NEWS: Radar detector, police speeding fine and laser jammer news 2006.

Speeders Targeted

Courier Mail QLD. By Edmund Burke November 04, 2006 11:00pm

QUEENSLAND'S first fixed speed cameras will be installed on the Story Bridge by the end of next year, The Sunday Mail can reveal.

The Gateway Motorway and sections of the Bruce Highway will also be among the first camera sites.

State Transport Minister Paul Lucas made the announcement after reviewing the results of a Sunday Mail investigation which found motorists defying speed limits at notorious Brisbane black spots last week.

A specially commissioned speed gun clocked one motorist doing 92km/h on the 60km/h Story Bridge on Friday morning.

The bridge was the scene of a major crash in May when 11 people were hospitalised after an eight-car pile-up.

Motorists were caught doing more than 80km/h in a 50km/h zone at the scene of a fatal accident on a suburban road at Algester.

On Ashgrove Ave at Ashgrove, the tests found drivers routinely breaking the speed limit by 15km/h.

Mr Lucas said he was shocked by the findings.

"The detection of people speeding by The Sunday Mail clearly shows that some people just don't get the message," he said.

"A location like the Story Bridge is a particularly dangerous place to be doing those kind of speeds and we have had serious accidents there in the past.

"I am going on the record now and saying that we want to start rolling fixed cameras out at these locations by the end of next year."

Mr Lucas said he believed motorists would support the introduction of the cameras.

"Speed is responsible for 20 per cent of our road accidents," he said.

Signs will be installed warning motorists they are entering camera zones.

Mr Lucas said the introduction of fixed cameras might increase the number of fines but said the extra revenue would go into improving roads.

Police figures released last week showed 203,202 mobile speed camera notices were issued by Queensland Police in 2005-06.

Police Minister Judy Spence said that in September, speeding offences rose 23 per cent compared to the same period last year.

"Sadly, the most alarming statistic during this period was our road toll," she said.

"Already this year 271 people have been killed on our roads."

There was only so much the police could do, she said.

"Drivers must start taking responsibility for their own actions."

$20m fall in speed fines

By Kelvin Bissett, The Daily Telegraph

September 18, 2006 12:00am

MOTORISTS have turned the tables on the hated fixed speed cameras, slashing their fines revenue by more than $20 million in just one year.


After years of setting records for fines, fixed cameras had their revenue crash in 2005-06 to $33.4 million – a huge cut on $54.1 million the previous year.

The sudden fall is partly due to a decision by Treasurer Michael Costa, when roads minister, to reduce the least serious speeding fine from $130 to $77.

But it is not the only explanation, as the total number of fines issued has also fallen by 12 per cent, leading the NRMA to suggest the effectiveness of the fixed cameras was on the wane.

NRMA head Tony Stuart said drivers are now getting smart about the locations of the cameras and it was time to shift the resources to highway patrol police to keep the road toll down.

"There are limits to fixed speed cameras because motorists adjust their driving habits when approaching them," Mr Stuart said.

"That is why the NRMA believes the Government needs to give police more resources for Highway Patrol."

He said the cameras, with their delayed fines through the mail, were no substitute for a police officer pulling over a speeding driver.

Figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph under Freedom of Information showed the number of motorists caught speeding fell from 403,047 to 350,524.

Mr Costa reduced the fine for speeding up to 15km/h above the limit to $75 in April 2005, while also adding an extra demerit point for the offence, to address concerns about revenue raising.

Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal said he had no problem with the fall in revenue from the cameras "if that means people are slowing down and getting the message that speed kills".

He said an independent report last year found speed cameras dramatically improved road safety.

"There was a 90 per cent reduction in fatal crashes at speed camera locations and 20 per cent reduction injury crashes," Mr Roozendaal said.

An analysis of the year-on-year fines issued at each of the 114 camera sites shows big falls at many locations, including at 40km/h school zone sites.

However, a new camera located on the west-bound lanes of the Cross City Tunnel was a success, issuing 9083 motorists with fines worth $1,160,675.

Suits "loom" after speed camera ruling

By Amy Fallon
The Herald Sun.
March 22, 2006 08:11pm

THE New South Wales Government may have to repay millions of dollars to motorists who were fined after being caught by speed cameras, following a ruling in a Sydney court today.

The NSW Supreme Court threw out an appeal by the Roads and Traffic Authority against a magistrate's decision in favour of a man who claimed there was a technical fault in a speed camera photo of his vehicle.

The man succeeded in having the traffic conviction thrown out when he challenged the speeding charge in Hornsby Local Court last August.

Magistrate Lawrence Lawson dismissed the charge after the RTA could not provide an expert witness to prove the speed camera image was not doctored.

The man's lawyer, Dennis Miralis, told Macquarie Radio's Phillip Clark that the rejection of the RTA's appeal had opened the way for a class action by thousands of motorists demanding their money back.

Mr Miralis said his client was alleged to have been doing 81km/h in a 60km/h zone on Parramatta Road at Auburn and fined $75.

In court, the RTA handed up a photo which showed his client's vehicle, the speed limit and the speed at which he was allegedly travelling.

The RTA relied on that photo to get a conviction, but Mr Miralis argued the photo was not evidence of what had actually happened, because the security indicator that was supposed to be on the camera was not shown on the photo.

The magistrate agreed, and the RTA then appealed the decision in the NSW Supreme Court.

Today, the Supreme Court found the photo was unreliable and could not be accepted as major evidence.

Mr Miralis said the decision was a "very significant win for all motorists".

He said it may mean that any motorist who had been fined and convicted on the basis of a photograph similar to his client's could have their conviction overturned.

"I think it does mean that," he told Macquarie Radio.

"The RTA was today shown in the Supreme Court not to be complying with the law themselves."

RTA lawyers had told the magistrates court they could not find an expert to prove the authenticity of mathematical algorithms published on each picture, despite being given eight weeks to compile their case.

