The Speeding Camera Vans of the ACT

SheepGroper said :

Addison said :

Unlike many others here, I’ll happily admit to speeding all the time. I’ve never caused an accident, and I don’t get caught either.

How do you know you caused no accidents?

Nothing to do with speeding.

How do you know you caused no accidents?

Ahhh MaGoo you’ve done it again …

SheepGroper said :

Addison said :

Unlike many others here, I’ll happily admit to speeding all the time. I’ve never caused an accident, and I don’t get caught either.

How do you know you caused no accidents?

How does anyone know if they’ve caused accidents, if they don’t see them? This is related to how observant you are as a driver, and is unrelated to speeding.

Addison said :

Unlike many others here, I’ll happily admit to speeding all the time. I’ve never caused an accident, and I don’t get caught either.

How do you know you caused no accidents?

Roadrage77 said :

shauno said :

Question is how many accidents and deaths have occurred on that straight bit of double lane road that justifys the camera being there in the name of “safety” as the government propaganda machine likes to tell us.

I remember some bloke in a Mitsubishi Econovan driving Southbound into a sign under the Hindmarsh Drive overpass about 10 years ago. Damn rig went up in flames and cooked the driver along with 5 or so kids. No “safety” issues there Shauno.

And what exactly does that have to do with speeding? Any evidence he was speeding at the time? Or was it just a terrible accident caused by driver error?

shauno said :

Question is how many accidents and deaths have occurred on that straight bit of double lane road that justifys the camera being there in the name of “safety” as the government propaganda machine likes to tell us.

I remember some bloke in a Mitsubishi Econovan driving Southbound into a sign under the Hindmarsh Drive overpass about 10 years ago. Damn rig went up in flames and cooked the driver along with 5 or so kids. No “safety” issues there Shauno.

George D said :

Every fine for speeding motorists is a good one. They deserve it, putting my life in danger.

Dude, I hate to break this to you, but every time you drive your car, regardless if you or nearby motorists are speeding, you are putting your life in danger.

Better watch out, I think the sky is falling…

Just think what a wonderful evening you would have if you all got together round the dinner table and had this discussion face to face. It would be one hilarious dinner date 🙂

Very mature of you, WanniAss. Police have nothing to do with the OP anyway.

monomania said :

Special G said :

As for the speed camera van. They have no reason to be exceeding the speed limit as they are not manned by Police. You have a valid complaint to make just make it to the right people.

Leave the policing of our roads to those being paid to do it. An amusing story but the OP didn’t need to clearly identify this person to the police and his bosses. The driver was committing a minor traffic offense. Any complaint would be petty and vindictive.

At last, some clarification of the speeding laws. If I get pulled over I will point out that my exceeding the speed limit by 15kph+ is only minor and the cops are just being petty. Next time the police call for information from the public over an incident, I certainly won’t bother saying anything in case I’m being petty or vindictive.

shauno said :

Question is how many accidents and deaths have occurred on that straight bit of double lane road that justifys the camera being there in the name of “safety” as the government propaganda machine likes to tell us.

I recall one around 1997 where a man and his 3 or 4 children were killed, and another where a car was incinerated around 1995. That’s a few a deaths compared to many other places in Canberra.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

Oh, and those two posts of yours – real gritty, quality stuff.

You’re right. Talking about gallery exhibitions and finding a GP isn’t as gritty as a fantasy world where you’re a vigilante supercop willing to break the law to get things done and the highway is where you mete out your own personal brand of tough justice.

Your opinion of my post means the world to me

Is that why you’re obsessing about me – again? Just let me go.

Hmmm, let’s see – there was the highly rated bark painting post that attracted a grand total of 0 comments.

Then there was “Waa waa waa, our doctor left town (at least that’s what he told us) and we’re too stupid to find another one”.

Most people would just ask their friends. Ok, I get it now….

Why don’t you try contributing something now, eh? I’m sure the many friends you’ve made in here will be glad to pitch in with a comment or two. Bet you don’t have the balls.

