2 February 2010

Speed sign on the northbound parkway speed camera

| thomped2
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Hi all, i would like to thank whoever put the 100kph speed sign on the northbound parkway speed camera (where the cotter crosses over).

This is a good idea and should be done to every static speed camera. its already been done for the speed vans. Think about it how many times have you been driving along and then just saw the camera and gone “WHAT SPPED IS IT?!?!?!?” and jammed on the brakes, especially if you from out of town.

Yes they put 3 big signs up on the way toward the camera remove them and put it on the darn thing! get straight to the point.

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Youami, I can see we’re going to disagree on this issue. You seem to be saying you’re a good driver so it’s okay to drive faster than the limit, whereas I beleive part of being a good driver means obeying the road rules including speed limits; they are there for a reason.

Clown killer, I didn’t miss your point. I am aware of the Coronial process involved with fatal collisions. My point is a proactive attitude to prevent injury and death is a better approach than learning our lessons after the fact through the findings of the Coroner. I also believe the Coroner is seeing less fatal crash matters than many years ago through advancements in vehicle safety technology and medical proceedures. Without having researched this, I’ll bet there have been increases in serious injury through such medical advancements which is a huge financial cost.

so you get to redefine ‘speeding’, youami..? who are you again? maybe i want to redefine murder as killing someone i like – so killing someone, if ever so slightly, i don’t like much is ok then…

if you’re not keen to conform to the motor traffic act and its regulations then perhaps you should hand in the licence issued to you, which binds you to do so, and give up driving on our public roads…

so you</i get to redefine 'speeding', youami, and that's ok.

i want to define 'murder' as killing someone i like, so if i don't like the person, killing them slightly is ok…

if you don't want to conform to the motor traffic act and its regulations then i suggest you hand back the licence issued to you and don't drive.

Punter said :

Clown Killer, it’s not appropriate to accept more deaths before the Coroner recommends anything regarding speeding. Does anyone remember this as one example? http://www.abc-for-kids.com/news/stories/2008/08/13/2333849.htm

Why don’t they have a speed camera where these kids died? Instead they have them sitting out on the Barton Hwy and Tuggeranong Parkway – 2 of the safest roads in Canberra.

The sign is a legacy of the protection screens on the cotter road bridge that the contractor forgot to take down. If you can’t notice the 3 huge 100kph speed camera signs starting about 1km before the camera, the you are an idiot. Although, it is more difficult to notice speed signs in busy built up areas, I have not come across a location like this in Canberra, only in Sydney or Melbourne.

Clown Killer8:06 am 04 Feb 10

Punter, I think you mighthave missed my point. When someone is killed on the Territories roads the Coroners Office prepares a report detailing the circumstances of the fatality and making findings as to the cause of the fatality – why the crash happened and what factors contributed to the fatality – excessive speed is recognised as a causal factor from time to time but not very often, and certainly not with the frequency that trout-mouthing elected officials and office holders would like us to believe.

Clown Killer, it’s not appropriate to accept more deaths before the Coroner recommends anything regarding speeding. Does anyone remember this as one example? http://www.abc-for-kids.com/news/stories/2008/08/13/2333849.htm

Punter said :

Youami, your attitude toward this issue is seriously misplaced. If by collateral damage you mean yourself or your family, myself or my family, or anyone else being seriously injured or killed, then I would argue that is an unacceptable consequence and you should reconsider if you should be driving on any road. It’s not the speed that’ll cause the serious injury or death, it’s the change in speed as occurs in crashes. The greater the change, the more the likelihood of injury or death. I’m not saying you’re a bad person, only I suspect you don’t appreciate all the consequences of your choice when you speed. I am pleased if you drive to the conditions of the road as you say. I assume that means you slow down and increase your stopping distance in the wet or when visibility is low. Remember, crashes occur outside of school zones also. You can leave your hat on, I’m not perfect, but I think I have a healthy attitude toward driving safely.