The algorithms, known as MD5, are used as a security measure to prove the pictures have not been altered after they are taken.

Mr Miralis said today the RTA, which has already admitted that the camera software is flawed, was still admitting that photos did not have the correct code on them.

Lawyers now want to know if the camera software has existed since it was introduced in 1999, Channel 7 reported tonight.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma said the Government was not "jumping to any conclusions" over the matter.

"We're going to go through the judgment, study it very carefully," Mr Iemma said.

But Opposition Leader Peter Debnam said the Government had known about the problem years ago.

"They simply didn't do their homework and fix the problem and now it could literally cost millions of dollars," he said.

Seven said the worst case scenario was that the cameras, worth approximately $150 million a year in revenue to the Government, may lead to the repayment of up to $1 billion in fines.

Police defend accuracy of speed camera
From The West Australian
By Gareth Parker
May10, 2006

Acting Deputy Police Commissioner John McRoberts leapt to the defence of Multanova speed cameras in the strongest possible terms yesterday, saying he had “absolute confidence” in the accuracy of the devices.

Mr McRoberts rejected strongly claims that Multanovas or hand-held laser speed detectors were susceptible to “ghost readings” – widely inaccurate speed readings caused by rain, wind or other environmental factors.

He was responding to claims by South Australian crash-tester Grad Zivkovic that up to 15 per cent of radar readings could be inaccurate.

Mr Zivkovic, an experienced automotive engineer, began investigating the accuracy of speed cameras about five years ago after discovering his own radar gun occasionally threw up radically inaccurate results.

Mr McRoberts said the manufacturer of Mr Zivkovic’s Stalker Pro radar gun recommended it only be used for sporting purposes, like measuring the speed of baseballs or tennis balls, and not law enforcement.

Mr McRoberts said WA Police’s Multanovas were calibrated and maintained on a weekly basis by accredited technicians and operated by trained staff.

Operators performed checked over and above those recommended in the Multanovas operating manual by checking speed readings with a handheld laser speed detector.

If the two devices were more than 1kmh different, the Multanova was withdrawn immediately from service and sent back to the laboratory for testing, Mr McRoberts said.

“We have the most robust operating procedures for this equipment for one reason – to give the motoring public absolute and unequivocal confidence that our equipment is fit for purpose,” he said.

Mr McRoberts admitted Multanovas could be inaccurate in heavy rain or a dust storm, as claimed by Mr Zivkovic, but operators were told to suspend the operation of speed cameras in those conditions.

“This is a recognised and documented part of our training procedures,” Mr McRoberts said. “And let’s face it, how often in the metropolitan area, which is where we predominantly use speed cameras, do we get that very heavy rain or a severe dust storm?”

There was no mention of ghost readings in the Multanova manual.

Police still refuse to release the manual, quoting a contract with the German manufacturer that cites commercial confidentially.

Doubt cast on speed readings

From The West Australian
By Gareth Parker
May 09, 2006
Up to one in eight speed camera readings could be inaccurate because of weather conditions such as rain or wind, a leading automotive engineer claimed yesterday.

South Australian-based Grad Zivkovic said radar and laser technology used by WA police were susceptible to “ghost readings”, which could affect accuracy by up to 30 per cent. Police have rejected the claims.

He told Today Tonight, in a program to be broadcast on Channel 7 at 6.30 tonight, that speed camera user manuals warned about the possibility of ghost readings.

But Australian police departments, including WA’s, refuse to release their manuals to the public, citing commercial confidentiality clauses in contracts with manufacturers.

Mr Zivkovic, who conducts crash testing for car manufacturers, said car companies refused to accept that readings from radar or laser speed cameras were accurate for the purposes of crash testing and they would not reply on them.

His doubts about the accuracy of speed cameras surfaced when he bought a Stalker II hand-held radar, which uses technology similar to WA police speed cameras, as a back-up system for his crash testing.

During testing, he crashes cars at 48kmh, measured by at least two independent photographic systems. He was stunned when the radar occasionally threw up readings as high as 150kmh.

“I was under the impression they were very accurate and they very rarely made mistakes, Mr Zivkovic said.

“Since I got mine and used it for four or five years I discovered about 10 to 15 per cent of readings are inaccurate.”

He said extreme weather could cause inaccuracies. Water splashing from wet roads, tree branches blowing in the wind and dust could all interfere with a radar or laser beam, affecting reliability. Readings could also be affected if radar or laser beams bounced off metal objects like garage doors, road signs or other passing vehicles.

In one South Australian case, a motorist received a traffic infringement notice alleging his parked car was travelling at 65kmh.

Police spokesman Sgt Graham Clifford immediately rejected Mr Zivkovic’s findings.

“He is entitled to his opinion, but our cameras are tested over and over again,” he said. “Our people want to get on and make the road safe.”

The WA Police policy manual, released to The West Australian warns “heavy rain and blowing dust can cause a scattering effect which may reduce the effective range of radar devices”.

The accuracy of Multanova Speed Camera is put to the test

From Australian Drivers Rights Association
Press Release (Features on Today Tonight program)
May 08, 2006
ADRA’s Position:-

1. Enforcement of speeding is necessary in any road safety program.
2. Direct visible policing and immediate intervention is a much more effective deterrent than receiving a speeding ticket in the mail.
3. Multanovas were recently scrapped in some North American states. In Calgary this had the backing of the Police Union and Association, in favour of putting more cops on patrol.
4. WA’s current road safety strategy is based on outdated research and policies devised in the 1990s. They are skewed toward punitive measures that raise revenue, rather than more effective and innovative road safety strategies.
5. While our peak WA road safety body continues to receive 100% of its funding from speeding fines, we will continue to hear outdated statistics and rhetoric that support policies aimed at raising more revenue.
6. Current authoritative research has blown away that speeding myth. The greatest cause of fatalities and accidents, is not speed …. But rather, Driver inattention and driver misjudgement.
7. West Australian drivers are fed up and cynical about our outdated road safety strategy, and call upon the government to investigate new strategies to improve road safety.
8. Poor driving, poor signage and poor roads should be the focus, ……. not on making drivers poorer.
9. The latest announcement of the WA State Government to double and triple fines and penalties is ill advised. Similar measures taken in the Eastern States has so far proven to be ineffective. Based on road fatalities statistics for the 12 months to February 2006, NSW road fatalities has increased 11%, Qld has increased 10% and Vic has remained the same.

