Was the camera malfunctioning? Scrap all the tickets. Was it working properly? Pay up and stop crying.
‘Something doesn’t add up’: the small Queensland town united in its fight against speed camera fines
Submitted 11 months ago by Zagorath@aussie.zone to australia@aussie.zone
Comments
sudoku@programming.dev 11 months ago
Thisfox@sopuli.xyz 11 months ago
There are a lot of people who think they can go whatever speed they like and no one matters but them. This one seems to have been deceptive, but only to people who refuse to look at their own speedo, installed in their car for exactly this purpose.
trk@aussie.zone 11 months ago
We did a US trip recently, and in 5000k of driving on their major roads and highways through half a dozen states, we saw a total of 3 speed detection devices - all hand held by cops in patrol cars.
We get back to Brisbane and passed 2 speed cameras on the 30 minute trip home from the airport.
supamanc@lemm.ee 11 months ago
If only there were some way to avoid speeding…
trk@aussie.zone 11 months ago
Speed is such a nothing burger when it comes to safe driving, yet it seems to be the only thing the police focus on.
A more cynical person might point out the fact that it’s the easiest one to generate revenue from, and when budgets predict a rise in speed camera revenue year on year the focus is maybe not on safety.
WaxedWookie@lemmy.world 11 months ago
If we were motivated to… undermine the profitability of these privately operated state revenue raisers, how closely are they surveilled?
Zagorath@aussie.zone 11 months ago
Are they privately operated? I was under the impression QPS operated them.
rainynight65@feddit.de 11 months ago
The entities mentioned in this article are TMR and QPS, and neither of them are privately operated.
WaxedWookie@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Fair enough - my mistake.
rainynight65@feddit.de 11 months ago
Knuth said his constituents are “ropeable” about two issues: juvenile crime and speeding fines.
I get that the Katters have youth crime as one of the biggest topics they run on (I also suspect they don’t have any sustainable plans to address it). But how much youth crime can there possibly be in a podunk town of 811 people? Don’t conflate two distinct topics to score political points.
abhibeckert@beehaw.org 11 months ago
As someone who grew up in Malanda… not much crime there as far as I know.
But other towns only slightly larger in the same area are out of control. I’m talking nuisance crimes - such as a kid smashing in the windscreen of your car with a baseball bat or spray painting a dock on your shop sign for no reason other than they think it’s funny.
Even with insurance, you’re still out of pocket a few hundred bucks and when it happens again three days later, and then again a week later, and nobody is ever charged…
rainynight65@feddit.de 11 months ago
I have zero doubt that youth crime is a problem in many places, and I am certain that a lot of speed enforcement is purely revenue-generating. I simply bristle at reductive statements from politicians like Knuth who only have complaints and no plans. Both of these issues are non-trivial to address, but nobody wants to hear about complexities, because that means change will take time. They just want things to change now, and that’s not happening.
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 11 months ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Dozens of Malanda residents say they’re preparing individual legal challenges after a mobile speed camera temporarily installed on a rural road led to at least 589 fines being issued in a town of just 811 households.
Their case has generated a wider debate about the calibration and placement of trailer-based speed cameras in rural Queensland, and length of time between an alleged offence occurring and when a fine is issued.
Trainee ambulance driver Lana Miller saw the Malanda camera for the first time heading down the hill on a bend of the winding Malanda–Atherton road, about 75 kilometres south-west of Cairns, on 15 September.
Bonadio spoke to one elderly resident who regularly drives to the aged care home to visit his wife and was caught five times turning into its driveway.
In response to questions about field testing of the device, the department spokesperson said “several validations and checks are undertaken prior to infringements being issued from TRSCs (transportable road safety cameras).”
Several rural MPs, including Katter’s Australian Party’s Knuth, have brought the issue to state parliament, warning that car-dependent regional motorists are fed up with automated speeding fines.
The original article contains 1,412 words, the summary contains 189 words. Saved 87%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Zagorath@aussie.zone 11 months ago
Gods that data is appalling. Is it really likely that that rate speeding is really going on? Especially after the first few days once the locals are familiar with the placement of the camera and won’t be caught unawares.
The fact that the fines take weeks to show up and you can be driving the same stretch of road that entire time, getting a fine every single day, is appalling. All but one fine per person should be thrown out on that basis alone.
The fact that their Speed Awareness Monitor thinks they were doing the right speed is also particularly bad. It seems likely to be the best evidence that this camera was just miscalbibrated and all its fines should be scrapped. But even if the camera was calibrated correctly and it’s the SAM that’s wrong, the fact that the SAM told drivers they’re going the right speed should be ground enough for aquital, in my opinion. They were given clearance and told they were doing the right thing.
It’s like if a Council officer pilut on high vis and started controlling a signalised intersection, instructing drivers to ignore the traffic lights. It doesn’t matter that that officer might not have the appropriate training or authorisation to be doing what he was doing. Drivers shouldn’t be given a red light fine for going when someone who appeared authoritative said they should go.
LemmysMum@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Why is she trusting a speed detection sign in the first place, she had a speedometer that has a guaranteed margin of error in all cars older than 2004, and a legal requirement to never show above the actual travel speed. It sounds like a cop out, either the camera was not functioning properly or these people are just country lead foots. Given that I only need to go 15 mins out of the city to see people drive significantly over the limits with regularity. Wouldn’t surprise me if half these folks have never even looked down below the dash what with keeping an eye out for pigs and roos.
SoylentBlake@lemm.ee 11 months ago
a guaranteed margin of error in all cars older than 2004
Is there no guarantee from 2005 on? Am I missing a memo here?
abhibeckert@beehaw.org 11 months ago
I bet none of those fines were locals. It’s a major highway and the locals know the speed limit and how heavily it is enforced.
Zagorath@aussie.zone 11 months ago
I thought about that, but the fact is that the way the article presents it gives us no reason to believe that’s the case.
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 months ago
If it were a major interstate route, it would have a name, instead of being called Small Town-Smaller Town Rd (Malanda-Atherton Rd). It also wouldn’t be 250km north of the last major route to the NT (Flinders Hwy) or 20km west of the road to Cairns (Bruce Hwy). Your claim is completely untrue.