work
properly and will pass all tests in terms of
scrutiny.”
Last year, more than 1100 rolls of film, which each
hold an average of 25 photos, were discarded. A
total of 468,000 images were taken, compared with
more than one million four years ago and 708,000 in
2006.
Traffic services Insp. John Vivian said the films
were cancelled because of testing, technical and
operational issues, not because of the backlog in
processing infringements.
He said the implementation of the new speed camera
infringement processing program, CAP Speed, had
presented some difficulties but he expected
improvements as soon as next month.
“Yes, there is a backlog but we are putting out the
number of images as quickly as we can,” Insp. Vivian
said. “We’ve employed more people to address those
issues and we’re slowly bringing it down.”
“The underlying thing behind all this is we do have
strict quality control and if there is an operating
error we will cancel the film.”
He said people were quick to criticise speed cameras
without recognising that the road safety message was
getting through to West Australians.
RAC member advocacy executive manager David Moir,
who has called for a review into the Multanova
program, questioned their use as a deterrent given
the lengthy delays between the time an offence
occurred and the issue of the infringement notice.
“The question is how well is the current enforcement
program working given that the whole purpose of this
is to reduce crashes yet we are seeing the number of
fatal accidents and serious injuries rising in
recent years.”
Police plane catching speeders
 Written
by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
The RCMP traffic plane flies over the intersection
of Highway 16 and Domano Boulevard. (Citizen photo
by Brent Braaten)
There are now speed traps in the skies around Prince
George. For the first time, RCMP are using
planes to catch drivers speeding on local highways
thanks to some lines on the asphalt and some eyes in
the sky.
"The first time they used it a couple of weekends
ago, they caught 50," said RCMP Sgt. Pat McTiernan.
"The air patrols use the lines painted on the
highway plus a time calculation to determine a
driver's rate of speed. A member in a vehicle on the
ground then pulls the driver over when the
information is radioed down from the plane."
The technique has been used in several other
locations of Western Canada.
"We are marking 16 locations throughout North
District," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Gord Flewelling. "We
will be using the plane to identify aggressive
drivers: those who speed, pass on double-solid
lines, and so forth. These zones of focus will be in
our high-crash areas where we really want to improve
the safety of the public."
The lines are painted according to a tested
formula that is accepted in court for its accuracy.
McTiernan said lines had to be painted on straight
stretches "to allow people notice to safely pull
over and stop" when directed to do so by police on
the ground.
McTiernan said one driver caught by the eyes in the
sky did not understand how the process worked. The
driver was sporting a top-of-the-line radar detector
and upon receiving a speeding ticket promptly pulled
the device from the dash and angrily smashed it to
pieces on the pavement, thinking it useless. Police
explained that the rate of speed was not determined
using radar, but simple math in a controlled
environment - all from high above.
The air patrols are so far on stretches of
Highway 97 to the south of the city, but police say
all highways around Prince George will have sections
set for air enforcement in the coming weeks.
Alleged radar detection HQ busted
 The Sydney Morning Herald.
Asher Moses
May 9, 2008 - 3:38PM
A NSW man has been arrested following a raid on a
premises that police say was the headquarters of a
clandestine internet seller of illegal radar detectors.
Detective Senior Constable Michael De-haan, of Bowral
police station, raided the Moss Vale residence this
morning and seized a computer containing "evidence in
relation to the sale and advertising for sale of the
items, and we got one radar detector as well".
The 43-year-old man, Chris Roubis, who operates Graphics
Australia, allegedly sold the Whistler-branded radar
detectors via the website techaustralia com au.
He was charged with offences relating to the sale and
offering for sale of "speed measuring evasion articles"
and will appear before Moss Vale local court in June.
De-haan could not comment on the scale of the operation,
as police were still analysing the seized evidence.
The move shows that, 21 years after radar detectors
were banned from being sold or used in NSW, motorists
are still flouting the law by buying the devices over
the internet.
Despite the NSW ban, radar detectors are still legal
to sell in other states such as Western Australia. That
means police are powerless to stop people from buying
them from online stores based in WA, such as
radars.com.au.
Roubis had attempted to hide the fact that he was
selling the detectors in NSW by saying all products were
"sold and shipped from the USA".
Police say the use of the detectors encourages
dangerous driving as people could speed without fear of
being caught.
Last month, Police Minister David Campbell announced
fifty highway patrol cars in NSW would be fitted out
with high-tech devices capable of uncovering cars fitted
out with radar detectors.