It’s not even a police vehicle.

Many of you seem to be looking way too far into this…

The simple fact is that a police vehicle was breaking the road rules for no particular reason. And last I checked, that is wrong.

Oh, and those two posts of yours – real gritty, quality stuff.

You’re right. Talking about gallery exhibitions and finding a GP isn’t as gritty as a fantasy world where you’re a vigilante supercop willing to break the law to get things done and the highway is where you mete out your own personal brand of tough justice.

Your opinion of my post means the world to me

Is that why you’re obsessing about me – again? Just let me go.

And here was me thinking the moderation rules had stopped this kind of drivel. Guess page hits must be down for this month.

Oh, and those two posts of yours – real gritty, quality stuff.

Can’t imagine why you stopped……

Your opinion of my post means the world to me Woody because, you know, you’re just so well regarded around here.

Why? Because you’ve posted two threads in three years – that is, exactly the same number I have? I’d say ‘way to check your facts’, but to be honest, I’m more surprised you didn’t open with one of your patent “Woody is gay” lines.

But maybe you’re right. Perhaps I can go follow a parking inspector around to see if they get a parking ticket? Oh, the delicious irony, and how clever of me for pointing it out! What kind of example are they setting? How can we trust them? Surely every ticket they’ve ever written is now suspect! They should lose their job! I could even say “Parking inspector with ACT registration YAB-123” over and over again to really drive my dubious point home.

WillowJim said :

The strange thing is that many of these men are great blokes outside their cars. Not even a hint of the lurking personality disorder. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to them when, as will happen, possibly next decade, technology prevents cars from being able to exceed the speed limit.

Why stop at the cars. There must be so many other laws these deviant types could break. Insert a robo-chip. Of course not everyone will need a robo-chip because they have already been programmed to obey.

“The Law is the Law. The Wise have determined the Law for the protection of all. Not only will I obey but I’ll become a volunteer to help enforce the letter of the Law. Unlike the robo-chipped I have a healthy personality.”

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

Next week on The RiotACT:

Librarian has overdue book
ACTION driver takes car to work
Teacher misuses apostrophe
Ranger lets cat out for a walk
ACT Tourism employee: “I think we’ll go to Broome this year”

About time you got around to posting up some of your favourite topics Woody.

“WillowJim” After you read his rant you wonder why he went to all the trouble of signing up just to post it.

Next week on The RiotACT:

Librarian has overdue book
ACTION driver takes car to work
Teacher misuses apostrophe
Ranger lets cat out for a walk
ACT Tourism employee: “I think we’ll go to Broome this year”

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to them when, as will happen, possibly next decade, technology prevents cars from being able to exceed the speed limit.

Do you honestly think that the Government would forgo the millions of dollars in revenue generated by those who speed? I don’t.

I do enjoy the irony of the story, whilst ignoring that the speed camera van’s speedo is probably calibrated correctly rather than being optimistic like most normal speedos are.

The proliferation of red light/speed cameras under the guise of safety is a sham.

If the government was serious about road safety there’d be more real police pulling people over (catching drunks/druggos and stolen cars in the process, which a camera can’t do), combined with a greater emphasis on driver training.

Train people how to avoid an accident rather then lecture about arbitrary speed limits while placing cash registers on poles.

“Dr Evil”. Even before you read his rant, the moniker sounds like a 13-year-old’s.

So many men (and it is largely men) become infantilised when behind the wheel of car. Their sense of entitlement burgeons to the point where they even feel beyond the law.

If someone overtakes them, it’s a personal insult that was carefully planned.

If someone in front of them travels, say, 5km/h above the speed limit, forcing the adult infant to slow down, the adult infant swears and gestures and tail-gates to make his point.

If someone in front of them dares slow down to, say, 50km/h in a 40km/h zone, the adult infant crosses unbroken lines to overtake, blasts his horn and shakes his head.

If the adult infant sees a gap in peak-hour traffic, he will swerve across lanes to take advantage of it. He saves himself two seconds on the morning commute. He thinks he saved two minutes.

