Fixed Speed Camera nobbled

Notice in the ACT speed cameras are NOT used in school zones!?? And did y’all see the stats on Parkes Way roundabout crashes? I’ve written to Canberra Times long time ago re this … boof head Hargraves goes off at the accident stats – like five per month at Anzac and parkes. I wrorte and told him to tell us the traffic movements at that intersection per day so I could do the percentages. Anyway, no answer. But I did tell him that at a guess, and acknowledging that any accident is a shit day – those stats are good odds for that roundabout. Then there’s the big signs warning of a red light camera ahead on all four corners, but there is only one fixed on one side! On NSW police radar use … used to be an old trick puttting two units a few 100m apart; but sooo many complaints. They do have an image to keep up you know.:)

Canberra drivers are aggressive, and people in the surrounding region are just as bad. WRT braking just before a known camera… there’s a primary school on Yass Road in Qbn with a 40 km/hr zone. People don’t even do 60 along there, let alone 40. Sometimes the Qbn cops set up (very prominently) outside the bowlo and set up their speed gun. So every morning, drivers enter the 40 zone at 40, craning their necks to see if the cops are there. When they see the coast is clear, they launch their cars back up to 80 or whatever they want to be doing. By the time they’re going through the crossing (sometimes with kids around it!), they’re hitting lightspeed.

I don’t know why the cops don’t set up further down the 40 zone, they must know this goes on.

i can tell you that since the new speed cameras were put on the monaro hwy i have never done the speed limit pass either of them (unless there is a stupid pube in front of me that thinks you have to do 10klms under the limit pass them!! )also same with the 2 on barton hwy
now on the other hand the new ones that have sensors in the road I do slow down for

Guys, having only moved to Canberra a couple of years ago from Perth I can tell you that people speed here more than anywhere else I have lived or visited. Don’t get me wrong, I have my own share of speeding fines but I try to stick to the speed limit as much as possible. (having recently been pulled over in a road work zone doing 100, instead of 60.. and being let off on a warning.)

I think that most Canberrians assume they can do at least 10, if not 20 kms/hr over the speed limit because the chances of getting caught are low. Plus, the roads are largely excellent and seem to be designed for a population of 1 million, not the 300,000 people that actually live here.

In Perth we had a nasty little speed camera called a multi-nova. It was the size of a video camera mounted on a tripod and typically positioned just around a corner or behind a tree. You had next to no chance of spotting it until you passed it. Suffice to say, this sent out a ticket to anyone going over the speed limit, as you rarely spotted them in time to slow down. As a result, speeding was a rarity in Perth and not the norm as it is in Canberra.

I know we have those stupid white vans here that do the same thing. But if you don’t spot one of those at least a km away, you are either drunk or ignorant of the speed limit completely. Plus, if it is even slightly raining they have to turn on all their flashing warning lights. What is the point?

The fixed cameras here are also just about as pointless. I drive down the Manaro every day and am passed by cars doing 110-120 in the 80 zone, only to see them break just before the fixed cameras.

Until those fixed cameras are time/distance based no one in the ACT is ever likely to do the speed limit. The chances of getting caught by a undercover car are just not high enough to care about, at least from what I have seen.

I know these forums are frequented by many of the hoons I spot each morning so I doubt many will concur. However, one of these days a smart politician will realise how much more revenue the state could make by deploying ad-hoc, invisible multi-nova cameras in all the places you speed. God forbid, you may have to slow down, stop tailgating and drive sensibly for a change. (Don’t get me started about using your indicators, is that even covered in the ACT license exam?)

Actually it wasn’t a VL .. it was a V8. I think a Berlina? Had a distinctive 3-tier spoiler … 😉

Roos are booby traps. Seriously.

I hit a roo a few years back – not speeding, just bad luck. Cotter road, 7pm in winter. Dark.

I pulled over to check if it was dead. It wasn’t – so I got out the steering wheel lock … although I really had no intention of “doing it” – I couldn’t.

Didn’t have to.

A turbo VL Commodore came screaming up the hill doing at least 120 km/h and ran over the roo on the road while I was standing about a metre from it. Very icky. The roo died shortly afterwards.

Oh, regarding roos,
everyone should know that speed will do little avoid striking a roo at night. Halogen headlights do no cover the whole braking distance of a vehicle. At any speed, they fall 20% short. So whether 50 or 100, if roo is far enough away, your lights won’t illuminate it in time. Even worse if wet.

I wonder how many of these cameras are operational. I stupidly did 80 in a 60 zone while distracted on Melrose and passed a van. He was set up, not packing up or setting up. I didn’t get an infringement. I do 100 up the hill (for the 100m before the 100 sign) on Monaro all the time, either the cameras don’t work of I am out of range.

Gotta watch those roos – I nearly hit a roo at 10 o’clock in the morning at the intersection in Civic out the front of the Convention Centre! No kidding

the speed camera whining always amuses me. Dont speed and its a non-issue.