Those caught with one could be fined more than $1000
and lose nine demerit points.
Mr Campbell said the police devices cost $4000 each. The
radar detectors themselves can be bought for less than
$400.
"People who want to break the law by not only
speeding but also installing these illegal devices have
been put on notice," Mr Campbell said.
"I can't understand the logic of these drivers who
want to put their own lives at risk as well as the lives
of their passengers and fellow road users."
Our Comment: Simply by having a radar detector does
not mean you intentionally speed, for the police to make
this comment is ill informed.
NOTE: Chris Roubis continues to falsely claim to be
an authorised reseller, however his web page is clearly
listed on the official list of
unauthorised resellers. He continues to advertise
radar detectors in face of local penalties for doing so.
Our advice to Chris Roubis is that people in glass
houses, on good behavior bonds, should not throw stones.
Police investigations continue. Further investigation of
his web page reveals new terms and conditions that his
page is only to be accessed by "US customers" is that
because all the products are drop shipped from the USA
and to side-step local laws, duties and taxes perhaps?
Roadside speeding fines plummet
Posted Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:14am AEST.
ABC.
New figures show the number of speeding fines issued by
roadside police officers has dropped significantly,
while cameras are catching more drivers than ever
before.
The New South Wales Government statistics show police
issued 202,000 speeding tickets last year - 44 per cent
down on the figure for 2003-2004.
Fines issued through speed cameras are on the increase,
rising to 620,000 last year.
The Traffic Services Commander, Superintendent John
Hartley, says the figures are misleading.
He says although there have been fewer speeding fines
issued by roadside police, the number of overall
infringement notices has risen.
"The number of infringements issued by police generally
over the same period has increased from 480,000 to
540,000 last year," he said.
"So we have more tickets being issued, a huge increase
in breath tests and the fact is, our road toll's the
lowest it's been in 50 years."
But Opposition police spokesman Mike Gallacher says that
is not the point.
"[Drivers] are not getting the message at all and what
it also shows is that the highway patrol is not out
there," he said.
"They're being taken off to do other jobs...
"The highway patrol are the best most effective way to
actually get the message across by being out there on
the streets, so despite what police say, I think the
figures speak for themselves. It's such a substantial
drop."
Superintendent Hartley denies the highway patrol is
losing officers.
Speed camera fine doubts
 Posted
Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:01pm AEST. ABC.
Speed camera accuracy has been questioned in SA.
The South Australian Opposition says an apparent speed
camera glitch means hundreds of motorists may have been
wrongly fined.
An Adelaide man is disputing a speeding fine issued last
January based on evidence from a mobile police camera on
Main North Road, because of contradictory information
about the camera's positioning.
The ABC Stateline program has revealed conflicting
figures from the police and the SA Police Minister that
suggest the camera was in two locations at once.
The Opposition's Iain Evans says a mistake has been made
has called for any wrong charges to be dropped.
"Commonsense says all of the photos taken that day from
that camera are likely to be wrong," he said.
"They all should be reviewed and, if they are wrong,
they all should be withdrawn.
"If people have paid fines or lost demerit points, the
demerit points should be reinstated and the fines
reimbursed."
No speeding fine cover-up, Qld Deputy
Premier says
Posted Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:05am AEST. ABC.
Queensland's Deputy Premier Paul Lucas has admitted to
being busted for speeding but denies reports he
deliberately had his ministerial driver take the blame.
Mr Lucas says his driver paid the fine believing he had
been picked up by a speed camera while driving 71
kilometres in a 60-kilometre zone to Brisbane airport in
April.
But Mr Lucas says in June he discovered he was the one
speeding after viewing a photo.
The Deputy Premier saying there has been no cover-up.
Mr Lucas says he tried to rectify the error with the
police but they would not change it as the fine had been
paid.
"I did all that I could I wrote to them saying, 'please
give me the ticket'," he said.
"I wrote in June to them asking for them for the ticket
but they wouldn't do that - that's their right. They
treat everyone equally but I also have to understand
that as Transport Minister you have to set an example
and that wasn't a good example in speeding.
"Even though it was slightly over the limit it is not
good enough."
Mr Lucas says he did not need to make a public statement
when he realised his driver had incorrectly taken
responsibility for a speeding fine.
He says speeding is a serious offence, but the incident
in question is not a matter of public record.
