The point of Point to Point?

The number plate reading sets up a check point. Its a fixed rapid camera. So pay close attention to paying your bills.

Sure if your a honest law abiding citizen then what do you have to worry about. Nothing YET.

WMC, I think that in your eageness to make my words fit whatever view you have of the world you are reading too much into my post.

All am saying is that under the existing arrangements on the Tuggers Parkway, there are only two critical points where drivers need to be absolutely sure of their speed. With point-to-point, drivers (me included) will need to be sure of our speed for the whole distance between the two devices: it’s no big deal. Will it make that stretch of road safer? No.

The interesting thing about point to point speed cameras is that they need to record your number plate to calculate your average speed. Firstly there are the privacy considerations. Why should you have details of your movements recorded when you haven’t broken any laws.

Secondly, it is just a very small modification to change a point to point speed camera into a point to point toll camera. Given the current government’s strategy of trying to solve all of its traffic congestion, parking, climate change and revenue problems by bleeding motorists dry, is there any doubt that plans for some sort of congestion charge aren’t too far away.

If point-to-point cameras were introduced I’d probably pay a little more attention to the actual speed I was driving at rather than driving to the conditions – it’s no big deal.

Oh, nice back pedal. Did you learn from one of your unicycling clown victims? Maybe you could just explain why you can’t do both, like a real driver.

Your comment would be very true if traffic actually obeyed the speed limit.

What the hell does what you just said have to do with what I said? I was talking about the spurious claim that drivers paying attention to their speed look at the road less, and thus are more dangerous, and the other furphy that there has to be some sort of trade-off between doing the speed limit and driving to the conditions. How does people doing 10km/h over the speed limit change this?

dvaey said :

People who do this, make me wish one day theyll do it to an unmarked police car. If they see you driving below the limit and then slowing down while theyre behind you, youre likely to be seeing red and blues in your rear-view mirror.

So you have no problem with people speeding, tailgating and bullying other drivers, but you think people driving slightly under the speed limit should be targeted by the police.

You never fail to surprise me, dvaey.

That was jist of my comment that WMC missed sloppery.

I usually get along the parkway with the flow of the traffic – sometimes thats at 80-90km/h and sometimes it runs to 110km/h. The existing fixed speed cameras on the Tuggers Parkway provide two speed reference points. If point-to-point cameras were introduced I’d probably pay a little more attention to the actual speed I was driving at rather than driving to the conditions – it’s no big deal.

A point WMC might consider is that every day in Australia ‘numpties’ get killed on our roads driving at or below the posted speed limit – I guess that they thought they were being safe … who knows. They’re still dead.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

I’ll pay more attention to the dial than the road conditions and traffic situation. Whether or not they’ll make those particular sections of road any safer is questionable.

Maybe you numpties who have such a hard time with checking your speedo better hand in your keys. “But if I have to watch my speed the roads will become less safe! I’m sure to kill somebody!” How come the rest of us manage to drive the speed limit and watch the road at the same time? If it’s that hard, buy a car with a speed limiter.

Your comment would be very true if traffic actually obeyed the speed limit. Traffic in Canberra on major roads will frequently travel at 10km/h or more over the limit if conditions allow. And rarely, if ever, does this actually cause problems.

Very good Dvaey,

Hardly covers the cases in question.

cranky said :

I’m with Jim J.

When we can access Coroners reports, we may well be on the way to cutting through the crap sprouted by the local pollies and the Police PR machine re speeding being the ultimate cause of road trauma in the ACT.

Amazing what a quick search on google can come up with.

While I dont believe that point-to-point really serves much purpose in the city, I do think it could be useful on the highways, to yass, goulburn and the coast. I travel these roads often and am amazed at the number of speeding drivers on them.

astrojax said :

i hate these hoons who roar up my clacker when i am obeying the limit, esp in the 40 zones at roadworks, as if that will make me go faster. more often than not it has the inverse effect..

People who do this, make me wish one day theyll do it to an unmarked police car. If they see you driving below the limit and then slowing down while theyre behind you, youre likely to be seeing red and blues in your rear-view mirror.