The strange thing is that many of these men are great blokes outside their cars. Not even a hint of the lurking personality disorder. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to them when, as will happen, possibly next decade, technology prevents cars from being able to exceed the speed limit.

Shauno said

shauno said :

Question is how many accidents and deaths have occurred on that straight bit of double lane road that justifys the camera being there in the name of “safety” as the government propaganda machine likes to tell us.

I look at like this: “Question is, how many workmen have died on construction sites of Company A for not following a Safety Law, but Company B have had no deaths and they too don’t follow a Construction Safety Law?”

Just because an incident hasnt happened at A or B site, doesnt mean it will never happen, or if person A moves to site B or vice versa, both will take their bad habits with them and potentially injure themselves or at the worst die or injure others.

You see a bad driver, or worker, will take their bad habits with them where ever they go.

People need to obey the law. Its there for every ones safety.

Every fine for speeding motorists is a good one. They deserve it, putting my life in danger.

JTK said:

This is useful to know 🙂

I think he meant “this is useful to know if so inclined to abuse”

But thanks anyway JTK, it clears up my curiosity as to why nearly everyone does 100kmh thru the intersection in AM.

Bring back ratetheplate.com.au. When it worked it was good for venting, complaining and whinging as well. Bummed that the domain didn’t reregister and is now owned by a squatter.

James T – Every Govt agency has some sort of complaints mechanism. I am not referencing a complaint to the Police just whoever overseas the speed camera vans specifically. If he had a number of people in the car to back his story then all good.

The proof is his testemony and that of his friends.

I think alot of you a missing the point. This speed van is designed to catch speeding divers with the irony that once it drove away it too was breaking the law by speeding. As far as I’m aware the vans are operated by public servants. The poster of this thread has a valid complaint and I would be passing it on the TAMS or whatever department deals with them.

Reminds me of the story I saw, OH&S officer gets pulled over for doing about 10k’s over the limit, gets issued a small fine. Responds by then booking the police officer for about 5 times his speeding fine for not wearing his high visibility vest in a high traffic area.

i think this person should lose thier job and be fined just like anyone else,at least that person wasnt driving in the left hand lane doing 40kms below the speed limit.

Special G said :

As for the speed camera van. They have no reason to be exceeding the speed limit as they are not manned by Police. You have a valid complaint to make just make it to the right people.

Leave the policing of our roads to those being paid to do it. An amusing story but the OP didn’t need to clearly identify this person to the police and his bosses. The driver was committing a minor traffic offense. Any complaint would be petty and vindictive.

I love your work. Unlike many others here, I’ll happily admit to speeding all the time. I’ve never caused an accident, and I don’t get caught either.

And – yes – I will openly admit to sitting 10 – 20 above the posted limit (except for the school zones – Doing those 90 degree corners at 40 is a cool challenge!!)

On the subject of speed camera vans and other control measures does anybody get the impression that some new signs need to be changed:

1. Missing a call never killed anybody – “Except when it was a call from the MOB!”
2. Speeding Kills – “When you screw up and hit something really fast!”
3. Thank you for not speeding – “Bugga – I must have lost concentration and slowed down… There… That’s better”

🙂

Special G said :

As for the speed camera van. They have no reason to be exceeding the speed limit as they are not manned by Police. You have a valid complaint to make just make it to the right people.

I am not confident that the original poster can make a complaint at all –

I saw a Telstra van this morning at 8.26am, rego ABC-D32 – doing handbrake U-turns in the middle of Northborne ave. O.M.G I will report him.

Where’s the tangible proof? No proof, no case!

I think that driving without the headlights was a masterstroke! Now that’s thinking outside the box …. You can surely catch heaps more people that way. The first stealth speed van!

Ozi said :

He’s crafty like that… 😉

Ain’t that the truth…..

As for the speed camera van. They have no reason to be exceeding the speed limit as they are not manned by Police. You have a valid complaint to make just make it to the right people.

Grail – ‘The way to catch speeding drivers is to go slower than them, or be travelling in the opposite direction.