"We have a demerit point system that takes into account
the fact that people do make mistakes," he said.
"We don't want people to make any mistakes, but that's
what the demerit point system is.
"It's not like some other offences like high-range
speeding where you lose your licence immediately or some
offences where actually go to court and are disqualified
- those are matters of public interest, this is not."
But Queensland Liberal leader Bruce Flegg says it took
three months for Mr Lucas to acknowledge the error and
it shows there is something seriously wrong.
"If it were any other driver protected by an incorrect
statutory declaration, Mr Lucas would want to throw the
book at them," he said.
Mr Lucas has reimbursed his driver for the $100 fine.
Lucas slams media for reporting MP's
traffic violations
Posted Mon Oct 29, 2007 7:31pm AEDT. ABC
Deputy Queensland Premier Paul Lucas has lashed out at
the media for its reporting of an MP's traffic
infringement history.
Premier Anna Bligh sacked Michael Choi as the
parliamentary secretary to the Transport Minister, after
discovering he had received a number of speeding fines
in the past 12 months and has previously had his licence
suspended.
Mr Lucas himself came under scrutiny last month when it
was revealed his driver had paid a speeding fine
incurred when the former transport minister was actually
behind the wheel.
Mr Lucas became agitated when ABC radio's Madonna King
asked him about another MP who was promoted following a
speeding fine.
"Its funny we don't know what the media's history is and
the media has the ability to comment on these issues...
I'm making the point to you that you have the use of the
airwaves and the Courier Mail has the use of the print
medium to talk about people's traffic history, but they
don't talk about their own," he said.
Driver attitudes worry police
Posted Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:47am AEST. ABC
Police say they are amazed at the stupidity and poor
attitude of some of the state's motorists, after four
people were killed on the roads over the Easter long
weekend.
26 people were killed nationally across the same period.
Inspector Rob McCall from the Traffic Support Branch
says more than 11,000 infringement notices were issued
to people who should know better.
"Over the 10,000 mark now for speeding offences, that's
combining both speed camera and infringement notices
issued directly by police. In terms of seatbelts we're
up to 405. For drink driving, which is a concern, 515,"
he said.
Inspector McCall says too many people underestimate the
consequences of drink driving.
"The concern is drivers attitude and we must change that
small percentage of people that continue to drink and
drive," he said.
"They're quite lucky that they have been picked up for
drink driving otherwise could end up with a fatal
consequence or a serious injury to somebody else or
themselves."
He says a 32-year-old Brisbane man had his licence
suspended after allegedly doing 125 kilometres per hour
in a 60 zone.
Inspector McCall says the man received a $700 fine.
"If he had've been involved in a crash he would've ended
up with serious injuries," he said.
"From what I understand he's been issued with
infringement notices and has lost eight points on his
licence and has immediate suspension on his drivers
license."
Police clock motorist at 200 km/h
while on the phone
 ABC News 9/4/08.
Police
in Perth say a motorist was travelling at 203 km/h while
on the phone and under the influence of alcohol. (ABC
TV)
Map: Leeming 6149
Police in Perth say they have caught a motorist
travelling at more than 200 kilometres per hour while
talking on his mobile phone and under the influence of
alcohol.
It is alleged the motorist was travelling at 203 km/h,
in a 100 zone, on Roe Highway in the Perth suburb of
Leeming at 12:45 am.
Police say he was still on the phone when he stopped for
police and appeared to be arguing with his wife.
It is also alleged he had a blood alcohol level in
excess of .05 and was driving without a licence.
The man's vehicle has been seized under the state's
anti-hoon laws.
He is due to appear in court later today.
NOTE: A photographic speed camera would not have
stopped this person until they either crashed or killed
somebody. We highly commend the police for capturing
this reckless driver.
NSW fire-fighters hit with speeding
fines (wow, could I work for the government?)
April 4, 2008. NineMSN
NSW firefighters have been issued with speeding tickets
after rushing to life-threatening emergencies.
The state government's State Debt Recovery Office is
sending infringement notices to the homes of individual
fire truck drivers and then leaving it up to the drivers
to sign statutory declarations or take the matter to
court to avoid paying the fines, News Limited reports.
The State Debt Recovery Office issued one fine even
though the infringements notice clearly identified the
vehicle as being a fire truck.
All infringements by fire brigades vehicles on call
were previously struck off by the Fire Brigades NSW
chief legal officer and police withdrew the penalty.
