SPEED CAMERAS

 Speed cameras have made a big impact on drivers in Victoria and drivers have slowed down considerably, yet a record number of drivers are still being caught speeding.  

 The bottom line is don’t speed and you will not get a ticket.  Pretty simple.

That is providing that the speed cameras are working correctly, and we believe there are enough watchdogs out there to keep them honest.  ( check links at bottom of page)

Speed Cameras vs Police Presence 

Our concern is that speed cameras are not preventing road trauma. The road toll has not decreased because of speed cameras.

The high speeds that cause deaths are still occurring.  

Driving too fast for the conditions and crashing is still occurring. 

 Driving at a speed above the speed limit is still occurring; the only difference is now it is easier to catch more drivers doing it.

When drivers get a ticket in the mail several weeks after the speeding occurred there isn’t any road safety lesson learned.

 Drivers are just plain annoyed.  The driver hasn’t changed his driving habits in between getting flashed by a camera and receiving the ticket. So how is that preventing speeding and road trauma?   

If police pull you over for speeding and give you a ticket the impact is immediate. 

Police should be walking and talking tyrants to drivers who abuse road laws. 

 The governments are putting big dollars into point to point cameras on the Hume Highway.  Once again the action of speeding is being recorded but not prevented.

Speed cameras do not catch drivers behaving dangerously;

 They do not catch drivers with unroadworthy cars or unregistered cars.

Speed cameras do not stop a tragedy from happening.  They watch it.     

 Visible police prevent it instantly 

What of a drunk driver, what if there was a camera to catch drink drivers? would it be ok to just flash them and send a fine weeks later?

  Observe them risking other road users lives and ignore it because a fine is in the mail? 

   The speeding driver may be flashed speeding, and then be on the road, still speeding for the next three hours, and not encounter a police car to stop the behavior.     

  It is more than likely that the driver who is speeding excessively is also drunk or drugged, so how does flashing that driver and leaving him on the road prevent road trauma? 

 Speed cameras are a good watch dog, they should be highly visible and they should always be where fatalities have occurred.  They should be the back up.  

They should not be a replacement for police presence on the road.

 Red light cameras should be on every intersection, providing the timing of the lights is correct. Going through a red light or stop sign is a a deadly driving act. 

WACD is about preventing road trauma, it has been proved that speed causes horrendous injuries and we do not have any qualms about drivers who do not heed the speed limits being caught and fined.

It is the method of catching them that causes us concern.

The following links are very informative re speed cameras.

They are not necassarily our view

  http://www.policespeedcameras.info/

 http://www.roadwatch.com.au/forum/default.asp