Jim Jones said:

With respect, how many coroner’s reports on road accidents have you read?

More than I wish I had to Jim.

There’s the National Coroners Information System (NCIS) website (www.ncis.org.au). It does require authorised log-on which generally isn’t available to mere mortals however summaries of cases where recommendations have been made re available to the public (note: the summaries won’t cover all road fatalities).

Transcripts for specific ACT cases can be ordered through the ACT Magistrates Court (www.courts.act.gov.au/magistrates).

Most telling perhaps is the information that you can get from the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure on road fatalities (http://statistics.infrastructure.gov.au/atsb). All other Australia States and Territories report the posted speed limit where a fatality occurs except the ACT – no data is provided on what the posted speed limit is at the point of a fatality – apparently not information that worth collecting according to the ACT government.

gooterz said :

Speed is not the major problem at the moment.. Whenever there an accident its normally a few cars because of all the tailgaters. I wonder how many people would support a camera that caught people that were too close!

pick me!

i was suggesting this to my colleagues at work last week – tailgate cameras instead of speed cameras… i hate these hoons who roar up my clacker when i am obeying the limit, esp in the 40 zones at roadworks, as if that will make me go faster. more often than not it has the inverse effect..

Jim Jones #7

It’s already happening regarding murder!

does anybody know how fast they are we going, after a recent trip to Melbourne in a brand new car and going through 2 radar speed checks speedo was 110 radar was 101.
so we all know we are doing the speed limit because the speedo says so
point to point on tugg expressway will only catch tuggeranong residents, woden and weston creek drivers only pass one camera or will we see more cameras on this death road

I agree wholeheartedly with anyone who has suggested a review of speed limits themselves. There are plenty of instances where the speed limit is ridiculously low for the road (straight dual carriageways such as the Monaro Highway past the gaol for example) and many other examples where the limit is too high.

Take the Tuggeranong Parkway for example. It continues to elude me why the limit on this road couldn’t be 110. If the idiots who enter the Parkway from onramps would do what they’re supposed to and, you know, accelerate to the limit of the road they’re entering, it would be half the joke that it is now.

Speed cameras are a good idea.

Where they’ve put them in Canberra is stupid.

Most accidents on the parkway would be caused by tailgating or changing lanes without looking. A point to point camera wouldn’t solve these problems.

They’d be much better off having them around schools or shopping centres where the difference between doing 60 and 65 could save some kids life.

I’ll pay more attention to the dial than the road conditions and traffic situation. Whether or not they’ll make those particular sections of road any safer is questionable.

Maybe you numpties who have such a hard time with checking your speedo better hand in your keys. “But if I have to watch my speed the roads will become less safe! I’m sure to kill somebody!” How come the rest of us manage to drive the speed limit and watch the road at the same time? If it’s that hard, buy a car with a speed limiter.

Fixed speed cameras serve one single purpose and that’s the collection of revenue. It has been proven the world over that manual speed cameras, radars etc are more effective in urban areas. Motorists who know the road, also know where to slow down for fixed cameras. In the same vein, such motorists are also likely to take it easy if they know that the road is notorious for manual “traps” that could be deployed anywhere on a particular stretch of road at any time. Police can “blitz” a particular stretch of road for sustained periods and internittently “back off.” If campaigns are regular, the message will get through to motorists.
The problem with point top point speed cameras in urban ares is that urban roads generally intersect with many other roads and P2P cameras are only effective between 2 points with no intersections in between. They are therefore only effective over very short stretches of roadway. For such a campaign to be effective, an inordinately large number of cameras would need to be deployed – a huge waste of tax payer’s money! A media campaign combined with intermittent “blitzing” by the police is just as effective and far more cost effective.
Where P2P speed cameras become invaluable, is on regional roads on which the majority of motorists travel between 2 particular points. A classic example of where this can be extremely effective is the King’s Highway: Queanbeyan – Bungendore / Bungendore – Braidwood / Braidwood – Nelligen / Nelligen – Batemans Bay.
Various NSW governments have been lobbied about deploying such a system on this road that is lethal due to driving practices that verge on attempted murder in some cases! Whilst the current NSW government is spending big on the King’s Highway and whilst Steve Whan has followed up correspondence from many constituents in regards to this very issue, his and the NSW Roads Ministry have their hands tied by the NSW Labor Heirarchy. It’s as simple as this: Eden Monaro is an extremely marginal seat. The two biggest populations within the seat are Queanbeyan and Batemans Bay. Both of those populations, like Canberra, are home to a significant “rev head” poulation. Such people regard their freedom to drive like complete wankers between Canberra and the coast far higher than reducing the road toll!
The loss of this “freedom” at the hands of a government could easily sway their vote – let’s face it, they’re hardly likely to posess the intelect to understand even the most basic aspects of politics! No government is willing to risk losing their vote in a seat so marginal.