Now, the infringements are passed on to drivers who
have to prove they were responding to emergencies.
The Fire Brigades Employee Union said it had issued a
directive to its members not to pay the fines.
"It's the government fining itself, then spending a
massive amount of money to sort out that it doesn't need
to pay its own fines," secretary Martin Flynn said.
He said if the government did not fix the problem
members would be advised to drive to road rules when
going to emergencies.
High speed, cut price, vehicles
offered for sale. AS IF.
Yet another magic car. There are many document
instances of police photo camera sending tickets to
vehicle owners who car is obviously not physically
capable of travelling at the alleged speed.
Reacting to news that a local man was arrested for
breaking physics-defying speed barriers, a Scottsdale
car dealer is promoting the fast moving vehicle at a lot
on Hayden Road. Drivers interested in the vehicle that
police say can reach 147 m.p.h. can see it for
themselves. The creative dealer prominently displays the
make of car that astonished even its manufacturer. Smile
for the car dealer!
South Australian speeding ticket for
Briton withdrawn
Thursday March 27, 05:21 PM. Yahoo News.
An Englishman issued a ticket for speeding in the
Adelaide Hills has had the fine withdrawn because he's
never been in Australia.
David Smart, a 65-year-old former surveyor from
Scunthorpe in northern England, was flabbergasted to
receive a speeding ticket from South Australian Police.
ADVERTISEMENT
He was fined $196 for driving 8km/h over the speed limit
in Littlehampton in the Adelaide Hills.
SA Police said they issued Mr Smart the ticket after the
registered owner of the speeding vehicle, Kathryn Julia
Fluin, signed a statutory declaration declaring the
Englishman was driving the car at the time of the
offence.
"I've never been to Australia, which is a wonderful
country I'm sure, and I would love to go there one day,"
Mr Smart told AAP.
"And I've never had a ticket in my life, I'm pleased to
say.
"The woman is obviously mistaken and where she got my
name and address from I have no idea."
After consulting with Scunthorpe police, Mr Smart was
advised not to pay the fine, which originally arrived in
his letterbox last December.
However he received a stern reminder from SA Police,
ordering him to pay up or risk being issued an even
heftier fine.
The fine stated the car was caught speeding at 68km/h in
a 60km/h zone on Adelaide Road, Littlehampton, at 9am on
December 14, 2007.
The fine said Ms Fluin "affirmed in a statutory
declaration that you were the driver of the vehicle at
the time of the alleged offence".
"I went to my local police station and they advised me
against payment because I haven't been there," Mr Smart
said.
"I think if I get caught for speeding I'll have to give
them Kathryn Fluin's name.
SA Police business services director Denis Patriarca
said Mr Smart had been exonerated.
"As the nominated driver has disputed being the driver
of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence, his
expiation notice has been withdrawn and police are
following up with the registered owner," he said.
Ms Fluin, who couldn't be contacted, is likely to be
charged with wilfully making a false statutory
declaration, which carries a maximum penalty of four
years jail.
Montgomery's Finest Won't Pay Fines
By Ernesto Londoño
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 8, 2008; Page A01
Among the thousands of drivers who have been issued $40
fines after being nabbed by Montgomery County's new
speed cameras are scores of county police officers. The
difference is, many of the officers are refusing to pay.
The officers are following the advice of their union,
which says the citations are issued not to the driver
but to the vehicle's owner -- in this case, the county.
That view has rankled Police Chief J. Thomas Manger and
County Council Member Phil Andrews
(D-Gaithersburg-Rockville), who chairs the Public Safety
Committee.
"You can't have one set of laws for police officers and
another one for the rest of the world," Andrews said.
In recent weeks, officers have twice been photographed
speeding past a camera and extending a middle finger, an
act that police supervisors interpreted as a gesture of
defiance. "There is no excuse for that kind of behavior,"
said Andrews, who was briefed on the incidents.
During the last eight months of 2007, the department's
cameras recorded 224 instances in which county police
vehicles were nabbed traveling more than 10 mph over the
speed limit, the department disclosed this week in
response to an inquiry from The Washington Post.
Of those citations, 76 were dismissed after supervisors
determined that officers were responding to calls or had
other valid reasons to exceed the speed limit. Nearly
two-thirds of the remaining 148 fines have not been
paid, including an unspecified number that remain under
investigation, said Lt. Paul Starks, a police spokesman.
He said the number of citations issued to police
employees this year is not yet available.
