FIGURES OBTAINED by the Victorian State Opposition have revealed that revenue from speeding fines has risen dramatically over past year, with most fines being issued in Melbourne’s suburbs.
Around 312,500 fines were issued betwen April and June this year, a 21 percent increase over the same period in 2008. Most of the speeders were caught in the Boroondara, Monash and Whitehorse council areas.
Detections from fixed speed cameras over the same period jumped by 45 percent.
The inner suburbs of Fitzroy, Prahran and Richmond have also become speed camera hotspots, while the Stonnington and Yarra council areas have seen a 221 percent surge in speeding fines.
With the infringements issued between April and June worth $36 million to the State Government and total speeding fine revenue expected to top $437 million this year (up from last year’s $397 million), the Opposition says the latest figures prove speed cameras are being used for revenue raising.
However, Acting Superintendent Steve Frost from Victoria Police’s Traffic Camera Office said the use of speed cameras was a viable deterrent against speeding.
“Speed enforcement initiatives are underpinned by strong evidence and are primarily directed at reducing road trauma, rather than raising revenue,” Supt Frost said.
“Speed is one of our biggest killers and can easily be avoided with common sense and care.
“Speeding fines are a voluntary contribution, if you abide by the speed limit you have nothing to worry about.”
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I’m sure NSW is the same in regard to revenue, but I feel sorry for you VIC’s…. I mean what is it now days… 3km/h over and you’re done right?
Then they go and say:
“Speeding fines are a voluntary contribution, if you abide by the speed limit you have nothing to worry about.”
Whilst fundamentally true, they have penalties in place that are have a lower tolerance than ADR’s in regard to speedo accuracy!
Getting close to half a billion dollars in revenue now. Simply astounding. State governments are addicted to this revenue stream.
The Acting Superintendent of the Police sates “Speed enforcement initiatives are underpinned by strong evidence and are primarily directed at reducing road trauma, rather than raising revenue,” We would love the see this “evidence” as it is sorely lacking in the scientific literature. Perhaps he has some secret data that the rest of the world does not have.
The claim that driving over an arbitrary speed limit is “one of our biggest killers” is a bald-faced lie easily debunked with the government’s own data. It’s high time this fraud was stopped.
Don’t want to cop a fine then stop deliberately speeding. The fact is that too many people get away with murder & poor behaviour in cars. You are only 1 person in 20million so you are not so important that you should break rules designed to reduce road deaths.
While speed is not the only factor in crashes, in combination with drinking / poor road or light conditions / lack of concentration such as talking on the phone it can lead to crashes that might otherwise have been avoided.
If you can’t notice a speed camera / police car up the road and you are speeding then you are not paying enough attention to the road ahead and going to fast to react in an emergency situation. You deserve to get booked. I used to speed on open roads but I used to carefully watch the road ahead and slow if I saw a suspicous car or hazardous situation so I’d avoid getting booked or crashing.
Now I don’t drive so much for work and don’t care if it takes an extra couple of minutes per 100km to get somewhere. In the city I used to race from traffic lights but now I find that most of the time I catch the racers at the next lights anyway with better driving.
Also consider that if a pedestrian is hit by a car at 30kmh the pedestrian has about a 90% chance of survival. But if hit at 60kmh it’s only about a 10% chance of survival. Think of that and the time & distance it takes to slow down to 30kmh from 50kmh compared to 60kmh next time you are speeding through a suburban street. Is it really so important to go fast that you don’t care if you kill someone?
I was fined $234 for 19km/h over speed. I was caught by police on a newly widened 3-lane road, in a quite late Tuesday night. The speed limit for most part of the road is 80 km/h. The section where I was caught speeding was just widened. It’s the widest section of the road, and with the best surface condition. Yet VIC Road put a 60 km/h limit on it. Police just love this kind of spot.
This dirty practice is clearly money driven, but this is from the State government! - the highest institute on the land, an body that represents highest credibility.
The nasty methods and tactics that the government uses to raise revenue through speed fines undermines the fundamental trust between the citizens and the state. The social cost and damage (leading to financial cost) caused by lack of this trust would create more headache to government and community than the revenue collected. The government is very short sighted in adopting this practice.
You see, I wouldn’t feel guilty next time I do something to cheat government and someone (so long I do it within the realm of law), because even government tries to cheat, why can’t I? And if more people start to behave like this, the moral standard of this society would decline, and what kind of society are we heading to?
Using the data available from:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26141470-29277,00.html
I determined the following:
A 21% increase in the incidence of fines led to a 4.89% decrease in the number of road fatalities over the past year (representing an effectiveness rate of about 23.29 out of 100. This figure also does not take into consideration the unavoidable rate of fatalities which would make this figure of 4.89% less. Although I would have to take a larger sample over the years, this appears at cursory glance to be a poor use of taxpayers’ financial resources i.e. it is ineffective. I will give another scenario: if increasing the police numbers by 21% (which would increase patrol labour costs by approximately 21% also) gave a 4.89% decrease in the crime rate, would you endorse it as a taxpayer? Do not forget who it is that pays the bills.