There’s a lot to be said for benevolent dictatorships when you realise how many retards are allowed to vote!

Take a look at this post: http://the-riotact.com/?p=17981
It relates to Braidwood and how its regarded by Canberra residents. So many people posted negatively because they claimed that stopping at Braidwood slowed them down in their “race” to the coast. One woman claimed that when she’s in a hurry to get home she’s often “too tired to stop!”
Some of the comments are scary!

I apologise to retards – no offence intended!

How the powers that be can reconcile the 80K limit on the 4 divided lane Monaro Highway south of the Hume Hilton with the 90K limit on the single lane Majura cart track is beyond me.

Just one of the many inconsistencies imposed on the generally law (and speed) abiding locals.

Better photographic oportunities?

I have no problems with speed cameras, easy to not get caught. Although they are all just poor excuses for stanhopeless to keep doing a bad job on road safety by taking the cheap option to install cameras instead of putting more police on the road. I also like how he is promoting point to point cameras on the roads when they will not be suitable for the majority of existing locations. All similar cameras in other states are on flat smooth roads to ensure the readings are accurate, they will have problems with them here. The cameras on the parkway already cause more accidents than anything else.

I’m with Jim J.

When we can access Coroners reports, we may well be on the way to cutting through the crap sprouted by the local pollies and the Police PR machine re speeding being the ultimate cause of road trauma in the ACT.

Funny that little mention has been made of the individual who ultimately took out a tip truck and trailer, having attempted to collide with a tipper truck, a B-double and a small ute, with a probable death wish in mind, on Majura Road the other day.

I do have a problem with single vehicle accidents, usually during the early hours of the morning, when sole occupant vehicles somehow collide with immoveable objects on relatively straight sections of road, or spear off into the undergrowth at high speed with the seatbelt undone.

A Coroner’s report, viewable by the public, would perhaps throw a diferent light on the result, rather than the ‘speed kills’ mantra so beloved of Sonic and his minions.

trevar said :

… but rather than using speed cameras to do it, each number plate should be microchipped and the city dotted with a secret network of scan points. That way we could monitor both speed and the use of unregistered vehicles.

Worst idea ever!!

Micro-chipping PEOPLE would work far better – “they” could keep tracking your whereabouts even after you’ve left the vehicle. They could determine who your with (and how close you are)
Computer algorithms could be used to determine all kinds of “dodgy” behavior as determined by the government – and they could be straight onto you, with nowhere to hide. Also great benefits for employers, stalkers, etc..

(don’t worry, if you’re a law abiding citizen you have nothing to worry about)

When all is said and done, will this cut our road toll? Don’t think so. But then I could be wrong.

Speed is not the major problem at the moment.. Whenever there an accident its normally a few cars because of all the tailgaters. I wonder how many people would support a camera that caught people that were too close!

Also another bad spot is parks way.. as soon as it rains some idiot is driving into city over the limit and flips on the corner..
If it were me i’d keep the speed limit but straighten and level the thing.

And since when was RA evidence-based?

What prickles have you got in your undies today, Jim?

Clown Killer said :

the coroner rarely comes to the same conclusion.