Officer Mark Zifcak, president of the Fraternal Order of
Police Lodge 35, did not respond to an e-mail and two
phone messages this week seeking comment. In a notice
posted on its Web site, the union advises that "members
should not pay or set court dates for speed camera
citations that are issued to the employer."
Manger is demanding that officers pay the fines, a
request that has met stiff opposition from union leaders
and has been ignored by some sergeants who were asked to
investigate whether officers nabbed by the cameras had a
valid reason to speed.
"We are not above the law," Manger said in an interview.
"It is imperative that the police department hold itself
to the same standards that we're holding the public to."
Officials at the county's fire department, sheriff's
office and four municipal police departments said
employees who have been caught speeding in government
vehicles have paid the fines.
"The only time we don't make them pay the fine is if
they're on an emergency call," Sheriff Raymond M. Kight
said. "We haven't had any resistance at all."
The dispute over the citations is the latest in a series
of confrontations between county police commanders and
the union, which has become increasingly powerful in
recent years.
Leaders of the police union recently filed a grievance
arguing that the citations constitute a change in labor
conditions that the department must negotiate with the
union before implementing.
Some sergeants, who are covered by the union, have
refused to investigate whether infractions occurred when
officers were responding to calls, forcing commanders to
turn to lieutenants, who are not represented by the
union, according to two law enforcement sources who
spoke on condition of anonymity because the cases are
being investigated as personnel matters.
The sources said the cruiser in one of the incidents in
which a vulgar gesture was made was assigned to Michael
Simpson, an officer in Wheaton. One of the sources said
Simpson appears to have been responding to a call in
January when he was traveling at more than 80 mph on
Randolph Road.
Simpson received speed camera citations in November and
December, according to a database of citations obtained
under a public records request.
Simpson did not respond to an e-mail message seeking
comment, and efforts to contact him through the
department's media office were unsuccessful.
Supervisors at the three municipal police departments in
the county that operate speed cameras -- Gaithersburg,
Rockville and Chevy Chase Village -- said employees have
not resisted paying fines.
"We hold them responsible," said Rockville Police Capt.
Bob Rappoport, whose department has received about a
half-dozen citations. "Our officers have paid out of
their own pockets."
Gaithersburg and Rockville officers are not represented
by the same union as county police officers, and the
Chevy Chase Village police do not have a union.
County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who said he received
and paid for a speed camera citation recently, said that
he disagrees with the county police union's position but
that he is confident that Manger will hold his officers
accountable.
Under the law, owners of vehicles, not drivers, are
punished for failure to pay fines. Manger said, however,
that officers who continue to ignore citations might be
disciplined.
Montgomery is the only county in Maryland that is
authorized to use cameras to enforce speed limits, but
legislation is moving through the General Assembly this
year to allow speed cameras statewide.
A bill introduced by Gov. Martin O'Malley's
administration would allow local jurisdictions to use
speed cameras in residential neighborhoods, near schools
and on highways with construction work. The Senate could
vote on the measure as early as next week.
More police speed cameras for Western
Australia.
 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.
Comment: The number of
people who die DAILY in Australia from suicide and
smoking alone is hundreds of times higher than road
fatalities, yet there is no fine, no major advertising
campaign and little media attention to this fact.
Why? Simply there is no way to tax people who are
suicidal and tobacco is already taxed to the hilt.
Spot the hypocrisy?
Unpaid speeding fines are mounting up.
$500m lost in unpaid fines
The Courier Mail. By
Edmund Burke January 12, 2008 11:00pm
ALMOST half a billion dollars in fines are outstanding
as the State Government loses its battle to make people
pay for offences including speeding, running red lights
and littering.
A Sunday Mail investigation has found Queensland's State
Penalties Enforcement Registry is overwhelmed by more
than 1.9 million unpaid fines worth in excess of $462
million.
The Justice Department declined to provide figures for
previous financial years, but a question on notice to
State Parliament in July 2004 revealed Queenslanders
then owed about $200 million in unpaid fines.
That means the debt has more than doubled in just
three-and-a-half years.
Last night, a Justice Department spokesman defended the
Government's tardy collection process: "The Queensland
Government is collecting more money than ever before
from people who refuse to pay fines," he said.
But the body has negotiated repayment plans to recover
just $152 million of the outstanding fines – leaving
more than $300 million unaccounted for.
The outstanding money represents a significant shortfall
in state revenue.