Just my two bits worth.’

Sorry but your two bits got nothing. You have no idea. It’s called traffic screening – not just for speeding.

Also people tend to do the right thing when they ‘see’ a Police car in front of them. Catch is no one pays attention to one coming from behind them.

James-T-Kirk said :

This is not an issue.

Speeding guidelines in the ACT:

1. All vehicles must use the posted signs as a minimum speed that must be maintained.
2. When in the vicinity of a speed van (You can spot them from a mile off.) drop back (with GUSTO!) to the speed indicated as the acceptable minimum. This is important, as other drivers will be warned by your brake lights that there is a hazard in front.
3. Just before the active direction of fixed speed cameras, repeat the vigorous braking process to warn others.
4. Once past “The enforcement zone”, accelerate back up to 10 – 20Km above the posted minimum.

See — Easy.

And using the above guidelines, the van in question was not doing anything abnormal.

Oh – and to make sure that encountering an overly enthusiastic revenue agent (driving one of the couple of unmarked vehicles), ensure that you have a backup fund to just pay the stupid fine.

Remember, a $243 fee for the privilege of driving at 29 Km above the posted minimum (in NSW – I couldn’t find the numbers for the ACT), only works out to a trivial $9 per fortnight – assuming you pay once per year. If, like me, you only pay once every 15 years, then it works out as an extremely affordable 0.62 per fortnight.

See – if they were serious about stopping it, it would cost a lot more!

I love your work. Unlike many others here, I’ll happily admit to speeding all the time. I’ve never caused an accident, and I don’t get caught either.

Holden Caulfield said :

p1 said :

…Because we all know that had Dr Evil been in the possession of a calibrated speedo, we would all be behind him 100%…

Only if we were speeding.

No if you were speeding you would have been 100% in front of him…

Doctor Evil said :

vg said :

“In fact, out of curiosity we decided to see how fast you were actually going, but we gave up at 115km/h and backed off to the speed limit.”

So you did one of 2 things:

1) Sped yourself to test a theory out, something you don;t have the legal capacity to do or;

2) Judged someone’s speed with a non-certified speedo and then decided to produce your ‘findings’ on a public website

Well done super cop

Heard of GPS?

And i’m super cop? LOL…..

Well, you weren’t breaking the speed limit on the way to the dounut shop. Welcome aboard.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

vg said :

Unless vg is the fisherman

A double troll??? You’re diabolical…

He’s crafty like that… 😉 Every good public forum needs trolls and troll-baiters though: makes for much more enjoyable reading!

Question is how many accidents and deaths have occurred on that straight bit of double lane road that justifys the camera being there in the name of “safety” as the government propaganda machine likes to tell us.

Good post Dr Evil, just a shame that a good post invariably attracts those with nothing to do but find fault, EL Carrots summed it up nicely. I hope you pursue this through other channels and can give us an update if you hear anything back.

p1 said :

…Because we all know that had Dr Evil been in the possession of a calibrated speedo, we would all be behind him 100%…

Only if we were speeding.

eyeLikeCarrots said :

But really, if I have to abide by laws imposed on me, then those charged to enforce those laws have to constantly be the best example.

My view also.

I love it when people try to argue that a totally unverifiable post by an anonymous poster is invalid because there (otherwise incredibly accurate) GPS system has not been calibrated to a government standard. Because we all know that had Dr Evil been in the possession of a calibrated speedo, we would all be behind him 100%…

An explanation of the term “Active Direction” for Fixed Speed/Red Light cameras may be in order.

The sensors for these cameras only monitors a single direction. So the cameras only actually monitor one direction. The Govmit tries to get extra benefit by posting signs at all 4 entrances to the intersection, but only ONE is monitored.

Some Examples:

The camera at Kambah Village only detects speed and red light incidents on the SOUTH bound lanes along Drakeford. Not the North, East or West directions.

