Small victory for NSW motorists

[Jeef Beef]

Reducing the speed camera tolerance down to zero was a ridiculous proposal to begin with. It meant motorists could be fined for speeding just 1km/h over the limit. If the proposal passed it would have pretty much sealed the deal that speed cameras are put in place simply and solely for revenue raising.

Now though, Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner is saying such plans will not go through. The Deputy Premier met with RTA chief executive Michael Bushby on Tuesday and directed him to terminate the proposal which was brought about by the Labor cabinet. Up until last week, the precise tolerance set for speed cameras was unknown, but a figure of 3km/h was leaked when plans of the proposal came about which wanted the tolerance reduced to zero.

Mr Stoner will be sworn in as the new NSW roads minister within the next week or so and will be setting the tolerance to a new figure. He hasn’t said what the exact speed tolerance will be, but says it will be increased. Mr Stoner also said that the Coalition government was adamant about putting an end to such revenue raising tactics.

“The NSW Liberals and Nationals are determined to restore commonsense to government in NSW – this is one practical step towards that. We are determined to earn the trust of motorists by focusing on road safety, not revenue raising,” Mr Stoner said, as reported by Fairfax.

Mr Stoner also announced that he will be asking the Audior-General to investigate speed cameras and will try to clean up the inconsistent and confusing speed limits around the state.

Hopefully, all this talking will be backed up by some actions. We’ll keep you updated in any case.

So, rather than going from 3kph to 0kph like it was originally going to happen, the tolerance margin is going to be increased.

I don't care whether this is a politician's tactic to win over the public, it's a win for NSW motorists regardless. Now if they could just introduce driver training programs as a means to improve road safety...

[MikeVictor]

Technically the public was clearly already won over, good on your DP for putting the kybosh on this.

Your comment on driver training programs is spot on also. That is a MUST for all states.

[NPVPositive]

Finally some common sense in NSW!!!

[130iguy]

i dont know if it was discussed or not but apparently last week the NSW government signed a bunch of contracts for speed cameras being run by 3rd parties, in the same week the margin of error was proposed to be moving to zero...

now i'm willing to bet that if you dug deep enough you would find that the owner of the company of the private speed camera's has something to do with a person high up in the NSW labour party


anyone else smell a rat?

[Jeef Beef]

Originally Posted by mattyv

Technically the public was clearly already won over, good on your DP for putting the kybosh on this.

Your comment on driver training programs is spot on also. That is a MUST for all states.

They can at least use the speed camera revenue and put it to good use.

Yep the public gave the Liberals a landslide victory, but I guess the government decided to live up to their promise of 'change'

Originally Posted by 130iguy

i dont know if it was discussed or not but apparently last week the NSW government signed a bunch of contracts for speed cameras being run by 3rd parties, in the same week the margin of error was proposed to be moving to zero...

now i'm willing to bet that if you dug deep enough you would find that the owner of the company of the private speed camera's has something to do with a person high up in the NSW labour party


anyone else smell a rat?

Just like how the mobile speed cameras were contracted to a subsidiary of Macquarie Group? When an investment bank gets involved you know there's a lot of money to be had...

[130iguy]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

Just like how the mobile speed cameras were contracted to a subsidiary of Macquarie Group? When an investment bank gets involved you know there's a lot of money to be had...

but its in the name of safety!

[bfi2906]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

Just like how the mobile speed cameras were contracted to a subsidiary of Macquarie Group? When an investment bank gets involved you know there's a lot of money to be had...

Now that's a bit cynical - didn't you hear that it's all about safety & saving lives.

It's a labout party proven fact that catching old ladies doing 3 km/h over the limit on their way to bowls, because of speedo error and road undulations, is much more effective in saving lives, than having police cars on the road catching people with a phone in one hand and a Chai Latte in the other, while they shave or do their makup, in bumper to bumper traffic, and miss the school zone signs and red lights.

And as for widening roads to relieve congestion, and thus shorten travel time. Or filling in pot holes the size of a Holden Barina - that's just silly talk.

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by Jeef Beef

Just like how the mobile speed cameras were contracted to a subsidiary of Macquarie Group? When an investment bank gets involved you know there's a lot of money to be had...

Redflex has been around for ages.

They did all the red light cameras and fixed speed cameras when they came into Vic and NSW. The company made an absolute killing.

Macquarie only recently took over Redflex. Of course, based on past contracts and tenders, Redflex was a shoe-in for the mobile camera tender.

Just a pretty straight-forward buy-out really.

[Jon.]

Thank god

[tyorll]

If the RTA and state government were really interested in public safety on the roads, they would toughen anti-hoon laws, re-introduce compulsory driving tests every five years after the age of 60, and annually after the age of 70, and get rid of "restricted licenses" altogether.

Seriously... once a driver is deemed unfit or unsafe to drive, where is the sense in allowing that driver to legally drive within 10km of his/her home or on outback roads? They are still unsafe and are likely to contribute to an accident and fatally kill someone else including themselves. Irrational. If they are unfit/unsafe, then they shouldn't drive. Period. Subsidise taxis or whatever, but don't let them drive. Also where is the sense in letting someone who fails their P plate test 10+ times and finally passes on the 11th, 20th, 35th attempt and then providing them with a license? They were clearly NEVER going to have the spatial awareness or coordination to be a safe driver. Keep them off the road! Forever! If it takes them 10+ attempts to pass, they'd likely fail it 10 more times if they were asked to repeat the test after finally passing it once! Senseless...

Back on topic: Leeway on speed limit is necessary. The senior police constable who was against this and fighting "for" the motorists is the only one with any sense! Fancy that... agreeing with a cop...

[volk613]

Did anyone think of the children?

[bfi2906]

Originally Posted by volk613

Did anyone think of the children?

Yep! All the time.

That's why I don't understand why it's legal to have large, purpose built metal scaffolding, bolted to the front of a mototised 2 tonne projectile, at just the right height to do maximum damage to a child.

That's a bull-bar on a 4WD.

And people worry about, fine & deduct points for cars doing 5 km/h over "the limit" because of a downhill piece of road.

Safety!!! Yeah, right -- pfffftttttt

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by bfi2906

Yep! All the time.

That's why I don't understand why it's legal to have large, purpose built metal scaffolding, bolted to the front of a mototised 2 tonne projectile, at just the right height to do maximum damage to a child.

That's a bull-bar on a 4WD.

And people worry about, fine & deduct points for cars doing 5 km/h over "the limit" because of a downhill piece of road.

Safety!!! Year, right -- pfffftttttt

Too true.

How about raising registration AND CTP costs for non-5 star ANCAP rated cars? (if this isn't already done - i'm not sure).

Or forcing every car, every year, to have a roadworthy? The current Safety Tests for cars over 5 years old are bullshit.