On Christmas Eve I received a surprise in the mail -Yes, Australia post did a delivery on a Saturday but that was not the surprise.
It was a notice from the (appropriately named) Office of State Revenue -the name says it all really- for a speeding infringement by a fixed speed camera.
Thankfully it was a minimum offence ($114 fine and 1 point and I have full points available). Three 'back seat drivers' -my wife, daughter and mother in law all noticed nothing, my Navman (which has the latest map) does not show it and no third party site that lists speed cameras shows it as a speed camera.
So what is going on?
Well it appears the authorities are getting cunning. They have attached the speed camera to the "Safe Tee cam" camera scaffold -that measures average speed of heavy vehicles (now, but all vehicles maybe later) between two points. The compulsory speed camera warning signs are intermingled with the average speed warning signs and various "safety" message signs thus making it much less obvious what is happening.
Mount Victoria speed camera in the spotlight (http://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/3343348/mount-victoria-speed-camera-in-the-spotlight/)
I did notice that another speed camera a few km away had been removed but an average speed camera rig had been erected at virtually the same spot. Now, I wonder if that is also a dual purpose setup? I will very carefully check the signage next time I go that way.
If it has been done at one location it is likely it will be done elsewhere. And, if you don't live in NSW, best to assume that other states and territories will consider this initiative to enhance employment prospects at the Office of State Revenue, or equivalent.
Now what about some effective and realistic measures to improve safety and reduce the escalating road fatality rate? [Don't hold your breath.]
and some body told you merry Christmas Jeff , what a joke the world has become .
we have had no power for the last 3 days at Caboolture .
sorry , not power , but no phone , so no phone no internet .
Gee Jeff that was bad luck but thanks for bringing it to our attention.
When I pass the "Average Speed Camera" signs and look at the huge support structures I often wonder why they wouldn't put "Good Quality Speed Camera"'s on them after going to all that trouble. :mocking:
Wonder no more.
I have probably passed that one about eight times since it was installed and receiving the infringement notice is my first knowledge of what it really is. When you check the official list of speed camera locations it is not very specific - only within plus/minus several km.
Add in the multiple speed limits, changing often in locations like that and you really do have to pay attention to the signs -oh you should also not forget to keep an eye on the traffic around you too instead of being too busy trying to remember what the last sign said!
Sorry to hear, I'm waiting on a double speeding infringement, both ways. Double demerits apparently as well.
Ouch G! Sorry to hear of your's as well. :kez_15:
I guess that makes GST an abbreviation for Gnome's Speeding Tickets.
Well that puts my little indiscretion into perspective as just the minor annoyance it is.
Quote from: 'keldaw' pid='103105' dateline='1482736632'and some body told you merry Christmas Jeff , what a joke the world has become .
we have had no power for the last 3 days at Caboolture .
sorry , not power , but no phone , so no phone no internet .
Mate I'm not surprised with the storms we have been getting.
don't hold your breath getting the phone back on - they are the same as Aust Post.
We have several point to point cameras heading to the Eastern States from South Australia, supposedly to make roads safer!
Our minimum fee is $159 and 2 d.p. for less than 10 k's over
10 to 20 k's over $349 and 3 points
20 to 30 k's over $709 and 5 points
More than 30K's over $846 and 7 points
All carry a $60 'Victims of crime levy' also.:dodgy:
Will be interested to know the results Gnome. :shok:
I travel from Sydney to Coffs Harbour regularly. There are maybe 10 of those average speed gantries that I've noticed. I often wonder about them but was under the impression they are checking on trucks.
Something I would like to see is more signage. When the limit is constantly changing the signs could be as close as 500 meters, say. I continually adjust the cruise control every time the limit changes.
Yep great invention the cruise control use mine all the time would have saved me heaps of times , although i did see a while back that our great leader in South Australia was mumbling something about anyone going 1km above the speed limit was going to be fined what a joke no car speedo is that accurate must have shares in GPS companies which is what we would all have to buy to avoid said fines .
Anything for the buck.....law enforcement for revenue only. In the U S, most states allow 9 or less MPH over the limit while some states are allowing just 4 MPH over the speed limit due to more revenue needed.
