Victoria - Backflip on Traffic Fines by Baillieu Govt
April 28, 2012
SPEEDING fines and hundreds of other penalties will soar after an astonishing backflip by the Baillieu Government as it battles to balance next week's Budget.
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Traffic fines, public transport offences and even penalties for failing to register pets will go up as the Government squeezes Victorians.
The most minor speeding offence - breaking the limit by less than 10km/h - will rise by $15.
The Herald Sun believes that a penalty unit - which is used to set fines - will rise from $125 to $140.
The Liberal Party campaigned against automatic fines increases set up by Labor in 2004, but less than 18 months after taking office it will ramp up penalties by about 15 per cent.
The move will wring an extra $70 million from Victorians.
Premier Ted Baillieu yesterday said cash sources were drying up, but hinted the Budget would remain in surplus.
"We have to deal with falling revenues, the GST and stamp duty, and we have to deal with the unsustainable budget that we inherited," he said.
Mr Baillieu has previously pledged to deliver a Budget surplus of at least $100 million."Our parameters remain the same and it's our job to do what we can to meet those parameters."
Mr Wells last month signed off on a 2.5 per cent fine rise.
Added to this will be a further 12.5 per cent hike, bringing the total increase to 15 per cent.
Shadow treasurer Tim Holding said the huge hike went beyond the broken promise. "For a Government that promised to keep down the cost of living for Victorian families, this is an act of breathtaking hypocrisy," Mr Holding said.
Automatic fine increases were introduced by the Bracks government eight years ago.
In Opposition in 2008, Mr Wells condemned automatic indexation as a money grab.
He said then: "The unjust burden of automatic tax indexation will hit Victorians. There is no justification for these outrageous increases when Victorian families are battling to make ends meet."
The Herald Sun also understands massive cuts will be made to the vocational training system in next week's Budget.
Subsidies for low-priority courses, such as aromatheraphy and event management, will be wound back.
VICTORIA - Speeding fines revoked after camera fault
4th April 2012
UPDATE: VICTORIA Police have dropped 28 speeding fines despite initially asserting that the fines were issued correctly.
Assistant Commissioner Andrew Crisp said police decided to withdraw the infringement notices issued between September 2010 and January this year because of a policy of fairness.
“It’s consistent with our policy around where we actually do identify issues in relation to placement of cameras and, again, as we did with the Wellington Road bridge cameras where we withdrew 717 infringements, we believe that it’s fair in this situation to indeed withdraw those other 28 infringements,” Mr Crisp told 3AW radio station this morning.
He said the 28 motorists snapped by the mobile speed camera on Napoleon Rd, Rowville, had been sent letters in the past two weeks giving them the option to pursue compensation.
Mr Crisp said the site hadn’t been used since January after it was found the speed camera was incorrectly placed.
“On this occasion, and on the four previous occasions, the mobile speed camera operator set up at a site which was close to, it appears to be a road sign, and that with the ‘Double Doppler’ effect what we’ve got is the mobile speed camera vehicle travelling past, the beam picks up the vehicle, it can then look for another metallic reflective surface and it could pick up that surface, bounce back to the vehicle in question, and then back to the camera itself. And that’s what gives us these excessive speed readings,” he said.
But he said there was no indication of excessive speeds recorded on the withdrawn 28 infringements, except for one motorist clocked at 35km above the speed limit.
He conceded that person may have unjustly lost his or her licence.
Police have said 28 fines issued in the last five sessions from September 2010 will be dropped.
It comes after motorist Con Iliuta had charges dropped against in him January after his truck was clocked driving at 116km per hour in the 80km zone.
He alleged he was travelling at 60km per hour.
VICTORIA - Road signs may generate increased false speed readings
A MOBILE speed camera human error stuff-up means operators will be re-trained on where not to set them up.
The move follows the actions of one operator who set up his camera too close to a road sign, which interfered with the radar signal.
That mistake led to a motorist being wrongly booked at almost 40km/h above his actual speed.
Operators are trained not to put mobile cameras near metal surfaces, such as parked cars, metal fences or road signs, as doing so can produce an inflated speed reading.