President, ADRA

Big increases in speeding fines unwarranted hit on motorists

From The West Australian
By Unknown
May 08, 2006

Responsible motorists have good reason to be outraged at the State Government’s decision to double and treble speeding fines in the name of improving road safety.

No one could quarrel with the objective of making our roads safer for all who use them.

But it is questionable whether road safety is increased by imposing draconian penalties on careful drivers who exceed arbitrary speed limits by a few kilometres an hour.

With the random and often irrational placement of road signs indicated speed limits, it is often a challenge for drivers to discover what limit applies to the stretch of road on which they are travelling.

What is the rationale for increasing the fine from $50 to $75 for driving safely in the flow of traffic at 78kmh in a 70kmh zone which only recently had its limit dropped from 80kmh?

The excessive increase in speeding fines is likely to exacerbate the anger felt by many motorists at Multanovas hidden on level roads in places calculated to trap the maximum number of drivers.

From the steady flow of public criticism it is clear that many motorists are sceptical at government claims that speed traps are aimed at reducing speeds and not at raising revenue.

If Community Safety Minister John D’Orazio was serious about using Multanovas to increase road safety he would insist that they were places at dangerous black spot areas, clearly sign-posted to slow the traffic down.

Raising fines from $350 to $1000 for offenders who exceed the speed limit by 40kmh may be intended to catch irresponsible drivers who race at 1210kmh on suburban streets – but only too often such drivers are young people with few assets who have no hope of paying such heavy fines.

Enforcing these high penalties could be difficult, even impossible.

Even responsible motorists could be hit by $1000 fines if they fail to notice the increasing number of 40kmh signs which litter the kerbside where roads are being upgraded or repaired.

With so much roadwork taking place, particularly between Perth and Mandurah, it is often hard to keep up with the changing speed limits. When a 100kmh road changes repeatedly to 40kmh or 60kmh, and there is not a workman in sight, drivers can easily get to 40kmh over the limit without realising it.

With such high penalties at stake the traffic authorities should make it a priority to ensure that temporary 40kmh signs are removed when workmen are not actively engaged at a site.

Rather than alienating the great majority of responsible drivers with hidden Multanovas and heavy fines, Mr D’Orazio would be better advised if he analysed the cause of most traffic accidents and took appropriate action.

There is a good case of raising the level of driving skills required for getting a licence, or having a second, more rigorous test to advance from probationary status to a full driving licence.

Increasing the number of demerit points for traffic infringements is an effective means of improving road safety by keeping erring drivers off the roads without the need for huge fines.

Truck drivers in particular will be heavily penalised by the latest measures. At a time when soaring fuel costs make it a struggle for many to survive it is relevant to ask if fines of up to $1250 are justified or necessary.

New road penalties to rake up $20m

From The West Australian
By Graham Mason
May 06, 2006
The State Government will rake in an extra $20 million a year from tough new traffic fines it officially announced yesterday.

As revealed in The West Australian yesterday, speeding fines will rise across the board with the fine for speeding more than 40kmh over the limit nearly trebling from $350 to $1000.

Fines for drivers not wearing a seatbelt will increase from $150 to $200 while drivers not keeping to the left-hand lane will now lose two demerit points instead of just receiving a $50 fine.

A Road Safety Council push for tougher penalties for people driving while using a hand-held mobile phone was rewarded with the demerit point penalty trebling from one to three.

The council had also pushed for the fine for speeding up to 9kmh over the limit to be increased from $150 to $100 with the loss of a demerit point but Police Minister John D’Orazio said the fine would only be $75 and there would still be no loss of demerit points.

“We’ve not added a demerit point to the 0-9 kmh category because we think there are some times where people might inadvertently speed,” he said.

The new fines and penalty structure, due to begin on January 1, has been based on crash risk with those offences more likely to result in collision being more heavily punished.

Defending the fine rises, Mr D’Orazio said that the Government would also increase the money it spend on safety.

“I anticipate we will spend far more on road safety but I can’t outline those because you will see them in the Budget,” he said.

The Government has also introduced higher speeding fines for drivers of heavy vehicles weighing more than 22.5 tonnes.

This would see drivers of heavy vehicles fined $150 for speeding between 0-9 kmh over the limit.

Truck drivers more than 40kmh over the limit would be fined $1250.

Transport Workers Union boss Jim McGiveron said he was disappointed that heavy haulage drivers were being treated differently.

“All people should be treated the same by the law regardless of what configuration of vehicle you drive, the penalty should be the same,” he said.

Road Safety Council director of policy and strategy Jon Gibson said there was evidence that a mix of increased fines and demerit points and community education would deter people from speeding.

“We are very happy in terms of the increased in the penalties” he said.

“This is not about raising additional revenue, this is about trying to change people’s behaviour, it’s about penalising those people who break the law.”

RAC spokesman David Moir said the new penalties were fair and he supported no demerit penalty for drivers only speeding up to 9kmh over the limit.

Speeding fines to treble, extra demerits in traffic shakeup

From The West Australian
By Graham Mason
May 05, 2006

Some speeding fines are to treble and drivers guilty of other offences will be hit with increased demerit points in a shake-up of traffic penalties to be announced by the State Government as early as this weekend.

