Opinions On Speed Cameras.

[alex182]

I have to write this thing on "whether speed cameras are effective?"

what do you think?

Are they completely unnecessary?

Are they completely revenue-raising or do you think there is some need for them on a partial level?

Just some things to think about

Apparently "when travelling between 60 and 80 km/h, the vehicle occupants' risk of a fatality or serious injury crash doubled for each 5 km/h increase in travelling speed."

According to a study from University of Queensland: "speed cameras cut the average speed by 1-15 percent and the percentage of vehicles that exceeded local speed limits between 14 percent and 65 percent"

On the flip side it's said that as speeding tickets take so long to come in the mail, there's nothing to indicate to the driver that s/he should modify his driving habits and in this space between him/her getting booked they could continue to drive at excessive speeds and may injure people.

As Victoria is the only state that doesn't have signs notifying people they are approaching a fixed speeding camera, to what extent do you think they are (or are not) revenue raisers.

So please share your opinion or any stories you might have. I read on somewhere on SAU a while ago that someone saw a cop with a speed trap planting himself outside of a Queensland town when they were evacuating from the floods.

[Jack-]

^ thought they did have signs on fixed cameras...

the white ones with blue writing "speed cameras operate in Victoria" then there's always a camera close by.....

[xALmoN]

^ thought they did have signs on fixed cameras...

the white ones with blue writing "speed cameras operate in Victoria" then there's always a camera close by.....

nah. they're a few on the eastern freeway, there are no fixed cameras on the eastern.

[SKYL1N]

They do slow people down, the problem is they only slow people down at the point of the speed camera, then people just hit the gas again.

But honestly as much as we hate them, can you imagine our roads with no speed or red light cameras at intersections and freeways? would be a mess

Having said that i believe that the correlation between road toll dropping and more cameras going up is not correct. The way see it the drop in the road toll is due to people upgrading into safer cars and not the rise in cameras going up.

Edited October 25, 2011 by SKYL1N

[Downforce]

Someone told me they have turned off the time lapse point to point cameras, can anyone confirm?

[ssxRicho]

They were off for a while there, they are back on now. At least for outright speed.

I went through them yesterday, they still IR flash you. Which they were not doing for a while.

http://www.camerassavelives.vic.gov.au/home/locations/

[fuzzy_scuz]

Anything that adverts your attention from the road is deemed dangerous and distracting to the driver. Accidents by in attention and or distraction has a greater effect than the stats stipluated by governments.

If speed camera's are in fact road safety cameras why then is every drive capelled to look at there speedo more than the road?

If a mobile phone can kill being a distraction then what is speedo watching?

[wht510]

Apparently "when travelling between 60 and 80 km/h, the vehicle occupants' risk of a fatality or serious injury crash doubled for each 5 km/h increase in travelling speed."

Yeah? Is that the same for other countries?

Is it a statement referring to if the car ends up hitting something stationary, then the chance of the occupants living decreases? I find this hard to believe, as with all new cars and greater safety, the speed would be increasing as we speak (more new cars being sold etc.)

Perhaps statistically there are slower speed limits and more traffic on the road slowing down due to congestion so wouldn't it decrease?

Would you say 50 years ago this number would be different? I would hazard a guess to say if you were doing 40km/h your chance of death would be higher than now due to car safety and road design?

Really, I think the whole speed camera statement helping the traffic safety is complete bull$hit.

[AGE]

Ask yourself this....

How many people have jumped to their death off the Westgate bridge Vs how many have died due to road/driving accidents on the Westgate Bridge?!

[alex182]

Ask yourself this....

How many people have jumped to their death off the Westgate bridge Vs how many have died due to road/driving accidents on the Westgate Bridge?!

touché

Thanks for the input guys. Keep em coming if you or anyone else has anything to add

[wht510]

One website:

http://www.aussiemotorists.com/speeddebate/speeddebate.html

[alex182]

One website:

http://www.aussiemot...peeddebate.html

many thanks

[DJ Davey G]

Check out these sites too. There's a load of reseach and stats that may be useful.