Victoria Police assistant commissioner Andrew Crisp yesterday said the force had asked that every operator have that training reinforced.
Mr Crisp said only one motorist had been wrongly booked, but a further 28 motorists nabbed at the same Rowville site in Napoleon Rd were having their fines withdrawn.
He said it was disappointing that the error was only discovered when motorist Con Iliuta, who was the motorist wrongly snapped, raised it with 3AW's Neil Mitchell in February.
"It should have been picked up before it was issued, which, again, was human error," Mr Crisp said.
Mr Crisp said an audit by Victoria Police had discovered six similar incidents of mobile speed cameras being incorrectly placed in the past year.
He said in each case the error was picked up by police before motorists were issued with fines.
Road Safety Camera Commissioner Gordon Lewis has completed a report on the incident for Police Minister Peter Ryan.
"The Government has been advised that the circumstances involved in this case were incredibly rare," a spokeswoman for Mr Ryan said.
USA - Gunman in nightshirt blasts speed Camera van - Bullets fly
Amanda Goodman 
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) - The shooter dressed in a flowing nightshirt who opened fire on a Santa Fe, N.M., speed-enforcement van in the middle of the night likely won’t get away with it because the van’s video camera recorded the entire episode.
Last week the gunman shot up the speed van while parked on Bishop’s Lodge Road near Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe.
“He walks toward the speed van and he actually begins to fire rounds into the windshield and toward the top portion of the vehicle,” said Santa Fe Police Capt. Aric Wheeler.
The man fired off five bullets from a revolver.
He may not have put much thought into his outfit. He was barefoot and wearing only a night shirt, but police said knew exactly what he wanted to do.
Officers got their first look at the video Friday, too.
“I didn’t expect somebody to be slowly, methodically walking up and taking shots at the vehicle,” Wheeler said.
Investigators have not been able to identify the man in the video yet.
They do however have their suspicions as to why he may have opened fire.
“If in fact it turns out that he got a citation from the speed van, he’s looking at a $100 fine," Wheeler said. "Now we’re looking at felony charges."
The target practice caused about $1,000 in damage. The cameras themselves were not hit.
Last week’s shooting was the second time this speed van has been targeted.
In February someone also shot at it, but police think it was with a BB gun.
In this most recent case captured on camera, police said it appears the shooting was more personal.
“This seemed to be a very emotional action that was taken on the part of this gentleman,” Wheeler said.
Police are hoping the man will make their job a little easier and turn himself in.
Santa Fe police had to wait for that video because it goes directly to Redflex , the Arizona company that operates the cameras.
Wheeler did not want to say how the speed van's camera, which snaps pictures of speeders, was triggered to start recording.
Police said they'd appreciate a call from anyone who recognizes the man.
Australia - New Speed Camera Technology
They are after your money in a big way - The faster they can do it and the more they can pinch speeding, the better they will sell to cash strapped goverments.
Victoria - Thousands of drivers caught in Easter blitz
Anthony Dowsley Herald Sun
THOUSANDS of Victorian motorists will be issued with hefty fines after 7819 traffic offences were detected during three days of the annual Easter road blitz.
More than 280 drunk or drugged drivers (247 blowing over .05 and 35 testing positive for drugs) across the state were nabbed during Operation Crossroads, with police impounding 44 cars and trucks and seven motorcycles since Thursday.
Almost 130,448 drivers were breath-tested between Thursday morning and yesterday morning.
Surprisingly, 351 people failed to fix their seatbelts and 17 motorcyclists were not wearing a helmet, while 615 drivers were caught using their phone while driving.
Speeding was the most common offence.
Overall, 2743 drivers were caught over the speed limit.
Some of the worst road offences, which resulted in the driver's car being impounded, included a Melton man, 22, allegedly driving his sportscar 110km/h in a suburban street in Hadfield and a driver from Altona Meadows allegedly blowing .124 after being clocked at 143km/h in a 80km/h zone in an unregistered car in Altona North.
The national Easter road toll last night stood at 10, including three deaths from Victoria.
A 24-year-old man died after a single-car crash in Geelong late last night.