With respect, how many coroner’s reports on road accidents have you read?

NSW Roads and Transport Minister David Campbell says speed has been a major factor in this year’s increase.

“There’s been a 40 per cent increase in speed-related fatalities in 2009 and 46 per cent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved speed,” he said.

I really don’t think that these sort of statements do any good. They’re great for a sound bite or a throwaway line in a press release – it’s just a shame that the coroner rarely comes to the same conclusion.

Growling Ferret said :

Speed is one facet of an accident, not the root cause. Point to point radars catching people doing 105 instead of 100 is revenue raising, not road safety.

This is true, but you’d be hard pressed to argue that speed isnt a significant factor in the effects of the accident once its occured. As is then running into immoveable objects

Unfortunately they are taking the easy way out to “road safety”. Target speeding.

Speeding is the easiest to enforce (by fixed and mobile cameras, very occasionally by traditional speed traps) and also the hardest to contend once caught.

The real factors that impact road safety and in particular road fatalities continue to go unaddressed. Even in every single ad campaign that ran about speeding, the actual cause of the accident in each example was something other than speed (recall “speeding on country roads”, “the hoon at the red light”, “young brother picked up from soccer”, “mates at a funeral”).

Fixing the driver education/attitude would be of far greater benefit, though [potentially] more costly.

54-11 said :

road fatalities and injuries are on the way up

Um … how do you figure this? The stats I’ve seen indicate that the average toll of road deaths has decreased in the last decade.

“A total of 461 people died on the roads last year, an increase of 87 over 2008.

But the average toll has declined in the past decade – 577 deaths were recorded in 1999.

NSW Roads and Transport Minister David Campbell says speed has been a major factor in this year’s increase.

“There’s been a 40 per cent increase in speed-related fatalities in 2009 and 46 per cent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved speed,” he said. “

54-11 said :

Because the only road safety message getting out from Stanhope and the plods is that the only crime on the road is speeding.

That’s patently untrue.

Hell, people on this forum have been whining about the big ads about ‘drive n text ub next’ and all the rest of them. Police run regular blitzes on seat-belts, drink-driving, and there are national ad campaigns about driver fatigue, drink-driving, etc. etc.

It’s impossible to miss … does all of this just go over your head or are you ignoring it purposefully?

Grrr: 5% less momentum – but also almost 10% less kinetic energy, which is what actually does the damage.

I reckon we should look at those variable speed limit signs – roads like Gungahlin Dr could definitely be 100km/h for most of the day, but should be a bit slower during peak times.

Grrr

At 105 rather than 100kmh, I’m more worried about the driver of the other car being is paying attention to the road, or not on the mobile phone, hor is tyres are legal, his brakes are not overdue for replacement, they are not talking to their friend in the passenger seat, changing the cd in the stacker, watching the GPS to work out their next turn rather than concentrating on the road.

Speed kills is stupidly simplifying the situation. The 17 year old that died last weekend at the coast was breaking mulitple laws when she had her accident. The horror crash at Mill Park had an angry drunk driver in an overloaded car who also happened to be speeding.

Speed is one facet of an accident, not the root cause. Point to point radars catching people doing 105 instead of 100 is revenue raising, not road safety.

I assume that they will also retrofit every single existing speed and redlight camera in the ACT with the same technology, in order that they can also book you if you manage to average over the speedlimit all the way from Kambah to Ginninderra Dr?

Growling Ferret said :

At that speed, 5kmh don’t make a pinch of difference.

I’d sure prefer to be hit by a car carrying 5% less momentum. It could be the difference between limbs bruised or broken in a new car, or life and death in an old one.

Also, if the car has time to brake, it adds MORE THAN 5% to stopping distance due to extra deceleration to get from 105 to 100 .. EG, 55m @ 105kmh vs 50m @ 100kmh. It could mean the difference between getting hit at 30kmh and not getting hit at all, or getting hit at 50 vs 30.

.. was there meant to be a link to the ABC website in the original post?