I think speed cameras are a way of life now and we just have to live with them. The pros and cons sort of balance each other out. Interestingly, the new Australian National Road Safety Strategy states that road infrastructure improvements (i.e. safer roads) are where the biggest gains will be in further reducing the road toll, not continuing to try to flog the education/enforcement thing.

TAC Road Saftey Site

AU Road Safety Strategy

MUARC

Good luck

Dave

[ARTZ]

anyone who has tried speeding down a winding road that they dont know ,

will know how dangerous it can be to keep looking at your speedo

Problem is as stated, people will slow down for a camera then drive like a lunatic to the next one, so the cameras really arent doing alot of good..i really think Undercover or unmarked police cars are a better idea.

Have them in traffic just cruising and wait for the idiots that stand out from the pack, not the guy safely doing 10kms over the limit but the idiots, who floor it in traffic or are swerving around jumping 3 lanes of traffic, or on their phone swerving or are braking for no reason on a busy freeway or tailgaters etc etc you get the idea?..

We have all been cruising along abiding to the laws and there is always some fool that sticks out from the pack and gets away with it while you get a fine for doing 5kms over when there is no-one near you for miles..How is that unsafe?? The TV ads tell us if someone steps on the road and you are going 5kms too fast they get run over and it is your fault but really, the Way i see it if someone steps on the road in front of a moving vehicle, it is there fault for walking in front of that moving vehicle not the driver for going a few KMs over..

i drive around all day and I could pull so many people up everyday that I'm sure I could easily reach a quota..Now the cost of this, well my car uses a tank of fuel every 2 days in Melbourne traffic 9hrs a day..thats about 40$ in fuel a day possible less in a more economical car,to have it running and a days wage for the driver..theres a person sitting on their butt in a camera car all day doing nothing..there is people installing and maintaining cameras all the time..get them on the road..

No, cameras are nothing but a copout for people that dont want to do any ACTUAL work..its all too easy to get a camera to do the work take the blame and make the money. Then again most of us are guilty of bludging at work arent we..Especially those with government jobs..

Now I do however believe red light cameras are a good idea, without them people are just stupid..Which people?? Well anyone that accelerates when they see a orange light is an idiot..if you cant get through at the speed you are currently doing you brake simple as that..people are always pushing the limits at red lights and it is very dangerous.

Anyway on another note,I really do think mobile phones are a bigger concern than speeding now anyway, driving around melbourne all day everyday I can tell you that i reckon 1 in 5 is on their phone almost constantly and yes I am guilty, but, There is a time and place for everything..I dont think there is anything wrong with talking on your phone. I do it alot and find it can actually be quite relaxing and takes your mind off the stress of traffic whilst also keeping you alert and awake, it makes tiresome trips go by quicker. and really it is no different from talking to a friend sitting next to you in the car. Also, (this may be pushing it) but browsing the net while stuck at traffic lights is also very relaxing..

but... using your phone, dialling numbers texting etc whilst driving is evil and I see people swerving all over the place all the time because of it....problem is how do you ban one and not the other?

Anyway that my rant for the night, I have had a few beers so it probably wont make sense in the morning

[EeLeYe]

I have to disagree with one of your points there, Arthur.

Unmarked/undercover police cars don't stop people from speeding.

It's the marked, blue n white cars that cause people to drive below the limit.

Remember the strike the coppers were having earlier this year? They would park their cars close to speed cameras and have their lights flashing to deter motorists from speeding.

The figures can be found somewhere on the net but this caused a high loss for government revenue in road fines

I.e less people speeding.

I guess the unmarked cars will work well for the paranoid motorists, though.

I do agree with you about the idiots on the phone. I even saw a guy swerving between two lanes just yesterday, only to see he was using his iPad as I passed him.

Something else I see a lot of, are stupid women doing their make up and almost causing an accident.

[LNah]

People are running from serious trouble and cops still have the time and audacity to speed trap them???