The West Australian understands the penalty for travelling more than 40kmh over the limit will leap from $350 to more than $1000, bringing it in line with tough penalties in the Eastern States. The penalty for speeding up to 9kmh over the limit will double from $50 to $100.

Fines for using a mobile phone without an approved hands-free kit will jump from $100 to $300 with demerit points trebling to three.

Other lesser traffic offences will be downgraded after the Road Safety Council recommended that fines and penalties be based on the collision risk factor associated with each particular offence. The West Australian understands penalties for some pedestrian offences, such as crossing a road within the vicinity of a red light, will fall.

Council chief Grant Dorrington said yesterday penalties associated with incidents that could lead to death on the roads should be higher.

Police Minister John D’Orazio refused to detail increases in penalties or demerit points.

But in his strongest hint that fines are due to rise, he said there had been no substantial increase in traffic fines since 1997.

“The Office of Road Safety commissioned a review in 2004,” he said yesterday. “That report has concluded and I’ll make some announcements at the appropriate time of what those outcomes will be.”

The report was presented to Mr D’Orazio two months ago. It has not been released publicly.

Senior traffic police have been frustrated for years that speeding penalties in WA are outdated and not a big enough deterrent.

Opposition road safety spokesman John McGrath said Mr D’Orazio’s comments were inappropriate when there had been 64 deaths on WA roads this year, more than in the same period in the previous two years.

“The Police Minister has been totally negligent in his duty in sitting on the report when we have had too many deaths on WA roads in the first four months this year,” he said.

In short

From The West Australian
By John Falconer, Mt Claremont
April 5, 2006
In September 2002 it was alleged my speed was 72kmh and I received a fine for $100 and one demerit point.

This is my one and only traffic conviction in 50 years of driving.

At the time I considered it impossible to have done that speed, but being a former police superintendent, I knew I could never prove it. I reluctantly trusted that the Multanova and police system were correct.

But after reading the report (Opposition guns for Multanovas, ¾) I know that I was innocent.

I remember that occasion as if it were yesterday.

I had just crossed the traffic lights in Selby Street junction with Cambridge Street and soon after changed lanes (as I always do at this point) in order to take a right turn at Underwood Avenue.

If I had known then about the possibility of a false figure I would have appealed.

Give drivers 10kmh grace for Multanovas
From The West Australian
By Robert Taylor (State Politics Editor)
April 4, 2006
Drivers should be given up to 10kmh grace because of accuracy problems with police speed cameras, a former CSIRO scientist and WA Liberal MP Dennis Jensen said yesterday.

Joining the attack on Multanovas, Dr Jensen said the cameras had a minimal effect on cameras had a minimal effect on reducing accidents put a big impact on government coffers.

The Tangney MHR’s comments come on top of claims by international radar expert Stuart Nixon that WA motorists were being fined and losing their licences because of errors in Multanova readings.

Mr Nixon claimed that cameras could be out by as much as 15kmh if speeds were measured while drivers changed lanes.

Dr Jensen, who is seeking a publisher for a book he has written on road safety, said a range of factors contributed to the inaccuracy of speed cameras.

Apart from problems with the cameras, drivers also had to contend with Australian design regulations which allowed new motor vehicle speedometers to be 10 per cent inaccurate.

He said variations in the rolling circumference of tyres that were nominally the same size could also provide inaccurate speedometer readings. But Dr Jensen said his most damning finding on speed cameras was that their impact on road trauma rates was minimal while they continued to collect millions of dollars a year for the State Government.

“They’re being used as revenue raisers. They should only be used in areas with a clear crash history and in such a way that you’re not detecting everyman but those who actually are a danger on the roads,” Dr Jensen said.

He said the biggest contributing factor in OECD countries to the declining road toll as a percentage of population was improved vehicle design.

“A Monash University study on crash worthiness of vehicles indicated that 70 per cent of the reduction can be explained purely in terms of the crash worthiness of cars. And obviously cars have improved, they handle better, they brake better,” he said.

“Enforcement has a place put enforcement has been nowhere near the major contributor that government would indicate.”

Dr Jensen said the Australian standard tolerance for speed cameras was 3kmh or 3 per cent, whichever was higher, but WA Police operated on 1kmh up to 150kmh. “If they set up the camera not perfectly parallel with the road there’s potential errors there that has never been codified by the police,” he said.

“There’s another potential error if the road has curvature and then there’s the matter of changing lanes or the car not travelling exactly parallel to the lane which can happen in high wind.”

But despite the mounting scientific evidence against the cameras, Premier Alan Carpenter stood by them yesterday. “I support the use of Multanovas as a road safety tool,” he said.

Opposition guns for Multanovas

From The West Australian
By Ronan O'Connell
April 3, 2006

The Opposition has called for changes to speed camera use after police admitted that Multanovas can return false figures when measuring the speed of a car changing lanes. Opposition road safety spokesman John McGrath said it was unacceptable for Multanovas to return false readings.

Police admitted on Friday that readings taken from cars which were changing lanes could be wrong.

The admission came in the wake of claims by world-renowned radar expert Stuart Nixon that research he had done found Multanovas could be out by up to 15kmh in such circumstances.

“Multanovas and speeding is such a big issue in the community that the system has to be fail-safe,” Mr McGrath said. “If there is any discrepancy in the readings of Multanovas then there must be immediate changes made to rectify that situation.”

Police Minister John D’Orazio said the best way to avoid a Multanova infringement was to drive within the speed limit. “I am confident that WA Police are operating the Multanova cameras properly and fairly but there are appeal processes available to people who feel they have been incorrectly infringed,” he said.

Road Safety Council chairman Grant Dorrington also supported the use of Multanovas. “Multanovas produce correct readings 99 per cent of the time and are a crucial way of keeping the roads safe,” he said. “This research has not brought up anything police did not already know and I don’t think there is any reason for the accuracy of Multanovas to be brought into question.”