It’s all well and good to argue that speeding fines are voluntary, and that if you don’t want to get caught speeding then don’t speed. However while the speed camera revenue continues to go up (which is a function (in SA at least) of an increased number of cameras rather than an increase in bad behaviour) the road trauma stats aren’t going down. If speed cameras really did save lives as our government continually tells us they do, then we would’ve seen some sort of reduction, and we haven’t.
The thing that gets me is that it makes a criminal out of a small offence. I challenge anybody (and by this I mean EVERYBODY) to honestly swear that they’ve never been going down a hill, glanced down at their speedo and noticed that they were going closer to 65km/h than the signposted 60. Bang, you’ve just been caught, despite the fact that speed camera legislation (in SA at least) clearly states that cameras cannot be located at the bottom of a down hill run.
Now if you get pinged going 80 in a 60 zone, stiff shit; you only have your self to blame.
If the governments were really interested in saving lives on the road, they’d be injecting funds to improve the quality of the roads, and would be making it harder for people to obtain (and keep) their licence. My 21yo sister just got her full licence, and she’s a downright scary driver. She went to change lanes on the weekend and I go “watch the motorbike!” What motorbike? The one that’s now next to us beeping the horn and waving fingers. But now she has her ticket, she’s got it forever, she never has to be tested again. Couple this with the fact that the road rules that my parents learned to drive under are vastly different to the rules that apply today (not to mention that they seem to change in every state), it’s a recipe for disaster.
But none of this matters, because “speed cameras save lives.”
Try driving the correct speed with a huge truck behind you.
I find that most large truck drivers don’t stick to speed limits and they
come so close and intimidate you to the extent that you have to speed up to stay safe. That’s when speed cameras suck.
You can be driving at what you believe the speed limit is and still get caught. ADRs allow the speedo tolerance to be 10%. No car is provided with a speedo accuracy table for that vehicle. Two vehicles from the same model release can show different readings. Over reading - you’re safe; under reading - ouch in the pocket. I use my GPS to give me a more accurate reading. Expensive cars can be more inaccurate than the cheap Korean machine.
As cars get safer, the speed limits on open roads should be revised upwards. We would then most probably have fewer real speeders because traffic flow would be so much better.
Fran,
On your attitude on slower speeds are safer for pedestrian, this is pretty common sense. However why do we have cars on the road at all, it would be safer for pedestrians if there were none.
Why? Because the road is for “cars”. I’ve had enough of living in a society where we need to base all our rules round protecting people from not using common sense. “Be careful when crossing the road, use some common sense.” If you see someone coming flying down the road then wait and cross after. No problem then for drivers or pedestrians.
Also, what most of the arguments above are getting at is the way speed cameras are about raising money for the state governments and not safety. If they were serious about safety they would take all the money they put into speed cameras and put it into adding more highway patrol on our roads. That would do more for safety.
Morris - I agree with you about common sense & the nanny state but I suggest you do 3 things.
1/ Read the road rules very carefully and you see that in most situations such as when turning corners, coming out of driveways etc peds have had right of way over cars since Adam was a boy. And even if a ped does walk out on a straight section the motorist has to be able to stop and not hit a ped. A car license is NOT a licence to kill although even the courts think it’s a licence to be stupid and careless which is a shame for humanity.
2/ The Romans were the most famous road builders but they didn’t have cars. Peds, bikes & animals with/without carts were all on the road long before cars were even invented. The road is NOT just for cars but they have been effectively hijacked by cars in the last 50 years. Take a look at European urban design such as the new UK Manual for Streets and you’ll see that the wheel is now turning away from designing streets as only for cars but instead being places for PEOPLE. If it’s a freeway then fine but not anywhere such as the suburbs. You might also look at suburban speed limits around the world. Many countries are only 30kmh in suburban streets because their society recognises human life over the Need for Speed.
3/ I agree more police are needed but consider the huge cost of crashes due to careless driving. General tax payers, not drivers or rego, pay for the hospitals to fix 20,000 people per year, the disability pensions for life for all the people who lose limbs, lose eyes, break backs or get permanent brain damage. I’ve know crash victims with permanent loss, I’ve spent 2 months in the spinal ward with car and motor bike invalids, I’ve seen the disabilities our cars cause.
I love cars, love driving and have had all sorts from a Fiat X1/9 to a Defender. I don’t care if someone takes a risk and kills themself but I do object to innocent bystanders being killed and injured by people being careless in cars. For every under 25yr driver that gets killed driving, 2 other people are killed by under 25s. Remember that if you have kids going out in their mates car. It’s time for our society to grows up, realise the damage and use cars sensibly. The people that really benefit from our car love affair now are car companies, oil companies and lawyers. Give them the Flick. Public transport (if you can get it!) is more relaxing. Bikes & walking are better for your health & our Gov’t budget. TravelSmart.