Let me clarify, the definition of speeding is driving above the posted speed limit even by 1km/h so yeah that is me. But I define ‘speeding’ in the sense of outside the boundaries of commonsense, ie. someone being reckless and/or exceeding the limit by a lot, say at least 10-20km/hour. So in a 60, travel at least 80, and so on. I travel, if I speed, I do not on principle drive that fast over the limit. Doesn’t make it right I hear you say but that doesn’t stop me from being a safe driver nor does it make me misplaced or live in fairyland because I know the consequences of reckless driving. But when I drive I observe the environment (and road signs) and travel at a speed that is not going to be a problem, if that means I am comfortable at a speed slightly higher than the posted limit I will do that, it is illegal but I will also wear that if I get caught. Conversely, I sometimes travel below the posted limit for the same reasons and observations, such as down Giles St where I travel at 40km/h even though it is 60km/h, etc etc. I am talking semantics here. And you assume correct, I slow down when required. Remember the old days when country roads had a ‘deregulation’ limit (the sign with black circle and line through it). There was no speed limit and drivers had to do exactly what I have said above, observe.

Let me also make it clear: I do not condone speeding at 100km/h (or whatever speed) in a 60km/h zone. That is reckless and most likely contrary to the road conditions.

Now to the point of ‘speed kills’: if I was to ever have an accident at 100km/h in a 100km/h zone I will most likely be seriously injured or killed no matter what purely due to the speed I am travelling –but the point I am making is that I am not speeding by definition I am just going fast.

… anyway, back to the OP, one must always know what the legal posted limit is otherwise they should not drive! I always know the posted limit regardless of how fast or slow I drive.

Clown Killer8:18 pm 03 Feb 10

annoyedcan, I doubt that anybody is suggesting that excessive speed cannot occasionally be identified as the cause of a road fatality. What is contested is the endless trout-mouthing of speed as the cause of most fatalities in order to ‘sell’ electorate complacency on speed cameras.

If speed really was a big issue you could bet that the ACT Coroner would be making more recommendations to that effect.

if you’re unsure of the limit for the stretch of road you’re on, slow down to 40km/h; ain’t nowhere (mebbe carparks, shucks) where ypu’ll be pinged for speeding at 40km/h…

and yes, annoyedcan, while speeding kills, it is often speeding and another factor (tailgating, for one) that contribute to collisions: let’s all start calling them that – ain’t no accidents.

If anyone believes that speeding does not kill should wake up from fairy land. Yes if you are travelling at 100kph and had a collision you will be injured same as if you are travelling at 60kph.

People should spend a year with Police Crash teams and see how speed does kill or even better to get your licence watch a video of car collisions of death (then again some people will complain at that).
Well news to people, driving a car is not easy. If you can’t handle the different speed signs get a bicycle. But then again you might miss the stop signs too.

Stressful driving in Canberra, is that a joke.

Youami, your attitude toward this issue is seriously misplaced. If by collateral damage you mean yourself or your family, myself or my family, or anyone else being seriously injured or killed, then I would argue that is an unacceptable consequence and you should reconsider if you should be driving on any road. It’s not the speed that’ll cause the serious injury or death, it’s the change in speed as occurs in crashes. The greater the change, the more the likelihood of injury or death. I’m not saying you’re a bad person, only I suspect you don’t appreciate all the consequences of your choice when you speed. I am pleased if you drive to the conditions of the road as you say. I assume that means you slow down and increase your stopping distance in the wet or when visibility is low. Remember, crashes occur outside of school zones also. You can leave your hat on, I’m not perfect, but I think I have a healthy attitude toward driving safely.

You make a fair point t-s about the weird-ass speed limits in Canberra. I agree that consistency in ACT would be a godsend. The Monaro for example is ridiculous.

But your point about the $75 fine in NSW, you may be right in that a truck had obscured your view but it must have been three trucks as there are always three signs warning you of the speed camera, unless you were done by a real copper, in that case the truckie would have known (with help of his friends and two-way) not to speed so as you overtake him bam! you were done.

I have driven for 20+ years never had a fine never had a GPS.

And tillyard, you mention that cars rear-end you, as a good driver you would avoid those situations. And you never said the sign was hidden or non-existent, you said that you don’t get time to see the sign because you are too busy looking at traffic! Anyway, semantics, I am sure you are a good driver, just as I am.

troll-sniffer4:37 pm 03 Feb 10

youami, I find the Speed Alert relaxes me no end. That’s all, I don’t need it, I have driven fine-free in Canberra for 20+ years now, but I was never as comfortably relaxed as I am now.