The officer in charge of the camera section, Sen. Sgt Carl Fisher, admitted that Multanovas could return false readings of cars that were changing lanes but said the inaccuracy would be negligible. He said Multanovas usually cancelled such readings and that mistakes were also sometimes identified by officers viewing footage of supposed speeding offences.

More police on the roads

By Kim McFarland, Bayswater

Iain Cameron is now touting for 30kmh residential speed zones and 90kmh limits in the country, citing the laws of physics back his argument that a crash at a lower speed reduces the likelihood of serious injury.

Mr Cameron, I concur with this impressive observation. However, before you rush too blindly into championing this cause, and considering your interest in the laws of physics, I thought I’d present a few other scientific observations.

A speed camera placed on a straight section of freeway cannot detect speeding motorists at a traffic black spot 10km away, even if it makes more money on the freeway; every increase by 5kmh does not double the chance of an accident; motorists with their eyes constantly on the speedo due to a police commissioner suggesting we fine motorists for doing 1kmh over the limit cannot observe their surroundings effectively; the many motorists I see driving home in the dark with their lights off cannot be detected by police officers who are not on the road; motorists I see regularly doing 60-70kmh in existing 50kmh zones are significant risk to community safety, yet also cannot be detected by police officers behind their desks.

My point is that the big-stick approach our State seems to favour is possibly less effective than effectively policing the laws that already exist. While we have speed-camera committees that don’t actually discuss speed-camera placement and a police forced more interested in saving fringe benefits tax by preventing officers from taking vehicles to and from work (just to name two examples) you would have to be a fool to draw a conclusion on how effective our current road laws are.

Let’s debate and shake up the whole dysfunctional self-serving approach of the various government bodies before further restricting law-abiding citizens.

It won't work

By Peter Woodward, Subiaco

Again we are advised that the Road Safety Committee is advocating the lowering of speed limits in urban and rural areas.
As a retired road and traffic engineer with many years experience in WA, I cannot accept that this proposal, with a 90kmh limit in rural areas, would lower accident rates.

Try driving at 30kmh next time you go out – you will not get out of second gear. How would it be enforced? Multanovas on every corner? Perhaps a good revenue raiser but not a good idea.

The proposal for 90kmh in rural areas is even more ridiculous. WA is a huge State with more than 100,000 kilometres of local government roads in rural areas in addition to more than 20,000 kilometres of State highways and major roads. Many rural roads have little traffic and do not warrant policing. Major roads would require extensive enforcement and travel times would be increased by about 20 per cent.

The introduction of speed limits which are totally unenforceable will not improve road safety.

Get serious

By P. Szalay, Duncraig

Iain Cameron’s “vision” for 30kmh residential speed limit needs to be put into perspective. The existing 50kmh residential speed limit is not policed effectively because as much as it might be denied, speed cameras appear to be placed in high-traffic, low-people areas (main roads) where more revenue can be earned. Like many suburban streets (complete with children), mine has not had a speed trap in years.

Following a series of crashes some years ago, the residents petitioned the local council for a speed hump. The final response was “not justified because only 20 per cent of the vehicles using the road were exceeding the speed limit by 20 per cent or more”. So in a then 60kmh zone, 20 per cent of the vehicles were travelling at 72kmh plus. Now we have a 50kmh limit and nothing ahs changed – the majority of drivers just ignore it.

How is Mr Cameron going to police a 30kmh limit? His “vision” doesn’t seem to address this. Does he think it will just happen because he says so- or the road signs say so? Seems a bit like King Canute and the incoming tide. Get serious about existing speed limits on residential roads first.

Ridiculous

By Marta Cormio, Landsdale

Horse and carriage here we come. The idea of reducing the speed limit to 30kmh in residential areas is just ridiculous. I am a mother and obviously I care for the safety of my child, but no matter how low we put the speed limit there will always be those people (especially the P-platers) who ignore speed limits.

I often see young drivers in their V8 vehicles speeding on the roads because they like the power of their car and like to show off their driving skills to their mates.

A wiser choice would be to ban young drivers from owning such powerful cars until they reach a level of maturity. If the speed-limit reduction goes ahead we might as well start riding in a horse and carriage.

Expert opinion

By Frank Rundel, Mindarie

A 30kmh speed limit in residential areas – what a wonderful ideas. Why not drop it to a 2kmh and save even more lives – or take it to its logical conclusion and ban cars altogether and save all the lives.

What these “experts” fail to realise is that imposing ridiculous restrictions will lead only to still more hooning as an expression of frustration by the small portion of irresponsible motorists who cause the majority of accidents.

If I suggest we ban all swimming to prevent drowning and shark attacks, can I also please qualify as an “expert”?

Red flags

By Peter Daniel, Butler

Grant Dorrington and his team will certainly cut down accidents. If each year they bring speed limits down by 10 or 20 per cent, we eventually will be able to have a person walking in front of all vehicles carrying a red flag. We should then save people from dying and also save our police force from having to get the hoons off the road.

More expensive

By Brian Alderdice, Melville

The latest call to reduce the speed limit to 30kmh has made no mention of the cost to the driver. The modern car is not designed to travel at 30kmh because at that speed it would be able to do so only in a low gear. This would result in a considerable increase in the amount of fuel used at a time when petrol prices have never been higher. Will travelling at this slower speed also increase the cost of maintenance?

Extract from the West Australian.

The head of the State Government's road safety watchdog says the speed limit on any WA roads where there is the chance of a car hitting a pedestrian should drop to 30kmh.

“Our speed limits in Australia are comparatively very high compared with Europe and the US,” Office of Road Safety executive director Iain Cameron said.

Yesterday, Mr Cameron announced a package of radical measures which he said WA should consider if it was serious about reducing death or injury on the roads.