The camera in Civic on the intersection of London Ave and Northborne, only monitors SOUTH bound lanes (and then, only the right 2… (The sensor strips in the road does not extend to the left most lane). The camera does not monitor the East/west London Cct, or North bound Northborne Ave lanes.

This is useful to know 🙂

Whatsup said :

WanniAss said :

I suggest you send an email to road user services too.

On a related matter, I was travelling down Hindmarsh on to Monaro Highway southbound when an ambo approached with lights/sirens. We all let it go through, only to see it had pulled into the South Care base. No sign of the chopper or any other activity. Was there an emergency in the base or was his tea getting cold? This was at 11am? Shift change?

How do you know the chopper wasn’t running late for the patient transfer ? Was there equipment / resources at the base that were urgently required whilst the ambulance waited ? Did you stick around or manage to jump to this conclusion in the moments it took you to drive past ?

Neither, I spent a couple of weeks thinking about it in a considered manner.

This is not an issue.

Speeding guidelines in the ACT:

1. All vehicles must use the posted signs as a minimum speed that must be maintained.
2. When in the vicinity of a speed van (You can spot them from a mile off.) drop back (with GUSTO!) to the speed indicated as the acceptable minimum. This is important, as other drivers will be warned by your brake lights that there is a hazard in front.
3. Just before the active direction of fixed speed cameras, repeat the vigorous braking process to warn others.
4. Once past “The enforcement zone”, accelerate back up to 10 – 20Km above the posted minimum.

See — Easy. And using the above guidelines, the van in question was not doing anything abnormal.

Oh – and to make sure that encountering an overly enthusiastic revenue agent (driving one of the couple of unmarked vehicles), ensure that you have a backup fund to just pay the stupid fine.

Remember, a $243 fee for the privilege of driving at 29 Km above the posted minimum (in NSW – I couldn’t find the numbers for the ACT), only works out to a trivial $9 per fortnight – assuming you pay once per year. If, like me, you only pay once every 15 years, then it works out as an extremely affordable 0.62 per fortnight.

See – if they were serious about stopping it, it would cost a lot more!

vg said :

Unless vg is the fisherman

A double troll??? You’re diabolical…

s305 includes the requirement that “it is reasonable that the regulation need not apply.” I do not consider “getting back to the office for afternoon tea” to be a reasonable motivation for police to be speeding, especially not when in traffic: speeding in this instance is not exercising reasonable care.

Trying to stealthily catch up with a speeding driver, sure. Trying to arrive at the scene of a crime without alerting the alleged criminals to the arrival of the police, sure.

The way to catch speeding drivers is to go slower than them, or be travelling in the opposite direction.

Just my two bits worth.

“Here’s a speeding ticket.”
“But…but you were speeding too!”
“And?”

trevar said :

Great post. Driving back from Sydney today, I had the cruise set spot on 110, and was overtaken twice by different NSW Police cars that were obviously not en route to an emergency. Wish I had their plates.

As stated above, the Police don’t do the speed limit as everyone around them would do the posted speed limit & they would never catch the speeders ahead. Also they may of been called to “investigate” something & because it wasn’t an emergency call, the use of lights & sirens wasn’t required.

hjholden said :

a GPS is a suitable alternative to a certified speedo?, i highly doubt that would stand up in court

If a small margin for error was allowed (0-3km/h for example), I reckon it could. 115 in a 100 zone is not the barest of margins is it.

It depends on the burden of proof I guess. For such an example as the OP has written, I can see it being quite possible that a sat nav device could be used to prove the person was speeding beyond reasonable doubt. You probably couldn’t pin an exact speed, but you could say it was faster than 100km/h.

Unless vg is the fisherman

If I didn’t know any better, I call this a clever bit of trolling. You certainly hooked at least one…

vg is a pretty easy catch on such matters, though, even if (at times) his points are valid.

@comment 13

>Who gives a stuff?
Average law abiding citizens. Both of them. 🙂

>Did they cause an accident?
How is that relavent. The OP is talking about the hypocrisy of the situation. Regardless of whether they caused an accident, they are still responsible for setting an example, and upholding the law.