SO your average teenage moron steals a car – takes it out for a bash down the parkway, completely ignoring the speedlimit as cameras only catch people who drive their own cars. So Mr Stanhope lets have something constructive like more real police on the road. Stanhope is becoming more of a buffoon with every passing year.

What is so thunderingly stupid and blindingly obviously wrong is that Stanhope and a number of the posters above, do not understand that this is totally counter-productive in terms of road safety. That is quite obvious from the fact that road fatalities and injuries are on the way up, just as the use of speed cameras is likewise on the way up.

Why? Because the only road safety message getting out from Stanhope and the plods is that the only crime on the road is speeding.

Ergo, talk on the phone all you want, change lanes dangerously, never indicate, be a dickhead all you want, and you will never get caught. Go a few Ks over the speed limit and you’re public enemy number one.

I cannot understand the complete lack of logic in so many of the posts above, and with Stanhope et al, in not understanding that the real killer on our roads is stupidity, not speeding.

If I am ever in an accident (knock on wood) given a choice between a car doing 100 or a car doing 105 I would much rather be hit with a car doing 100

At that speed, 5kmh don’t make a pinch of difference.

St Bungers – great post.

Will the finally completed 4 GDE be 80kmh or the 100kmh it really should be?

Roguelette said :

If a person can’t drive for 5 kms at a steady speed without watching the speedo for the whole time that person should probably not be behind the wheel of a car.

I would love to see you put this into practice. I think there would be very few people that could keep a car going at a steady speed for 5kms on a road that isn’t completely flat and straight.
Or by steady speed, do you mean +/- 5km/hr?

I would much rather that I was on the road with people driving 5km/hr over the limit who are paying full attention to their driving compared to people driving at the speed limit who are concentrating on maintaining their speed.

H1NG0 said :

The reason people speed in Canberra is because there is a severe lack of patrolling police and they know they can get away with it. Camera’s will only encourage people to speed in other areas. Everybody knows where they are located and anyone caught by them is either a tourist or incredibly stupid.

Absolutely correct. Putting adequate numbers of both marked and unmarked police vehicles back on our streets at all times of the day and night will, over time, discourage drivers to speed. Also, the focus by the police needs to be on ALL road rules. If drivers are forced to obey ALL the road rules they may again start to take driving more seriously. The flow on effect of this will be a reduction in the number of speeding drivers.

The ACT Government will never have any credibility with this issue while it continues its lazy, narrow minded and ineffective revenue focused approach.

BTW, I have never been caught by a speed or red light camera.

If a person can’t drive for 5 kms at a steady speed without watching the speedo for the whole time that person should probably not be behind the wheel of a car. Be they right or wrong – the speed limits are there and it is law to abide by them – if you do that speed cameras in what ever form they take are not an issue. A little bit of speeding is still speeding and it is still breaking the law…

If I am ever in an accident (knock on wood) given a choice between a car doing 100 or a car doing 105 I would much rather be hit with a car doing 100.

Spot on Bungers. Kind of the point I was making.
Swami, Sandford Road will be built through to Fedral Hwy at the Antill St roundabout some time this year. I’ve also been lobbying that a road go from it east of Bimberi to join directly onto Horse park Drive, to take all the norther suburb commuters around and off Flemington Rd. Some residents of Hackett are concerned about that idea because of the existing rat run problem caused by the Phillip/Majura intersection, but I’ve been trying to get a solution to that problem put in for 3 years too…

You people miss the obvious point here. These speed cameras arent setup to catch the regular motorist, theyre designed to catch the Sydney/Melbourne drivers who drive down the 60km/hr dual carriageways here in the ACT at 80km/hr. Canberrans all understand the stupid speed limit system in-place in our city, but interstate visitors dont, and hence will drive to the road conditions rather than the (occasionally located) speed limit signs.

Its not an accident, Ive been caught in Victoria in a similar method, and when I wrote to question the fine, I was advised its a common spot for interstate tourists to miss the sign and get caught. Needless to say, that camera is marked with a special sound in my GPS.