It includes a 30kmh speed limit on quiet residential roads or any road where there was a chance a car could hit a pedestrian.

“Above that speed a pedestrian is struggling to survive if they are hit,” Mr Cameron said.

Limits for major distributor roads and roads where there was the chance one car could hit another side-on could be 50kmh.

Fringe single-lane roads on the outskirts of cities where cars could collide head-on could have a 70kmh limit and for single-lane roads outside cities which were not dual carriageways or divided by median strips, the limit could be 90kmh.

“It is a question of how bold we want to be,” Mr Cameron said. “People make mistakes on the road. We need to put a road environment in place which is more forgiving of driver error.”

Mr Cameron recently returned from studying traffic conditions in Europe.

Many young drivers use the phone, plant the foot: Survey

From The West Australian
By Unknown
February 28, 2006

Almost half of young drivers regularly speak on mobile phones and send text messages while behind the wheel, and about a quarter have driven at more than 140kmh, a survey shows.

The annual Safe Drive Young Driver survey, conducted by Brisbane company Safe Drive Training, asked more than 3000 young drivers aged 17 to 20 about their driving experiences and their attitudes.

The survey uncovered alarming figures.

Forty-four per cent of respondents admitted they regularly used mobile phones, for voice and SMS, while driving.

Twenty-six per cent admitted driving at speed of more than 140kmh, despite most being P-platers, and 64 per cent said they had been a passenger in a car that had exceeded 140kmh.

Sixty per cent said they had perpetrated or been witness to a road rage incident and 4 per cent admitted driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Managing director and chief instructor for Safe Driving Training, Joel Neilsen, said the survey highlighted the need to train better novice drivers in skills and attitudes.

School camera on cars

From The Sunday Times
By Joe Spagnolo
February 26, 2006

Speed cameras will be mounted at school crossing throughout the state as part of a radical new plan to protect children.

Police Minister John D’Orazio told The Sunday Times that motorists were not heeding warnings about speeding in school zones and he feared it was only a matter of time before a child was killed.

The plan, which will go before State Cabinet in coming weeks, would initially see about six cameras at the state’s most dangerous school locations, but eventually the scheme could be extended to other areas.

He said the proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit in school zones was nearly four times higher than the WA average in other zones.

“The safety of our children is paramount and there is no excuse for endangering children’s lives. If this measure works and we save the life of just one child, then it’s worth doing,” Mr D’Orazio said.

“Some of the things that have happened since the start of the school year have been horrific in these school zones and we need to send a clear message to the community that will not be tolerated.

“These drivers are putting the lives of our children at risk. The concept of having speed cameras at a particular site will send a clear message that if you are going to go through an area and break the speed limit, you will be picked up and fined.”
Mr D’Orazio also wants to use the fines from speeding motorists at schools to be spent on safety measures around schools.

He estimates that six Multanovas placed at high-risk schools would raise up to $17 million in the first year.

“Stopping speeding is the first priority, but I would also like to see all revenue raised from cameras in school zones used to fund safety measure around schools,” he said.

“This could help fund the increasing demand for traffic wardens and also provide funding for other road-safety projects such as pelican crossings around schools.”

In the first three days of the 2006 school year, 1529 motorists were caught speeding in school zones. The worst case was a 27-year-old man driving at 132km/h.

“Based on these figures, with 8 percent of traffic likely to be exceeding the speed limit in the first year, six Multanovas placed at six schools would raise up to $17 million in the first year,” he said.

Car loss plan for repeat drink-drivers

From The West Australian
By Ben Spencer
February 22, 2006

Repeat drink-drivers could have their vehicle immobilised in the driveway of their home or lose their car altogether under a radical plan to be put to the State Government.

The Office of Road Safety is working with government agencies to bring amendments to the Road Traffic Act into State Parliament by September, with a view to having the laws in place by the middle of next year.

The changes would include giving police the discretion to confiscate a driver’s keys for up to 24 hours when they believe that person is at risk of driving while intoxicated.

An alcohol ignition lock scheme, in which a breath-testing device is fitted in a car owned by repeat drink-drivers at the order of a magistrate, is also expected to be included in the laws.

But Office of Road Safety head Iain Cameron said the changes would be extended to enable a magistrate to impound or immobilise an offender’s vehicle. The latter is the favoured option.

Details of how a car would be immobilised were still being worked through but Mr Cameron said there were effective strategies to immobilise a drink driver’s vehicle in their garage.

It comes after Queensland Premier Peter Beattie announced a “three strikes and you’re out” plan at the weekend under which offenders lose their vehicle permanently for a third drink-driving offence.

“If we immobilise their car they can look at it, they can wash it and they can keep responsibility for it and pay the bills on it but they can’t drive it,” Mr Cameron said.

“There are various flash mechanisms that enable you to do that.

“To keep responsibility for the vehicle with the person and not load the burden on to the police or other costs on Government we think is the better option.”

Police Minister John D’Orazio said he would listen to any measures that would cut the road toll, including those put forward at a two-day road safety summit in Queensland ending today, and that would include the confiscation of vehicles.
“Anything that targets a reduction in the road toll is something I would need to look at,” he said.

Mr Cameron said the alcohol interlock machines would be the first option for dealing with repeat drink-drivers but said they were not always adequate in preventing intoxicated people getting behind the wheel.

Road Safety Council chairman Grant Dorrington called on Mr D’Orazio to introduce the changes into Parliament as soon as they had been finalised.

RAC wants to know just what's driving us to distraction

From The West Australian
By Jamie Fitzgerald
February 18, 2006

Applying make-up, brushing hair, gazing at scantily clad females on billboards and drinking hot coffee from drive-through beverage outlets are some of the modern distractions reported by motorists responding to an RAC survey on driver concentration – and these are just the ones people have owned up to.

The RAC has called on drivers to create a snapshot of distractions facing drivers. Rather than making our lives more streamlined and less complicated, technology is among the chief of concentration reported.