I have to write this thing on "whether speed cameras are effective?"

what do you think?

Are they completely unnecessary?

Are they completely revenue-raising or do you think there is some need for them on a partial level?

Just some things to think about

Apparently "when travelling between 60 and 80 km/h, the vehicle occupants' risk of a fatality or serious injury crash doubled for each 5 km/h increase in travelling speed."

According to a study from University of Queensland: "speed cameras cut the average speed by 1-15 percent and the percentage of vehicles that exceeded local speed limits between 14 percent and 65 percent"

On the flip side it's said that as speeding tickets take so long to come in the mail, there's nothing to indicate to the driver that s/he should modify his driving habits and in this space between him/her getting booked they could continue to drive at excessive speeds and may injure people.

As Victoria is the only state that doesn't have signs notifying people they are approaching a fixed speeding camera, to what extent do you think they are (or are not) revenue raisers.

So please share your opinion or any stories you might have. I read on somewhere on SAU a while ago that someone saw a cop with a speed trap planting himself outside of a Queensland town when they were evacuating from the floods.

[blind_elk]

Apparently "when travelling between 60 and 80 km/h, the vehicle occupants' risk of a fatality or serious injury crash doubled for each 5 km/h increase in travelling speed."

Obviously the risk of injury increases with increased speed, but first you have to have the crash.

I haven't had a serious crash in over 30 year of driving, yet I have received a few speeding tickets during that same period. I have NEVER been involved in a crash that had any element of excessive or inappropriate speed. In fact, the 2 most recent collisions I was basically stationary! (1 was in a shopping centre car park, the other I was stationary waiting the car in front to do a right turn).

In a disproof of the arguments, there were 2 incidents in recent times. Firstly, top cop Ken Lay was nailed by a speed camera, but wasn't involved in any collisions. And secondly, (former) police minister Cameron was involved in a collision where he wasn't speeding (by his own admission, just not paying attention).

All these arguments for cameras are based on statistics. There is a saying about statistics - "there are lies, damned lies, and there are statistics".

I will admit to having generally slowed down on the roads, but not because I believe the arguments in favour of cameras. I have slowed down because I no longer wish to contribute to the coffers of Victoria.

[EeLeYe]

The thing about Publishing statistics is that we, the readers, don't know how accurate they are. The government can make up numbers to however they see fit.

The worst one is, "motorcyclists have 36 times more risk on the road". Is this an average? Does it refer to city driving? Does it mean if the rider is a douche? The whole scare tactic is stupid.

And sure, going 5kph more may double the risk. But is that for an alert driver or some dumbarse who's not paying attention?

Here's a question for you;

Who's more likely to have an accident?

- A vehicle travelling at 100kph with a driver who is paying attention and has their eyes on the road, or

- A vehicle travelling at 80kph with the driver concentrating more on the radio and looking at the speedo every second?

Ergo, "an extra 5kph doubles risk of an accident" is an incorrect and sly statement - it's a play on words.

Yes, it doubles the distance it takes for one to react but in no way does it double "the risk."

A pre-occupied driver who's not paying attention is where the major risk lies.

[EeLeYe]

I will admit to having generally slowed down on the roads, but not because I believe the arguments in favour of cameras. I have slowed down because I no longer wish to contribute to the coffers of Victoria.

+1

Which further proves my point. The reason people reduce speed is not because it's "safer" but because they simply don't wanna give free money to the government.

What a way to spend a Sunday. Blabbing on about speed cameras. Time for a beer

[ARTZ]

I have to disagree with one of your points there, Arthur.

Unmarked/undercover police cars don't stop people from speeding.

It's the marked, blue n white cars that cause people to drive below the limit.

I do see what you mean, but my theory wasnt aimed at prevention.

It is aimed at catching the real dumbasses doing stupid dangerous shit I see on the road everyday, instead of pointlessly criminalizing everybody for harmless misdemeanors.

It is these tactics that haves people accusing them of revenue raising..while they do make an easy dollar off everybody, do they really get the fools off the road, isn't that the real problem.