The $462 million bounty could pay for the annual
salaries of 7700 teachers, 9625 police officers, 1540
specialist doctors or 6600 nurses.
It could also cover the cost of 1000 buses, 178 CityCats,
28 state-of-the-art aged care facilities, half of the
new $940 million Sunshine Coast hospital or the entire
Inner Northern Busway project.
RACQ external relations manager Gary Fites said the
Government needed to take the issue more seriously.
"That sort of money makes this important. People can't
feel like they can get away with their speeding fines,"
Mr Fites said.
"That money could pay for a third of the Ipswich
Motorway upgrade. It's just shy of what the Government
invests in the fuel subsidy."
Treasurer Andrew Fraser last night refused to say
whether the Government would renew efforts to retrieve
the fines, but urged offenders to pay up.
"People who have done the wrong thing once shouldn't do
the wrong thing twice," he said.
The State Penalties Enforcement Registry, or SPER, has
powers to retrieve fines for a staggering 34,000
different offences involving agencies such as police,
the courts, state government departments, local
governments, the Electoral Commission and Queensland
Transport. Fines range from speeding to failing to vote
and to wear a bicycle helmet.
SPER also has the power to suspend a fine-defaulter's
driver's licence, or to require employers to deduct
money from pays. It can also order a bank to transfer
money from bank accounts to SPER.
The news of the massive debt comes as Surf Life Saving
Queensland looks into the possibility of giving
lifesavers the power to fine beachgoers who ignore
warnings.
Tougher water restriction penalties and the introduction
of fixed speed cameras will also add to fines.
Speeding fines overwhelmingly headed a Top 20 SPER list
of the most common unpaid fines, with Queenslanders
owing about $150 million for such offences.
Brisbane City Council issued 191,317 fines worth $11.7
million in 2007, mostly for parking offences.
New radar detectors give
speed freaks a rush
As Police Step Up Surveillance, Scofflaw Drivers Fight
Back With a High-Tech Arsenal
By JONATHAN
WELSH, The Wall Street Journal
January 10, 2008; Page D1
Radar detectors, once thought of as relics, are back on
the radar.
As people endure longer commutes and growing traffic
jams, they are increasingly tempted to hit the gas pedal
harder. Police are fighting back with a web of
electronic surveillance, from laser and radar speed
traps to automated cameras that spot speeders and issue
tickets by mail.
To improve their odds, committed speed demons (and
scofflaws) are resorting to a new generation of high-end
radar-detection devices. These gadgets, which include
the $399 Valentine One, the $450 Escort Passport 9500i
and the $450 Bel STi Driver, promise to help drivers
spot and avoid radar and laser speed traps. The new
models, which detect a wide range of radar bands and
lasers, are touted as having better range and more
sensitivity than their predecessors while generating
fewer false alarms.
Some models use global positioning systems, typically
found in navigation devices, to locate other possible
pitfalls. The new $440 Cobra XRS-R9G, for example,
alerts drivers to red-light and speed-sensing cameras,
which are being used in New York; Philadelphia;
Scottsdale, Ariz.; and a growing number of other cities.
Make no mistake: Speeding can be lethal. Though the
devices are legal for passenger cars in most states,
they are frowned on by police officials and safety
groups, who stress that speeding is a destructive habit
that wastes fuel, slows traffic by causing accidents and
costs thousands of motorists their lives each year.
"Radar detectors are used by drivers who intend to
speed, as opposed to drivers who inadvertently speed on
occasion. And speeding is a big safety problem on our
roads," says a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety, a research group funded by the insurance
industry.
Consumer interest in traffic-monitoring systems is
growing as people spend more time in their cars and
travel farther annually than they used to, according to
federal statistics. As growing traffic congestion causes
more delays, some motorists are tempted to make up time
by going faster. Radar-detector companies say their
customers aren't crazed speeders but regular drivers who
feel they have a right to know if they are being
monitored and want extra protection.
"Look, I'm not a kid and I'm not a big speeder, but I
like to be aware when I'm driving," says Barry Lane, 68,
a school administrator from Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., who
has used radar detectors since the 1980s. He says the
devices have helped him on many occasions. A couple of
years ago, for example, his detector chimed just as he
came over the crest of the Delaware Memorial Bridge into
New Jersey. The warning gave him just enough time to
slow down while approaching a well-hidden police speed
trap.