Quote from: 'AussieSilver' pid='103119' dateline='1482793213'Yep great invention the cruise control use mine all the time would have saved me heaps of times , although i did see a while back that our great leader in South Australia was mumbling something about anyone going 1km above the speed limit was going to be fined what a joke no car speedo is that accurate must have shares in GPS companies which is what we would all have to buy to avoid said fines .
That is one of my pet peeves. The Federal government allows the importation of cars with a 10% tolerance in speedo accuracy yet the State governments (that allows those same cars to be registered as roadworthy) will not allow a 1% exceeding of the speed limit before they fine you. So even if you are a law abiding person doing 95 in a 100 zone (according to your speedo) you might still be speeding.
Another peeve is that they don't pull you over to tell you that you are speeding but will send you a bill in the mail a month later. In the meantime you might be passing that same speed trap everyday and getting lots of fines. Some years ago I had to go to court in regards a fine and as I was waiting there was a case of a woman caught 5 times in a week by the same camera, she lost her licence due to all the points involved. The same morning I saw another case of a father with 8 kids and 9 cars, he had wrongly nominated the wrong kid as the driver (as it is hard to work out which kid was driving a month earlier), the stupidity of the law is that the fine was transferred to the correct kid but they cannot transfer the points. So an innocent kid had lost some points and if they were a P plater they would have very few points to lose before they lose their licence.
Yes, lots of inconsistencies. I was pinged by a new speed camera years ago -turned on because the school holidays had started but the warning signs required by the legislation were yet to be erected. I know several people caught by that one who wrote in and had the offence waived (actually changed to an official caution).
No such luck for me as I also received another speed camera fine two hours later and over 200km away, with a different car! Both cars registered in my name and I could have nominated my son for the second but he was on P plates and the points would have put him only one away from exceeding the points limit.
Had only just cleared those points -three years I think- and I copped another. Main highway passing through a town, Friday evening with continuous traffic and I was exactly keeping pace with the traffic. I believe my mistake (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTHVDOMf3Jc) may have been that I like to keep a good buffer to the car in front and everyone else was close to the car in front. That probably ensured the camera was able to get a good shot of me. Only 5km/hr over on that one!
Seems to be a hazard of driving nowadays and a bit of a lottery. I recently had a red light camera flash me but I was already stopped and only one flash so nothing came of that. I was over the line a little but didn't stop too quickly because the car behind me was tailgating and I didn't want a hit up the rear.
However some people deserve to get done. These aren't necessarily speed cameras but, reported in today's paper;
"A 29-year-old man clocked at 166km/h in a 110km/h zone. A 29-year-old unaccompanied learner stopped doing 144km/h. A 38-year-old stopped for doing 161km/h in a 110km/h zone.
Another driver, a 27-year-old woman, led police on a chase for more than 13 kilometres along the Great Western Highway on Christmas Day. She was eventually stopped by road spikes.
The 29-year-old learner driver clocked doing 144km/h, who was booked on Christmas Day on the Hume Highway at Mundarlo, had his licence suspended for six months and his vehicle impounded for three months. He received infringement notices totalling $3758 for speeding, being an unaccompanied learner, not display his L plates and for driving in the righthand lane."
I love cruise control but, it will not reset if the car is doing less than 40kph. Darn it. School zones, road works etc.
Have to be aware of these sorts of things.
The biggest problem with this fixation on revenue raising by demonising speed is that it ignores REAL road safety issues. As any skydiver will tell you, it isn't speed that kills you. Its the sudden stop at the end.
If the goal is to reduce fatalities and injuries, then it must be about reducing collisions. Two vehicles travelling in opposite directions at 40 km/h will do much more damage if they collide than if they were going in the same direction at 200 km/h. And yet we seem to have a road network deliberately designed to increase collision risk, and an enforcement regime fixated on the velocity of traffic streams with little or no variation between the vehicles in those streams.
The reason is of course simple. One costs large amounts of money to get right, the other rakes in a fortune from people with no lobbying power, who are demonised to ensure they can't fight back.
