Most speeders caught near
city
From The West Australian
By Susan Hewitt
January 13, 2004
Figures show big drop in number of offenders
and revenue from cameras
Drivers are most likely to get caught by a speed camera
in inner city suburbs.
Documents obtained by “The West Australian”
under Freedom of Information legislation show half the suburbs where
most drivers are caught and fined are those immediately surrounding
the Perth central business district.
West Perth, Victoria Park, East Perth, Perth and Burswood
are five of the ten suburbs where the highest number of speed camera
infringement notices were issued in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 financial
years.
But figures show there has been a big drop in the
number of people being caught.
In 2001-02, the Government made more than $46 million
by fining nearly half the licensed WA drivers – issuing 567,479
speed and red light camera fines.
The following year, 416,794 Multanova and red light
camera infringement notices were issued which raised $33 million.
The revised budget for this financial year is about
$32.5 million, but based on figures already available for the first
three months of the year – July, August and September –
that could be as low as $27 million.
The officer in charge of the police camera section,
Sen Sgt Carl Fisher, said that in ten years the number of people checked
by speed cameras was 20 times bigger but the percentage of those speeding
had dropped by more than two-thirds.
Rough figures showed that in 1992, of one million
cars checked, 62 per cent were speeding.
In 2002, police checked 20 million cars and only 16.5
per cent of them were speeding.
Sen Sgt Fisher said there was a good chance drivers
had learnt to predict where Multanovas would be placed and slowed
down in anticipation, but that was still an effective anti-speeding
tactic.
“Seventy-four per cent of the Multanova camera
locations are crash-related sites so if people are slowing down they
are starting to learn and do the right thing,” he said.
Police Minister Michelle Roberts said she had had
discussions with Police Commissioner Barry Matthews to try to find
ways of reducing public cynicism toward the placement of Multanovas.
She also planned to review the controversial Speed
Camera Placement Committee’s function and said there would be
an announcement from the commissioner on both matters soon.
Sen Sgt Fisher said the number of operational Multanovas
in WA had gradually increased and for the last three years there had
been no reduction in the number of camera operators or the hours that
Multanovas were in operation.
He believed people were slowing down around known
camera locations, but there were constantly growing new suburbs police
were not able to monitor with speed cameras.
In November last year, a Multanova was placed permanently
with Peel police, but it would be difficult with current operating
systems to put more in place.
They were not cost-effective in country areas, where
traffic was light.
He said there were no plans to scale down Multanova
operations.
SPEED TRAPS
The 10 suburbs where the highest number of speed camera infringement
notices were issued