It may be illegal for television screens playing DVDs to be in view of the driver of the vehicle they are fitted in, but one motorist reported almost crashing because he was busy watching the screen in the car in front.

RAC membership general manager Mark white said the results of the survey could help shape the body’s policies on road safety in the future. “It is ironic that things like signage and car technology like alarms and alerts, though they have significant safety benefits, can also contribute to the problem by being distractions,” he said.

Mobile telephones, flashing neon signs and scanning the roadside for speed cameras were among other reported distractions.

Letter of the month WINNER!

From Motor Magazine
By Jamie Fitzgerald
February 14, 2006

I returned recently from a short stay in Europe, where you can travel on a motorway at a comfortable 180km/h and not see one accident. I’ve just completed a road trip back home and it was the most painful trip ever.

How do interstate truckies do this for a living? I spent the whole time staring at my speedo and feeling paranoid that I might have missed a speed limit change. I have never seen so many speed cameras and mobile radars in all my life. The worst part of the trip was from Harvey Bay in Queensland to Port Macquarie in NSW. The road was heavily pot-holed and there was a change in the posted speed limit every 400m. It was completely ridiculous!

What made matters worse was all the idiots doing 80km/h in a 400km/h zones, then speeding up to 105km/h when they get to an overtaking lane. Often right next to a speed camera.

I soon found drivers took to overtaking in less-than-perfect spots, so they would not get booked. These people were not speedsters, they just wanted to do the speed limit. The government has got it all wrong – they are actually encouraging reckless and dangerous driving.

Not once did I feel stressed in Europe driving at 180km/h to 200km/h but here you are exhausted from just trying to do 40km/h to 110km/h.

Cairns, QLD

Our editor’s just returned from a month’s driving in Europe and knows exactly what you mean. That said, driving in Europe, especially the cities of Italy, is not always a walk in the park. Compared to Australia, Italy is such a small country with a dense population but they’re generally better open road drivers than us and we’re better (just) at the city stuff.

Near-tragedy spurs school traffic pleas

From The West Australian
By Regina Titelius
January , 2006

Parents and teachers at Kelmscott Primary School want the State Government to act immediately to ensure the safety of children near their school after a boy was knocked off his bicycle by a speeding motorist at an intersection.

The call comes as the Government considers permanent speed cameras for various school zones to catch speeding drivers.

Under the plan, which will go before Cabinet within weeks, six Multanovas would be installed in school zones but not nearby streets or intersections.

Eleven-year-old Matthew Francis suffered a broken leg, arm and nose when he was hit by a car as he was crossing the intersection of Brookton Highway and Lefrow Road last Wednesday.

Matthew was discharged from hospital at the weekend but will be in a wheelchair for six weeks. It will be many more weeks before he can get back on his bicycle.

Parents and teachers at the school say it was “an accident waiting to happen” and have been lobbying the Government and Armadale City Council for more than 10 years to make the intersection safer.

They want the speed limit cut from 70kmh to 50kmh and the installation of a pedestrian island and a crossing with lights. Kelmscott Primary School Parents and Children Association president Sally Woollcott said local and State governments had to do more about traffic management.

“As a school community we’re trying to encourage parents not to drive their kids to school,” Mrs Woollcott said. “But how can we do that when, as a society, we seem to be more interested in making things easier for drivers rather than save our kids lives?”

Matthew has flashbacks of the crash and said he felt lucky to be alive but would never ride to school again.

“Something needs to be done about that intersection and my accident proves that,” he said.

Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan is due to meet parents from the school today.

During a police blitz at the start of the school year, 1529 motorists were caught speeding in WA school zones – the worst case was a 27-year-old doing 131kmh.
WA Road Safety Council chairman Grant Dorrington welcomed the speed camera plan but said it was a “sad indictment on our society” if cameras were needed as an incentive to save children’s lives.

Shadow road safety minister John McGrath said that instead of extra speed cameras – the six planned are set to raise $17 million a year – more warning systems like flashing lights should be used.

And they call this a freeway?

From The West Australian
By Gareth Parker
January 26, 2006

Inconsistent and changing speed limits are frustrating drivers and creating safety fears among rail workers.

Perth’s most important road system, the Kwinana and Mitchell freeways, is in a shambles from resurfacing works, the extension of Roe Highway and building the Perth the Mandurah railway.

A slew of changing and inconsistent speed limits from Powis Street in the north to Berrigan Driver in the south has motorists confused and frustrated – and police say the delays cause drivers to take risks.

During a trip on the freeways this week, The West Australian counted 14 changes in the speed limit in the 25km between Powis Street and Berrigan Drive. In the opposite direction, there were eight changes.

Virtually no one obeyed posted speed limits in the 60kmh and 80kmh zones and the entire journey – which started well outside peak hours at 2.30pm – took 52 minutes at an average speed of about 60kmh.

Insp. Neil Royle, who heads the police traffic enforcement group, called the freeways “a horror story”. He had received regular complaints from works on the rail project about motorists speeding through reduced speed zones and putting their safety at risk.

Patrolmen often bore the brunt of confused motorists who claimed not to know what the speed limit was when they were pulled over and the confusion and long delays led motorists to take silly risks.

The freeway chaos has hit motorists south of the river hardest, with the Kwinana Freeway in various states of disarray since 1998, when work began on installing a bus lane on the Mt Henry Bridge. Since then they have had to put up with disruptions from building dedicated bus lanes, the Canning Bridge interchange, the duplication of the Narrows Bridge, and now Roe Highway state 7 and the railway.

Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said it was impossible to build a railway in the middle of a freeway without disruptions but the end was in sight.

“We’re a community, we’re all in this together,” she said. “Quite frankly, I think it’s been handled pretty well.”

She said most disruptive works associated with the railway lines and Roe Highway stage 7 would be finished by the end of March and speed limits would return to normal.