I CALL NANNY STATE!!!!
One little bit of speed isnt going to kill you (ie 5kph) but you will no doubt get a big fine for it.

Point to point is to dangerous…. all you can do is look at your speedo the whole time and ignor the road.

Shhh Sgt Bungers,
stop making so much sense.
Everyone knows that going 85km/hr on Adelaide Ave or going 110km/hr on the parkway is a death sentence.
Speed Kills mmmkay.
I can’t wait to see all the people speedo watching for 5 kms when they put in these point to point speed cameras. It will help road safety immeasurably.

“Want to quash people exceeding the speed limit Jon? Stop building roads that encourage high speed, then posting them with speed limits well below the 85th percentile speed of the road.”

+100. Exactly the issue.

I love the fact that the first several pages of the ACT’s Road Safety Plan 2009-2010, only talk about “speed” and how it’s a number one issue… yet drive around the ACT looking for speed limit signs, and they are few and far between, apparently not installed to any strict standards.

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/158446/ACT_ROAD_SAFETY_ACTION_PLAN_2009-2010.pdf

Let’s assume for a moment that exceeding the speed limit really was the number one issue on our roads… instead of installing expensive speed cameras left right and centre, why not make a reasonable attempt to make sure every driver is aware of speed limits on ACT’s roads first?

Step one to convincing the population that exceeding the speed limit by a few km/h kills. Believe your own bullshit. Speed limit signs that are slap dash, after thoughts, don’t exsist, crooked, remain damaged for years, small, installed with economy in mind, are all an indication that the ACT Gov does not believe their own policies. Signs that are overt, large, obvious, well maintained, installed to some predictable standards, may indicate that the Gov does actually want people to obey speed limits.

My favourite… Barton highway speed camera near GDE interchange. That went up before any speed limit signs went up on the GDE offramps. How can a camera be justified on any stretch of road, PRIOR to the speed limit signs being put up? Pure incompetence.

Want to quash people exceeding the speed limit Jon? Stop building roads that encourage high speed, then posting them with speed limits well below the 85th percentile speed of the road.

Yamba drive – not a limited access road… traffic lights, passively controlled intersections, passing within close proximity to a school, a hospital… 80km/h which feels adequate for that stretch… no speed cameras.

Adelaide Ave/Yarra Glen – limited access road, bridges at every intersection, no where for drivers to cross in front of the paths of other drivers… still 80km/h, which feels painfully slow… but contains several mobile speed camera sites.

Surely exceeding 80km/h would be significantly more dangerous on Yamba drive, hence speed cameras would be significantly more warranted on that stretch of road? That is of course, if cameras were actually about safety.

Roads can be designed to limit vehicle speed. Particularly residential and commercial streets. Not through speed humps that everyone tends to resent, but through intelligent road design.

Ashford UK: undertook an ambitious shared space project. One year on, all positive results, including slower, safer speeds, pedestrian friendly & community friendly streets, no reported crashes, *DECREASED* travel time, and a much more pleasant street environment. With so many wins, there cannot be any valid reason for us to continue building residential streets the way we do.

Photos and a quote in the first link below: “The roads have acquired a new dignity and people comment on a new sense of community and courtesy. Cars must make their way gingerly through other road users, but since they are no longer held up at red lights their average speed has risen.”

http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/07/28/streets-ahead-in-ashford/

http://www.howwedrive.com/2008/12/01/quieting-the-ring-road-shared-space-hits-it-big-in-ashford/

http://capital-roads.blogspot.com

Alarmist claptrap. Obey the speed limits and you’ll be fine.

I’m all for the cameras, though it would be good to have more visibility of what is done with the revenue collected from the idiot tax. Improving driver education would be a good use for it

Agreed about Flemington Rd – it’s a joke…and I pity the poor suckers who get caught by the Police up near ‘Flemington Corner’ – you’d be going to know what the speed limit is at all given that the signs change so often. With a divided dual carriageway with two wide lanes each way and ample left and right turn bays the whole thing would and should be at least 80 once past EPIC. It would be in Sydney or Melbourne.

