Breaking News - Australia
Speed Camera Upgrade Time for NSW - QLD - WA - Who's Next?
"Poliscan Speed" set to Replace Multanova Units
By Max von Lion 25th Nov 09
PERTH (WA) — It was revealed last night that the WA Police have on order 30 Vitronic "Poliscan Speed" advanced automated speed camera units to replace the existing 27 Multanova speed cameras. As if this wasn't enough bad news for WA motorists, this government has also ordered 5 dual purpose Red Light Speed Cameras. Soon errant motorists can expect not one, but two fines in the mail. One ticket for the red light infraction and a second ticket for speeding, all from the one machine. (Below setup near the bell tower Perth)
The bitter pill for motorist is that the new system will increasing speed camera revenue from current levels of $40 million dollars per year to a projected $112 million dollars in 2 years time. That is a $72 million dollar increase which is nearly triple the current level.
We at PoliceSpeedCameras website challenge Mr Barnett to follow through with his comments as reported on 7th April 2004 when in opposition.
Reported - "The leader of the Opposition believes that the states speed camera policy needs some radical changes. He said that painting the cameras bright colours and placing signs in front of cameras would help to put safe motorists on side with the police instead of in constant conflict."
Mr Colin Barnett said "Placing speed cameras behind bushes was a form of spying. Lets put the law abiding safe motorists on side with the police not in a sense of conflict or suspicion."
The new Vitronic system will give new meaning to "shooting ducks in a barrel." Do you think Mr Barnett will make speed camera signs more visible now that he is in government? Comments to the discussion board are welcome.
Read more on this story here....
NSW - Red Light Cameras to be Updated
November 24, 2009
By ANDREW WEST TRANSPORT
ALARMED at the steep increase in the state's road toll this year, the NSW Government will replace its network of red light cameras in an effort to catch more reckless and speeding drivers.
The Transport Minister, David Campbell, will today announce that “wet-film” cameras, which require manual loading and development and have been in place for more than 20 years, will be upgraded to digital cameras.
The 200 new cameras will be introduced over the next four years and linked to a central network. Some will also serve as speed cameras.
Click here for camera locations.
“The current 183 red light camera sites are over 20 years old and it is time that they were replaced,” Mr Campbell said.
“The parts are no longer available to service these cameras. This new technology will be placed at intersections with extremely poor crash records. We will be installing these new safety cameras where they are needed most to improve road safety.”
The minister said that with the 2009 road toll now at 415 deaths -94 fatalities up on the 2008 toll - more effective ways of catching reckless drivers were vital.
"The road safety benefit of red-light cameras is a reduction in the number of right angle crashes which are also known as 'T-bone crashes'," he said.
"Speeding through a red light is one of the most dangerous things you can do on our roads and the consequences for yourself and innocent motorists could be deadly.''
He said that at sites where cameras had been installed, police had recorded falls of up to 70 per cent in dangerous driving.
The Roads and Traffic Authority, which be responsiblefor the new technology, will activate combined red light and speed cameras at four permanent sites, while another five dual-use cameras will be rotated through 25 other locations across NSW.
“The aim is to change driver behaviour, ensuring motorists slow down and obey red lights at intersections,” Mr Campbell said.
The Government will install the first 50 of new cameras over the nextsix months at locations with poor crash histories, including the intersections of Botany Road and Bourke Road, Alexandria; New Narellan Road and Kellicar Road at Campbelltown; Canterbury Road and King Georges Road, Lakemba; George Street and Liverpool Street in the City; and the Great Western Highway and Hawkesbury Road at Mays Hill.
The first of the new cameras will be running by late December, in time for the holidays.
Brisbane's New Tunnel to have 8 Speed Cameras 25th Nov 2009 
BRISBANE'S new cross-river tunnel will be lined with eight fixed speed cameras over its 6.8km length.
The tunnel will account for almost half of the fixed speed camera sites across the entire state once it is operational.
Motoring groups said it was a case of ''gross overkill'' and accused the State Government of contradicting its own camera policy, insisting locations were supposed to be chosen on historical crash data.
Police Minister Neil Roberts yesterday said the cameras would help enforce the 80km/h speed limit and reduce the significant speed-related crash risks a tunnel posed.
''Crashes in tunnels have the potential to be particularly hazardous due to the enclosed nature of the environment,'' Mr Roberts said. ''Fixed speed cameras have been proven to raise drivers' awareness of speed limits and ultimately slow motorists down.''
However, RACQ spokeswoman Lynda Schekoske said the motoring group supported cameras only where there was a significant crash history.
''Eight cameras in six or so kilometres seems somewhat excessive,'' she said. ''We would certainly think that having cameras there for enforcement reasons from the outset would not be very appropriate.''
The move is likely to provide a new revenue bounty for the cash-strapped Government, with about 4000 drivers a month caught at the state's first three fixed camera sites last year.
Mr Roberts said the Clem7 cameras would be placed in four locations in pairs and on each side of the road and would be clearly signed, like the state's nine above-ground cameras. Only six of those above-ground cameras are operational but the other three will be brought online in coming weeks.
The tunnel cameras will be digital, unlike the previous wet film models.
QUT Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety researcher Mark King yesterday said while the move was unusual, the cameras were appropriate given the unique nature of the tunnel.
''We have had some high-profile nasty crashes in tunnels and when it does happen, it can be quite bad,'' he said.
The tunnel, linking Bowen Hills north of the Brisbane CBD to Woolloongabba in the south, is expected to open in the first few months of next year.
The cameras will mean a driver could lose their licence and cop an $800 fine in a matter of minutes if they drove through the four sites at 93km/h.
National Motorists Association Australia (NMAA) spokesman Michael Lane, a fierce critic of speed cameras, said the tunnel plan was ridiculous.
''It's gross overkill,'' he said. ''I assume it's a reasonably straight tunnel. You don't need four in each direction. That is a ridiculous waste of money.
''What if someone goes through there and their speedometer is faulty, they get four tickets and they lose their licence?''
But late today, a spokesman for Police Minister Neil Roberts' office clarified that, at worst, a speeding motorist could be hit with two tickets.
Breaking News - United Kingdom
UK Government Admits Traffic Wrong Accident Figures - UK Department for Transport reports threefold undercount of road accidents during the speed camera era.
 For the past several years, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) has heralded the drop in the number of serious traffic accidents as evidence of the success of its speed camera policies. For the first time, the agency admitted last Thursday that injury numbers have dropped because its statistical method is incomplete. Although DfT reported 230,905 injury accidents took place in 2008, the agency now believes the true number of accidents is actually three times greater.
"Our best current estimate, derived from survey data with cross-checking against other data sources, is that the total number of road casualties in Great Britain each year, including those not reported to police, is within the range 680 thousand to 920 thousand with a central estimate of 800 thousand," Matthew Tranter with DfT's Road Safety Research and Statistics wrote. Read the full story...
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