As navigation systems, voice-activated phones and a
range of warning chimes have proliferated in even the
most basic vehicles -- and people have become more
accustomed to interacting with electronic gadgets in
their cars -- devices that warn of police activity have
begun to seem more mainstream.
All these factors have led the radar-detector industry
to experience "a sort of rebirth," says John Larson,
chief executive of Escort Inc., the closely held maker
of the Passport 9500i.
Radar detectors first became popular in the 1970s after
the U.S. adopted a national 55-mile-per-hour speed
limit. Even though the limit helped cut highway deaths
and improve fuel economy, motorists widely flouted the
rule. For many drivers, keeping such a slow pace felt
increasingly frustrating as cars' power, handling and
overall performance improved markedly through the 1980s.
The 55 mph limit was repealed in 1995, and soon after
speed limits began creeping upward state by state,
typically to 65, 70 or 75 mph.
While raising limits was supposed to reduce the number
of lawbreakers, it seems to have had the opposite
effect. Many drivers tend to exceed the limits even when
they are set high. Research indicates the higher limits
resulted in a 35% increase in deaths on rural highways
in the four years after speed limits were raised, the
insurance group says. Vehicles are capable of higher
speeds than ever, and advanced engines, suspensions and
tires make them stable, quiet and easy to drive at high
speeds.
Police and other safety officials say they are
confounded by people's need to speed, because the danger
of driving too fast seems obvious. Speeding was a
contributing factor in 31% of traffic fatalities and
accounted for 13,543 traffic deaths in 2006, the most
recent year for which statistics are available,
according to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. Police say excessive speed makes it
harder for drivers to negotiate turns and maneuver or
stop their vehicles in emergencies.
One problem is that drivers, the broader public and
politicians tend to view speeding as a harmless
infraction that everyone commits occasionally, according
to the Insurance Institute. People are more offended
when drivers run through red lights or drive drunk.
Speeding is also getting more expensive. States and
municipalities that are cash-strapped often use speeding
tickets as a way to generate revenue, and insurers
penalize drivers for moving violations. Virginia, where
radar detectors are illegal, caused a stir last year
when it rolled out "abusive driving fees." While it
applies to a number of moving violations in addition to
speeding, the new rule became widely known as "the
$3,000 speeding ticket" because fines and fees can reach
and even top that amount. Despite the moneymaking
potential, the Virginia State Police say the fees don't
affect the way they enforce traffic laws, and police in
general say they don't enjoy issuing traffic tickets.
"Safety is the bottom line for us, so we want to slow
drivers down because speeding costs lives," says Corinne
Geller, public-relations manager for the Virginia State
Police. Ms. Geller says police there generally don't
"hide" so they can more easily catch speeders. Indeed,
they try to be as visible as possible because "the best
deterrent is a blue-and-gray [police car] in your
rear-view mirror," she says.
Fast drivers face fast
license loss - New Zealand set to ban radar detectors!
 5:00AM
Saturday December 22, 2007. The New Zealand
Herald. By Mathew Dearnaley and Paula Oliver
Drivers face losing their licences faster if
they keep speeding or running red lights in
breach of sweeping new road safety rules.
Neither will they be allowed to use radar
detectors to avoid being caught speeding,
under a package of measures the Government
announced yesterday to cut the road toll to
no more than 300 deaths a year by 2010.
Much of the package is aimed at young
drivers.
It modifies the graduated licensing system,
especially through an extension of the
minimum time for which young drivers must be
supervised at the wheel.
The Government has decided to accept reduced
revenue in general from fines against
motorists in return for prescribing higher
demerit points for those caught speeding or
failing to stop at intersections.
Next year will see a three-tier demerit
scheme of 25, 50 or 75 points - depending on
the seriousness of offending - towards the
100-point threshold at which licences are
suspended for three months.
Drivers also risk having their cars
impounded for exceeding speed limits by more
than 50 per cent, meaning 75km/h in urban
areas, compared with 90km/h now.
Demerits will be higher for all speeding
offences, but the toughest clampdown will be
on drivers running red lights, who will be
slugged with 75 points compared with 20 now.
That should put an extra sting into a
red-light camera trial due to start early
next year at 10 of Auckland's most dangerous
intersections.
Auckland road policing manager Inspector
Heather Wells welcomed the move as "a big
wake up" for drivers who were too blase
about the risk of injuring or killing others
by ignoring red lights.