It's believed the man died instantly when his car left the Portarlington-Geelong Rd near Moolap Station Rd and struck a power pole.
A Dandenong North man, 31, and Burwood East woman, 29, were killed when their car veered off Canterbury Rd in Heathmont and hit a tree on Saturday morning.
VICTORIA - Baillieu pledge to fix $22m fee increases quietly canned
Ashley Gardiner Herald Sun
THE Baillieu Government is set to bleed another $22 million a year from Victorians when fees and fines go up.
Despite railing against the yearly grab while in Opposition, Treasurer Kim Wells has quietly signed off on a 2.5 per cent rise ahead of next month's Budget.
Automatic increases were introduced by the Bracks government in 2004.
It means thousands of government fines and charges, including speeding fines, will go up.
The rises are enshrined in law, but the Baillieu Government has made no attempt to abolish it.
In Opposition in 2008, Mr Wells condemned automatic indexation of the fines and fees as a money grab.
He said then: "The unjust burden of automatic tax indexation will hit Victorians. There is no justification for these outrageous increases when Victorian families are battling to make ends meet."
Mr Wells already has indicated taxes will not go up in next month's Budget, but this does not apply to fees and fines.
Shadow treasurer Tim Holding said maintaining automatic indexation contradicted a promise to cut costs to families.
He said a conservative estimate indicated the July 1 increase would pull in an extra $22 million.
Based on the expected fees and fines take for 2011-12, the Government could expect to bring in $908 million in the next financial year.
"This is just another example of the Liberal Party saying one thing in Opposition and doing the exact opposite in government," Mr Holding said.
Stephanie Ryan, spokeswoman for Mr Wells, said the Government was bound by the law.
"The ... Act requires fees and fines to be automatically indexed each year for inflation. The 2.5 per cent increase is significantly less than the current inflation rate of 3.1 per cent," she said.
Queensland - VARIABLE speed limits that have incurred the wrath of drivers in the Clem7
VARIABLE speed limits that have incurred the wrath of drivers in the Clem7 are to be rolled out on other major roads.
The revelation comes as police statistics show that, on at least one day last year, revenue from speed fines in the tunnel outstripped money generated by tolls in the Clem7.
The variable limits are set to operate in Brisbane Airport Link when it opens mid-year and there also are plans to enforce the signs on the Gateway Motorway at Nudgee.
Motorists are currently given four minutes to adjust their speed when limits are dropped by as much as 40km/h in response to crashes, breakdowns or roadworks before fines are imposed.
Police have indicated that any enforcement of the variable limits elsewhere would be accompanied or preceded by an awareness campaign.
In the first four months of their enforcement in the Clem7, 8862 motorists were snapped in excess of the changed speed limit. It comes as the embattled owners of the Clem7 tunnel are considering raising tolls for cars to $4.50 - up from $3.95.
Tasmania - Warning over speed camera cuts
By Edith Bevin
The union says there will be fewer cameras in rural areas where most serious crashes occur.
Tasmania's public sector union says the decision by the police department to sack its civilian speed camera operators will result in more road fatalities.
About 11 camera operators will be replaced by police officers due to budget cuts.
The Community and Public Sector Union says the extra workload on police will mean fewer cameras in rural areas, where most serious crashes occur.
Tasmania Police says speed cameras are only part of its road safety strategy and the move will save $800,000 a year.
Spokesman, Tom Lynch, says the economic reason for the decision does not even make sense.
"I understand the cost of operating the speed cameras right around the state in a full year is equivalent to what it costs for one fatal injury in the state and I'm sure the operation of speed cameras has saved multiple lives, avoided multiple crashes every single year," he said.
The Police Association says officers do not have the time and resources to man the cameras in the rural black-spots where they are most needed.
Acting president Robbie Dunn says it is also undesirable to leave the cameras running.
"Speed cameras are part of a strategy, the strategy has been extremely successful."
"We've got the lowest stats we've ever had. I wouldn't want to tinker with anything and now it is being tinkered with.
"I'd hate to say it but it could well lead to more accidents," he said.
Police will operate the cameras from next month.
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