On the other hand, I dunno why they just don’t put a road straight through to Northbourne/Federal Highway from Mitchell. You have to go halfway around Canberra to get into the place.

As for the Fed highway speed camera near the Caltex, tell me, who wouldn’t slow down to 80 approaching a large roundabout anyway? I often wonder if they catch anyone there at all.

I guess that point to point cameras will modify my driving where they’re installed to the extent that I’ll pay more attention to the dial than the road conditions and traffic situation. Whether or not they’ll make those particular sections of road any safer is questionable.

The reason people speed in Canberra is because there is a severe lack of patrolling police and they know they can get away with it. Camera’s will only encourage people to speed in other areas. Everybody knows where they are located and anyone caught by them is either a tourist or incredibly stupid.

The message is mixed certainly, but the intent clear.

One only has to look back over the numerous discussions on speed cameras here to find many posters crowing about speeding back up as soon as they are past the fixed camera site.

The wallopers have been getting smarter about this, putting up to three in a row combos of cameras, cars and bikes. But that’s heavy on resources, and point to point montioring is the obvious next move.

I’d be relaxed about it if Roads ACT also undertook a review of the existing speed limits, as there are many that to me are just dumb. 80k on the 4-lane Gungahlin Drive and Ginninderra Drive? 80k on the rural Horse Park Drive? And what about the mess that is Flemington Road: 60-80-60-80-60, with some 80 bits only 300m long? Just make (as I have requested previously of Tony Gill) the whole thing 70.

I’m sure RA-folk have many more examples we could compile for review?

Jon Stanhope is rushing through ‘point to point’ speed cameras in order to profit from the wonderful rise in traffic infringement notices over the past year

There, fixed that for you

Don’t speed and you won’t get a fine. It’s not rocket science. God knows how it is a “mixed message”.

You seem to be proposing a system whereby speeding tickets are reduced by ignoring people who speed.

Perhaps we could apply your logic to the criminal justice system and keep the murder rates in the ACT at historic lows by simply ignoring murders when they occur.

What are these speed cameras you speak of? Are they those boxes mounted on poles? I guess I have very little experience with them, as ever since I grew up and started driving like an adult, I have no reason to worry about them.

I think these new types of speed cameras are a fantastic idea. As an added benefit, it encourages those that may want to still have a bit of fun, to learn some arithmetic, so as to determine how slow they need to go for the last km or so before the camera, so as to compensate for their speed over the preceding 3-4 kms.

Typical. Clearly speed cameras do nothing more than cause people to tap the brakes as they go past, so we’d better add more cameras.

How actaully doing something useful for road safety. Hell, how about even using the speed camera revenue to support more marked police cars?

The introduction of these point to point cameras shouldn’t concern any motorist who obeys the speed limits. It is always amusing to hear a driver complain about speeding tickets they have received wnen it was their own actions which led to the tickets. A camera will sit there idle and only react to a speeding vehicle. These devices don’t force a driver to pay revenue until the driver has made a choice to speed. If anyone wants to stop paying such revenue, they need only to take resonsibility of their actions and lift their right foot a little.

so he is going to install point to point to catch the people who are already ignoring the well posted and well known fixed speed camera locations – that will work!

I haven’t been following this, but I agree that there is nothing more foolish than a government getting so confused by its own bureaucracy that it forgets what it’s cracking down on! I suspect that Mr Stanhope actually hopes to reduce the number of instances of drivers speeding, rather than the number of times those drivers get caught. I wonder how ACT Government employees would go on the NAPLAN tests?

At any rate, I think point to point speed checking is a good idea, but rather than using speed cameras to do it, each number plate should be microchipped and the city dotted with a secret network of scan points. That way we could monitor both speed and the use of unregistered vehicles.

I dont think there is evidence to support a rise in accidents on this section of the parkway. i believe thats the criteria for these devices.

if its not supported by public policy reasons, then its revenue raising.

speed cameras would be better located on suburban streets catching people who do 85 on a 50 street.