But there would be more restrictions when work started on new train stations at South Street, Leach Highway and Canning Bridge, with work to continue until September or October.

The Government had decided against uniform speed restrictions for the entirety of works.

“If you’ve got a limit all the way along and people can’t see obvious works happening, (they’ll) say ‘bugger this’ and ignore it,” Ms MacTiernan said. She said the railway would take traffic off the roads once it was open.

Resurfacing the Mitchell Freeway last night cause big southbound delays of up to 10km to Vincent Street after access was reduced to one lane after 7 pm.

The routine work began a fortnight ago but holiday traffic made congestion worse.

Road toll worst for 10 years

From The West Australian
January 24, 2006

Motorists have recorded the worst road toll start to a year in a decade – which police attribute to driver behaviour.

Since January 1, 18 people have died on WA roads, 12 of them in the country. It is the highest toll since 1996.
The horror start follows the lowest road toll for a year since records were first taken in 1961. Last year, 164 people died on WA roads.

Assistant Commissioner John McRoberts said seven people who had died in crashes this year had been ejected from the cars, suggesting that they were not wearing seatbelts.

Another three deaths were of pedestrians.

“The fact is we’re at 18… which is almost at one a day, “ he said. “It’s fair to say we got off to a terrible start this year.

“People are responsible for these crashes, people need to take responsibility for the way they use motor vehicles.”

Please explain

From The West Australian
By Vivienne Prandi
January 18, 2006

Does Grant Dorrington (Stop killing yourself plea to bush drivers, 9/1) really know why young adults in the country are over-represented in road crash statistics? We in the country have a pretty fair idea, especially when it comes to the lack of initial driver training.

Teenagers in small country towns have no access to driver training and learn from parents or other adult drivers. They don’t get the type of driver education that city dwellers take for granted.

Three years ago our Safer Kojonup committee initiated an advanced driver training course for our youth. It has been very successful, with none of the participants being involved in accidents subsequently. They have been instructed on the effects of speeding, alcohol consumption, the use of seatbelts, how to avoid accidents and driving for the prevailing road conditions.
Last year, our committee attempted to obtain a grant from Roadwise under the Community Road Grants Program which states that the aim of these grants is “to prevent road crashes causing serious injury and death”. Mr Dorrington, the grant application was rejected on the ground that such driver training and education did not meet the criteria.

Luckily, with the support of the local Rotary Club, shire council and many dedicated volunteers, Safer Kojonup was able to run the course.

If educating our country drivers to become responsible road users is not a priority for funding, then please stop laying the blame on our communities.

Road spy to drop RBT alert

From The West Australian
January 13, 2006

Random breath test locations will be removed from a controversial new SMS scheme after police and motoring groups condemned it as dangerous.

Road Spy launched on the Gold Coast this week and set to expand to Perth within months – said it would stop providing RBT alerts in the hope of creating a good relationship with authorities.

But WA police still want it outlawed and have labelled it irresponsible.

WA Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said the service was in the same league as radar detectors which the Government planned to ban.

Police Minister Michelle Roberts said despite the RBT concessions she would still consider legislation to prevent Road Spy operating in WA.

SMS alert to warn drivers or RBT sites

From The West Australian
By Peta Rasdien
January 12, 2006

A new SMS service which alerts WA motorists to random test location, speed traps and traffic hazards using “spies” could be on offer within months.

Known as Road Spy, the service was launched on the Gold Coast this week and is expected to be rolled out across Australia over the next six months. It involves a team of spies gathering the information, which is then sent to subscribers.

But it has already raised the ire of Queensland authorities who are threatening to make it illegal to profit from publication of RBT sites.

Creator Adam Bush said he had already received calls from people interstate who want to subscribe, particularly in Perth, where WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts plans to outlaw the sale and possession of radar detectors. A subscription costs $149 for six months.

Mr Bush said the service had 300 road spies, including regular road users like taxi drivers and couriers, who alerted the service to RBT units, speed traps and traffic problems.

But he denied it would undermine road safety measures. “The more people are aware of where the RBTs are and how many there are, it will hopefully reduce the number of drink drivers, “ he said.

Road Safety Council chairman Grant Dorrington said the scheme went dangerously close to encouraging people to break the law. He questioned the legal implications for Road Spy if one of its subscribers used the information to avoid and RBT location and ran over someone while drink driving. It was not the same as the existing system of revealing speed camera locations because it would reveal the exact location and time that a speed trap or RBT was set up.
Motor Trades Association executive director Peter Fitzpatrick said the scheme would not be in the best interest of road safety.

Western Australia to ban radar detectors.

ABC News, 9 January 2006.

Radar detectors look set to be banned from Western Australian roads this year.
The move, which would bring Western Australia in line with the eastern states, is part of a plan to tackle dangerous driving.

Radar detectors are commercially available in Western Australia and widely used, but the state's Road Safety Council says the devices encourage people to speed and break the law.

Police Minister Michelle Roberts agrees and has told the ABC she will usher in new laws to ban them.

"When Parliament returns in March, we'll have a number of new road safety initiatives, the banning of radar detectors will be a priority for us," she said.

Ms Roberts says the Government is also planning to apply its anti-hoon laws to people caught driving 45 kilometres or more above the speed limit.

Ms Roberts says people caught driving at those speeds could soon risk having their cars impounded for up to three months.

Fourteen people died on Western Australia's roads over the Christmas break - most of the fatalities were on country roads.

Police are still investigating a crash which killed a 41-year-old man in Dardanup, in the state's south-west, at the weekend.

Police say the man lost control of his motorcycle about 6:30pm AWST on Saturday - he died at the scene.

Grant Dorrington from the Road Safety Council says more needs to be done to raise safety standards in regional areas.

"Most of them are driving from town to town or out to their farm where the roads are not policed all the time.