>If I didn’t know any better, I call this a clever bit of trolling.
If I didn’t know any better, I would also call this a clever bit of trolling…..d’oh, I fell for it. 🙁

a GPS is a suitable alternative to a certified speedo?, i highly doubt that would stand up in court

WanniAss said :

I suggest you send an email to road user services too.

On a related matter, I was travelling down Hindmarsh on to Monaro Highway southbound when an ambo approached with lights/sirens. We all let it go through, only to see it had pulled into the South Care base. No sign of the chopper or any other activity. Was there an emergency in the base or was his tea getting cold? This was at 11am? Shift change?

How do you know the chopper wasn’t running late for the patient transfer ? Was there equipment / resources at the base that were urgently required whilst the ambulance waited ? Did you stick around or manage to jump to this conclusion in the moments it took you to drive past ?

Doctor Evil – has your GPS been certified in accordance with National Measurement Act 1960 ?

I thought not.

Doctor Evil said :

And i’m super cop? LOL…..

Homer: So I said, “Look buddy, your car was upside-down when I got here. And as for your grandmother, she shouldn’t have mouthed off like that!”

vg said :

“In fact, out of curiosity we decided to see how fast you were actually going, but we gave up at 115km/h and backed off to the speed limit.”

So you did one of 2 things:

1) Sped yourself to test a theory out, something you don;t have the legal capacity to do or;

2) Judged someone’s speed with a non-certified speedo and then decided to produce your ‘findings’ on a public website

Well done super cop

Heard of GPS?

And i’m super cop? LOL…..

Who gives a stuff? Did they cause an accident? Does the operator of the van really care any more than the rest of Canberra about sticking to the exact speed limit.

If I didn’t know any better, I call this a clever bit of trolling. You certainly hooked at least one…

Mondays experts.

trevar said :

Great post. Driving back from Sydney today, I had the cruise set spot on 110, and was overtaken twice by different NSW Police cars that were obviously not en route to an emergency. Wish I had their plates…

Apparently, much like those who write laws, those who enforce them are also exempt.

You don’t read this site much do you?

Try googling ‘s305 of the Australian Road Rules’. It will assuage your naivety

“those who enforce them are also exempt”

Under certain circumstances, yes they are

Cop bashing is an old mob favorite of public forums, and picking on public servants is like mana from heaven for ACT natives…

But really, if I have to abide by laws imposed on me, then those charged to enforce those laws have to constantly be the best example. The dick driving that van as teh OP described needs to be sanctioned just like any other person who broke the rules. But we know that wont happen… its all mates whith thier arms around each other.

Without doubt they are driven and operated by Beelzebub’s hoary minions.

I suggest you send an email to road user services too.

On a related matter, I was travelling down Hindmarsh on to Monaro Highway southbound when an ambo approached with lights/sirens. We all let it go through, only to see it had pulled into the South Care base. No sign of the chopper or any other activity. Was there an emergency in the base or was his tea getting cold? This was at 11am? Shift change?

“In fact, out of curiosity we decided to see how fast you were actually going, but we gave up at 115km/h and backed off to the speed limit.”

So you did one of 2 things:

1) Sped yourself to test a theory out, something you don;t have the legal capacity to do or;

2) Judged someone’s speed with a non-certified speedo and then decided to produce your ‘findings’ on a public website

Well done super cop

Pure gold Dr Evil. 🙂

I’d say you should make an official complaint or mention this to the Greens/Liberals.

I am sure most people picked up today would of only been caught doing 10k’s over the limit (if that) so that is quite a disgrace.

Great post. Driving back from Sydney today, I had the cruise set spot on 110, and was overtaken twice by different NSW Police cars that were obviously not en route to an emergency. Wish I had their plates…

Apparently, much like those who write laws, those who enforce them are also exempt.

After a long day of keeping our roads safer by sending out fines in the mail next week…

Pretty much sums it up. What a maggot.

The point of this post is?

Oops – make that Sunday 30 August, damn these desk calendars that don’t turn themselves over!!