Len - grow some __lls. The only reason trucks and other drivers try to intimidate you is because they realise that it worked!
Stick to your guns and they give up. If you can then just pull over and let (or make) them pass and out of your hair. Depending on the road it only takes a few seconds and you can relax while they hassle someone else.
I despise speed cameras. They are inaccurate and a lie. If speeding is as unsafe as they say then everyone detected speeding would be charged with unsafe driving or dangerous driving. We all know speed cameras are little more than revenue raisers. Last week I was pinged for supposedly doing 115kmh in a 110 zone. I was on a two lane freeway going down hill on a trailing throttle. Then as I went uphill I applied the throttle and noticed a car stopped on the verge. I was busy checking that no-one would exit that car when I went past, foot on the throttle going up a hill and got pinged. It was not a dangerous manouver to look outside the car was it? Are we supposed to drive looking only at our speedo? I hate all involved in speed cameras. I found this site and will be fighthng this ticket. You should read up and know what you can do BEFORE you get pinged too. http://bit.ly/CklCb And for all those who say don’t spped and you wont get a fine - good luck. I once drove from Ballarat to Melbourne observing every limit and still got pinged in Fitzroy.
the one thing we ALL must do ….and do it now …..
is read the Constitution.
and see if you can find ONE law that applies to any Traffic infringement. It is only 8 Chapters long, a short ebook.
In fact if you read it more than twice you will begin to see how much you actually DO NOT know.
And if you read it 3 times over you will begin to see that the last time a law was changed …..was when ? ( you have to read)
We live in a CAPITALIST society…everyone wants their share of the money….and those in power ( ie Govt, Police, Councils etc,.)
all these Corporations, want a slice of the pie.For whatever reason. and they will use any almost any means.
and the best reason to sell the idea of a fine system.. is Safety and Protection, right. So everyone is told that “it is safer if we fine people because it slows them down” and it doesnt matter if I give you a solution to the problem because I am a lone ranger I have not the strength to fight against a beast of the magnitude that has been unleashed in the form of fines management, and road rules.
But consider this…
Imagine if the fine for speeding was $10,000 and loss of your car.
Will you speed now ? No . And will the Govt get any cash ? Maybe 5 or 6 cases per year …? But the court houses would be full.
SO STOP TALKING AND START STANDING UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS. But hey you need to know them right!!!
So read the Constitution, this is why it was written by your forefathers. To protect us all against corrupt Govt’s and Corporations that want to TAKE from the people.
We need to abolish the fine system and the only way is a REFERENDUM. Or take them all to court, because guess what ?
They have not read the Constitution, they are just doing there job.
It is the only way. Because there are more voters with cars than Govt workers gathering your cash.
Or we can just shut up and pay the beast.
further…
Please read the Constitution.
Chapter 3 is most important.
Fran, you comments are naive in the extreme.
The evidence that driving over a prescribed and arbitrary speed limit is dangerous is very thin on the ground. I suggest you review some of this data for yourself.
You are concerned about the amount of trauma and death caused by road accidents yet a little perspective can be easily gained by considering how many people are killed by just a single form of cancer each year: colon cancer. The number of people who die from this alone is greater than the road toll nationally each year. The number of suicides in Australia is roughly double the road toll each year. Where is the outcry over this?
Many developed countries with over-spending governments have turned to all sorts of places for easy revenue rather then decrease expenditures. Road safety is just one of these and it is one of the easiest targets. Politicians, senior Police and others can engage in self-congratulatory back slaps whilst the major causes of road trauma go largely unaddressed. Speed over a prescribed speed limit is simply not a major cause of road trauma in this country nor many others. This information is available with a little digging from the state Governments’ own data. To focus on this with such aggressiveness and not on other more important issues is wilful negligence.
I agree with what you have said Simon considering we are increasingly becoming a speeding camera state. I’m a young guy have been caught a few times for speeding lost my licence due to fact losing 6 points so speeding twice for between 10-15km’s over.
Now I have European equivalent tires on my car which are two steel bands like they use on the cars in Europe. Especially in Germany I’ve done defensive driving and do the a track day every couple of months. I’ve driven in Germany on the auto bahn and i can say that its much safer than Aus considering when coming down a onramp to merge on the freeway. Consistently people do not shift in to the right lane to allow me to merge that is why there are silly traffic lights on the on ramps.
Now because people do not seem to know how to drive or know the limits of there car we need a drastic change in how people get there licenses in this country considering there making cars with esp just proves there are people out there that do not have the reflexes to respond to situations that may arise on the road.
I find it amusing how the government applies a speed limit in the northern territory saying its going to be safer and reduce the death toll in there state in actual fact it was higher the following year by almost double.
Go over to a Germany and drive on the auto bahn and i bet you will concentrate if you traveling over 120km’s a hour, also since we follow the UK and the US in so many things why cant we follow them and do 60mph on our freeways ?