About 5 years ago I drove to Hervey Bay and back, and the whole way I concentrated non-stop on sticking to the speed limits, determined not to let the NSW or QLD Nazi Parties profit from my journey. A couple of weeks after I got back, I got a $75 penalty for a speed camera infringement. I looked up the location and the road was dual lane and 60km/hr, just outside a seaside town up north NSW. All I can guess is that there was truck on my left when I passed the speed sign, thereby negating my ability to see it, and though I was slowing up for an obvious 60km area ahead, I did not slow up quickly enough.

Had my little Speed Alert thingamy been available, the fact I couldn’t see the sign would not have mattered, the machine would have told me to slow down.

Finally, youami and others who are intent on telling me all about my Speed Alert thingie, if Canberra had consistent and sensible speed limits, I wouldn’t bother, because it would be obvious what speed I shhould be going at by the width and type of road I was on. In Canberra relying on such a commonsense method would quickly eat up my spare cash.

Driving in Auckland is much less stressful than Canberra, or at least it was last time I was there. They have two speed limits, 50km/hr blanket speed limit in all suburban type streets, 80km/hr on divided limited access roads, that’s it. It’s one or the other and there’s no confusion, once you enter an 80km/hr road it won’t change to a 50km/hr road arbitrarily, like it’s likely to here. I wish Canberra would do the same, I’d be more than happy to go slower on all our roads if only there was consistency across the board.

Punter said :

“Speeding and getting caught speeding are two different matters. Don’t get confused here, I do sometimes speed but I have also never been caught. And when I do I will cop it on the chin.”

Youami, the not so obvious difference between the two is when you’re caught and cop it on the chin , the police just may have saved you or someone else from serious injury or death, a consequence you sadly seem to have overlooked. Following your comment, I don’t think you qualify to give advice as to sticking to the speed limit (#10), perhaps you too could go and get your L’s again if you’re unable to stick to the speed limit or under it as everyone else on the road is required to.

Why do you think speeding will cause injury or death? It doesn’t, never has, and never will. Sure the faster you go the more collateral damage one (or others) will receive in the unlikely event of an accident but that’s it. And you can’t tell me I will not suffer injury or death on a road posted at 100km and I travel at or below the limit -I am not speeding. Anyway, I do take your point in that I speed and that is wrong I am such a bad person… I drive to the conditions of the road. Punter, I will take my hat off to you if you say you have never driven over a posted speed limit. And for the record, I never go over 40km in or around as school zone or shared zone. Just saying.

Also, please don’t put “‘” after L. The L doesn’t own anything…

I presume the other 3 LARGE signs saying 100 SPEED CAMERA didn’t catch your attention? The sign on the actual camera was put there when they were putting up the rather lovely barricade on the Cotter Rd overpass, which I assume is to stop the f&ckwit teenagers with nothing better to do then throw stuff at cars to see who they can kill.

The red light speed camera sign on Drakeford Dr. is also well sign posted, not as big as the Tuggy Parkway signs, but the same as the signs on Northbourne Ave x2, Canberra Ave, Barton Hwy, Barry Drive and Hindmarsh Drive.

I can kinda understand where the OP is coming from, I mean it is hard to figure out how fast to go, when your drinking a coffee, reading the paper and talking on your mobile telephone.

3 tips on following the speed limit;
1. Take head out of a$$
2. Have a look at the road signs (not the stupid ones about dying, texting and drinking.)
3. If your not overtaking on a road that has a speed limit over 90km/h keep left(It is the law.)

I’m gonna add a number 4,
4. When coming up to a form one lane, if you leave enough room for a car to fit between you and the car in front of you, it makes it so much easier for all the cars merge (Don’t go on about the other cars trying to squeeze in either, you will find if you leave a gap, the people behind you will follow suit. Try it.)

Best way to get out of a speeding fine, don’t speed. Remember it is an optional tax, if you speed AND get caught you are choosing to pay the tax.

Buzz

There’s a couple of places where the speed signs were hidden behind trees, so you kinda had to know the sign was there to know to drop your speed (from 80 to 60 at the time). And yes, I lost $65 from one such instance.

Some people find the multiple limits a bit confusing too – the fact that you can find a speed limit for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 km somewhere in Canberra (ok – i haven’t seen a 20 lately). That’s a lot of beeps from your GPS thingy.

All that aside, the one place the speed limits are very well signposted is in the lead-up to a fixed camera.

“Speeding and getting caught speeding are two different matters. Don’t get confused here, I do sometimes speed but I have also never been caught. And when I do I will cop it on the chin.”