My solution: I bought an eBike, which has replaced my car for 90% of my journeys.
Duncan Gay promises to tackle rising NSW road toll (http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/duncan-gay-promises-to-tackle-rising-nsw-road-toll-20161230-gtjx3r.html)
Well not really. Same old, same old -he is promising to tinker with the existing system that is apparently not working.
He seems to have a fixation on penalties, advertising and the demon speed. For example......
"Mr Gay said the NSW government would consider reviewing fines and penalties as well as promoting safer driving through awareness campaigns."
' "It may well involve changes to fines and penalties. It may well be part of an advertising campaign. We need to be stronger in some of our advertising. We need to move more money into that area to change people's opinions." '
"Speeding was the leading cause of road carnage in NSW"
Surely it is not that simple? Surely more measures need to be investigated and evaluated; even if they cost money* instead of raising money.
Road traffic deaths are not accidents, expert tells major safety conference (http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/road-traffic-deaths-are-not-accidents-expert-tells-major-safety-conference-20160918-grj51t.html)
*Of course road injuries and fatalities also cost a lot (and not just money). Has to be an offset there.
Quote from: 'JeffH' pid='103236' dateline='1483161003'"Speeding was the leading cause of road carnage in NSW"
You're talking about politicians. Not very bright. Fixated on money.
Oh, and suffering an odd misconception that its actually possible to make anything 100% safe.
Speed DOES Kill But Morons, Drunks, badly trained drivers and bad maintenance are probably responsible for the majority of fatalities and injuries.
Why is it that when you first get a motorcycle licence you are limited to 250cc and yet a 17 year old kid can drive a high powered sports car the day he/she gets a licence ??
Why not apply the same idea to new car drivers??
Learners can now ride a range of motorcycles based on horsepower rather than capacity!
Quote from: 'trout' pid='103254' dateline='1483172139'Why is it that when you first get a motorcycle licence you are limited to 250cc and yet a 17 year old kid can drive a high powered sports car the day he/she gets a licence ??
Why not apply the same idea to new car drivers??
Not sure how the rules apply in Wait Awhile, but there ARE restrictions on what cars you can drive on P plates.
Looking up a 270kw Ford Falcon G6E turbo on carsales show the following in the specs.
--
Probationary Plate Status
Victoria
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
BannedQueensland
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
BannedSouth Australia
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
BannedNew South Wales
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
BannedAustralian Capital Territory
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
ApprovedWestern Australia
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
ApprovedNorthern Territory
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
ApprovedTasmania
Indicates whether the vehicle may or may not be suitable for probabtionary licence holders
Approved
Quote from: 'trout' pid='103254' dateline='1483172139'Speed DOES Kill
Quotea 17 year old kid can drive a high powered sports car the day he/she gets a licence ??
I'll refute both those arguments with one example:
Jack LeBrocqJack's 24 now, and has been racing almost all of his life. Two decades and counting. By the time he was 17, he had more experience behind the wheel, and regularly drove higher-powered machinery than any of us, including us old farts.
And you're proposing that he should have had limits imposed, based solely on his age????? Seriously?
Nor is Jack the only one like this. There are thousands. I picked him as an example, because I know him, and have had lengthy discussions with his parents. Geoff told me "I used to take Jack to the track whenever it started to rain, and the wetter it got, the faster he'd go." We were discussing the upcoming 2014 Bathurst Dunlop Cup race, and Geoff reckoned he'd win it if it rained.
My point is that handling any machine is ALL about skill. Speed is irrelevant, and so is age.
But we refuse to invest the time, money and effort to train people properly. To take them to a track in the rain and make them practice going round corners sideways with zero grip, over and over till they have it down pat.
Instead we impose arbitrary, lowest-common-denominator 'standards' that clearly do not work, that almost everyone ignores, but which do raise a crapload of money for government coffers. And worse, we brainwash everyone so that even the very people who habitually break the laws defend them, in some addled view that its about 'road safety'.
Bollocks. Never has been, never will be. And if you don't believe me, watch what happens when we have automated vehicles without drivers. As the revenues dry up, they WILL invent new ways to get their buckets of cash out of us.