The minimum time for which people younger
than 25 must stay on learner licences before
graduating to restricted licences will be
doubled to 12 months next year. Such drivers
will face tougher practical tests before
moving up.
Those on restricted licences are in for
considerably lower fines but higher demerit
points for breaching conditions such as bans
on driving without fully licensed
supervisors at night or with passengers.
Their vehicles may also be impounded for 28
days on a second breach of such conditions,
but fines will be slashed from $400 to $100
for each offence.
Even failing to wear a seatbelt will attract
25 demerit points as well as $50 fines.
Radar detectors will become illegal,
attracting fines and demerit points on an
escalating scale in a three-year, phase-out
plan. Those using detectors will initially
face $50 fines and 25 demerit points, rising
to $150 fines and 75 demerit points in the
third year.
Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven
said he was prepared to withstand a
potential backlash by those using detectors
to lessen their chances of being caught.
"My job is to
try to save lives out there on the road - if
people don't like it, tough."
The existing $400 fines for breaches of
restricted licence conditions were not
working, as young drivers often split the
amount with their illegal passengers or
avoided paying amounts which they could not
otherwise afford.
"But demerit points do work because we know
that for these young people, losing their
car is the top thing we can do to them," the
minister said.
Automobile Association spokesman Mike Noon
said the package would go a long way towards
safeguarding young drivers by increasing
supervision requirements at a time when they
were most vulnerable.
He said that a proposal in United Future
leader Peter Dunne's private member's bill
to raise the minimum driving age to 16 would
simply "move the casualty rate out by a
year" without ensuring youngsters had more
practice before taking sole charge of a
vehicle.
Allowing the police to impound vehicles for
repeated licence breaches may also make
parents more vigilant about the behaviour of
young drivers - especially if parents were
the vehicle's owners.
Mr Noon said that although he expected the
ban on radar detectors to "polarise"
motorists, the new strategy of reducing
fines while increasing the chances of
putting offenders off the road should dispel
any criticism of the police for acting as
alleged revenue-gatherers.
Ministry of Transport land safety
legislation manager Leo Mortimer said that
although the 2010 road toll target would be
tough to meet, the new measures would
"certainly give it a good nudge, because we
really want people to change their behaviour".
The Government is also considering in a
separate exercise a zero alcohol tolerance
for drivers under 20.
Editorial: Safety moves
good, but not good enough.
5:00AM Saturday December
29, 2007. The New Zealand Herald.
The Government has lofty aims for the sweeping new
road-safety rules that were released just before
Christmas. Their purpose, said the Transport Minister,
was to slash the road toll to less than 300 deaths a
year by 2010. The size of the task was immediately
evident, given that on the day of the announcement, when
most holiday wheels had yet to turn, the toll for 2007
already stood at 407.
Has the Government come up with a formula that will
reverse this trend in time for the 2010 target to be
achieved? Probably not. Much of what has been prescribed
will help, but the new package is as notable for what is
absent as what is in it. A useful point of comparison is
the police's prescription for meeting the 2010 target.
In 2005, they stressed the need to reduce speed limits
and breath and blood-alcohol limits, introduce demerit
points for all speeding motorists, and improve their
ability to tackle drug-impaired driving.
What have they got? Steps are in train for those driving
under the influence of drugs, and now there are to be
tougher demerit penalties for speeding drivers and new
demerits for seatbelt and intersection offences.
Next year will see a three-tier demerit scheme of 25, 50
or 75 points - depending on the seriousness of the
offending - towards the 100-point threshold at which
licences will be suspended for three months. The
toughest clampdown will be on those running red lights.
That will attract 75 points, compared with 20 now.
All this makes sense. The wider use of demerit points
will be a better deterrent than fines, which do not deal
effectively with repeat offenders. Often, indeed, fines
are not paid, or, in the case of youngsters, come from
the pockets of parents or fellow passengers. The
strategy should also end claims the police act as
revenue collectors.
Young drivers are, quite rightly, a focus of the new
rules. The minimum time for which they must stay on
learner licences before graduating to restricted
licences will be doubled to 12 months. They will also
face tougher practical tests before moving up. This
increases the supervision requirements for vulnerable
young drivers and means, hopefully, that they will be
more skilful behind the wheel. But it steers well clear
of more contentious means of tackling their continued
over-representation in crash statistics.
Missing, for example, is any mention of compulsory
third-party insurance, the lifting of the legal driving
age to 16, or compulsory driver training to a high
standard. All th | 