Youami, the not so obvious difference between the two is when you’re caught and cop it on the chin , the police just may have saved you or someone else from serious injury or death, a consequence you sadly seem to have overlooked. Following your comment, I don’t think you qualify to give advice as to sticking to the speed limit (#10), perhaps you too could go and get your L’s again if you’re unable to stick to the speed limit or under it as everyone else on the road is required to.

troll-sniffer said :

There’s a new toy I got that’s perfect for Canberra (with some limitations of course).

It’s a Navig8r G35 GPS thingummy that sits on the dash like all the other GPS thingamajigs, but it has a thing called Speed Alert that constantly lets you know what the speed is and beeps at you when you are going faster than the Nazi Party allows. Unlike the other GPS thingamies, you can replace the map with a full screen symbol that displays the current speed for the bit of tarmac you’re zooming along.

Now when I jump in the car, I head off, aware of what the speed is in my street, and the next street and so on. After a couple of minutes the machine recognises enough secret spy satellites and chimes to let me know it’s now looking after me. From then on it chimes when the speed limit changes, and Canberra roads being what they are, I get a beep every couple of minutes whenever I stray over the official Nazi-sanctioned limits, and now my automatic reflex is just to welease woger from the loud pedal a little, glance at the speedo and continue driving, rarely looking at the speedo again until i get another beep.

It’s not perfect by any means. Some of the speed limits in the database are out of date, but not many. Also roadworks aren’t included so they need to be noted manually, shock horror. So I still need to keep my wits about me and be aware of the local speeds. what it does do is prevent the pedal creep that is so easy on our wide empty roads, (perfectly safe but not according to the Nazi Party).

And as a bonus, anytime you enter a zone 250m around any fixed speed camera, it has a special alert warning of a fixed camera. Quite often the camera is on the other lane or even on another road, but I don’t care, I’d rather have an irrelevant warning than none at all.

So, if you’re like me, and tend to drive to the conditions rather than the Nazi Party sanctioned limits, and consequently often find yourself on an empty wide stretch of straight road doing (shock horror) 10-15km/hr more than the Nazi Party allows, then one of these devices can be a godsend. Although I hate doing it, I now drive within the often ridiculous limits almost unconsciously, with the reassuring occasional beep keeping my wallet stuffed with more of the proceeds of my ridiculously inflated salary.

I purchased the device for the princely sum of $127 at a blue-themed office supplies chain store, and paid a further $30 for a year of speed updates. If it saves me just one speeding fine, it’s paid for itself. It’s a Navig8r G35, I believe there are other fancier models available as well.

Why don’t you just be aware? It worked for all drivers all those years ago without GPS thingamijigs. Surely knowing the speed limit on a road is fundamental to driving on the road. And those GPS thingamijigs I think they are a hindrance than anything else. Where is the planning and being aware of the environment or the roadside or the ‘best’ way to get from a to b? Instead of knowing points and places of interest (or speed signs in this case) you rely on a computer (or computer voice or computer beep) to tell you where to go. Next thing you know we will all be passengers with no-one being able to drive. I bet most readers drive automatics as well, so you not even really driving just steering the wheel! Aaahh get me to Nimbin lol.

There’s no need to be rude. I sometimes find myself unsure of the speed limit when entering a road because I’m busy looking out for traffic before merging and hoping the idiot behind me will apply the brakes before slamming into me (something that a lot of drivers are unable to do, they simply merge regardless of the semi!) and there are a lot of very confusing setups so that by the time you figure out where the hell you are you’ve missed the speed sign.

ANOTHER thing is that speed limits often change between 60 or 80 for example, every 100m it changes back and forth. Then there’s the “roadworks”. Not to mention most Canberrans fly along doing 100 in an 80 zone while others are talking on their phone and alternating between 40 and 20 km in a 60 zone. And there was a post a couple of weeks back about the ridiculous amount of road signs. So I don’t blame people from out of town or other parts of the city for being unsure at times.

Nup, that is simply no excuse – maybe go and get your Ls again! Sorry but the rest of the world can drive by looking all around and being diligent of vehicles behind you and in front and to the side so why can’t you? WillowJim at #2 pointed out that competent drivers should know the speed limit, with or without signs. If in doubt refer to the Australian Road Rules which I recall states, if a road in a built-up area and no sign travel at 50km, if there are no street lights travel at 100km. Can’t go wrong as most major roads in ACT are 80km so until you see a sign you will be fine. Sure travelling at 50 in an 80 zone might not be ideal but it won’t be long before you will see a sign.

tarj said :

I would like to think that all these Riotact users with negative and patronising comments about this post have never been caught speeding. Because otherwise that would mean that they are doing it intentionally. Who is more stupid now.

Speeding and getting caught speeding are two different matters. Don’t get confused here, I do sometimes speed but I have also never been caught. And when I do I will cop it on the chin.

I would like to think that all these Riotact users with negative and patronising comments about this post have never been caught speeding. Because otherwise that would mean that they are doing it intentionally. Who is more stupid now.

troll-sniffer11:01 am 03 Feb 10

There’s a new toy I got that’s perfect for Canberra (with some limitations of course).

It’s a Navig8r G35 GPS thingummy that sits on the dash like all the other GPS thingamajigs, but it has a thing called Speed Alert that constantly lets you know what the speed is and beeps at you when you are going faster than the Nazi Party allows. Unlike the other GPS thingamies, you can replace the map with a full screen symbol that displays the current speed for the bit of tarmac you’re zooming along.

Now when I jump in the car, I head off, aware of what the speed is in my street, and the next street and so on. After a couple of minutes the machine recognises enough secret spy satellites and chimes to let me know it’s now looking after me. From then on it chimes when the speed limit changes, and Canberra roads being what they are, I get a beep every couple of minutes whenever I stray over the official Nazi-sanctioned limits, and now my automatic reflex is just to welease woger from the loud pedal a little, glance at the speedo and continue driving, rarely looking at the speedo again until i get another beep.

It’s not perfect by any means. Some of the speed limits in the database are out of date, but not many. Also roadworks aren’t included so they need to be noted manually, shock horror. So I still need to keep my wits about me and be aware of the local speeds. what it does do is prevent the pedal creep that is so easy on our wide empty roads, (perfectly safe but not according to the Nazi Party).

And as a bonus, anytime you enter a zone 250m around any fixed speed camera, it has a special alert warning of a fixed camera. Quite often the camera is on the other lane or even on another road, but I don’t care, I’d rather have an irrelevant warning than none at all.

So, if you’re like me, and tend to drive to the conditions rather than the Nazi Party sanctioned limits, and consequently often find yourself on an empty wide stretch of straight road doing (shock horror) 10-15km/hr more than the Nazi Party allows, then one of these devices can be a godsend. Although I hate doing it, I now drive within the often ridiculous limits almost unconsciously, with the reassuring occasional beep keeping my wallet stuffed with more of the proceeds of my ridiculously inflated salary.

I purchased the device for the princely sum of $127 at a blue-themed office supplies chain store, and paid a further $30 for a year of speed updates. If it saves me just one speeding fine, it’s paid for itself. It’s a Navig8r G35, I believe there are other fancier models available as well.

Perhaps you’d like the speed limit printed on the road itself, every twenty metres? Would that help you remember how fast you’re supposed to be going?

I got caught at the cameron on the traffic lights on Drakeford Drive, (around Kambah), a while back. Whilst I’m not excusing myself for (slightly), speeding, have paid the ensuing fine and slapped my own wrist, I did subsequently think to myself that the fact that the traffic lights have a red light camera and a speed camera should be displayed as prominently as the other fixed speed cameras on the Parkway. I had a feeling that they had to be prominently signposted and I wonder why this one is not so.

Having said that, I get as fed up as everyone else with those on our roads who drive like it’s the autobahn and am for the most part not bothered by speed cameras.

Have to also agree with the other comments – can’t think of a road that is over 100km in Canberra so it is quite hard to get caught there.

Rawhide Kid No 28:34 am 03 Feb 10

He could be from outa town . But then I could be wrong.

I can’t think of a road in Canberra that doesn’t have a speed limit sign at every possible entry onto the road. If you don’t know the limit of the road you’re driving on, particularly when they throw them in your face three or four times before a speed camera, perhaps you shouldn’t be driving.

No offence, Thomped2, but knowing the speed limit at any given moment is part of being a competent driver. If you don’t, you’re lacking the awareness that someone who is licensed to drive should have.

Even more so if you live in Canberra and generally drive on the same roads.

Woody Mann-Caruso9:34 pm 02 Feb 10

“WHAT SPPED IS IT?!?!?!?”

You’ve got to be a troll. Nobody could be that stupid.

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