Help. Speed cameras can I get some views from around the world

[Talkwrench]

I thought this might be a good forum to get a consensus from around the world about speed cameras and what you have and what you think so perhaps you guys can help?
I live in Western Australia, we have a very low population compared to the world, are roads are not too bad, we have a lot of open road as you can imagine.
 The fastest we are allowed to go is 110kph [68.3 mph] our freeways are 100kph [62 mph] . Our state government is buying more speed cameras both fixed and hidden, shall we say , I'll bring this up later. The government states that neither the police or the government makes any money from it goes to a body called the RTTA Road trauma trust accountant. Yet I wonder if this is not run by government?  There was an article in the paper on the weekend basically saying that in just two years its raised its revenue by about 30% [yup 30%] it is predicted to rake in about 97 million dollars plus, we are only a very small state here remember. Now what's is happening is that with this money they are rolling out further cameras , they are claiming that they have reduced the road toll by 23%  agh? Will if its that great Im wondering why the rest of the world doesn't have it?? They are following a model set by the eastern states , so you guys chime in .
Now Im passionate about my motoring I have several cars from different makes but I'm losing the enjoyment of driving , now I'm not saying I'm speeding everywhere its just I spend more time looking at my speedo and wondering what's hiding in the bushes I'm just driving in fear .  I was recently branded as a dickhead and also a criminal as I voiced my opinion and said of course this is revenue raising.. Bare in mind I have I have a full license and have all my demerit points for many years.
Now let me put this into perspective. The non fixed speed cameras we have are sometimes placed in the back of a small SUV and parked near the road , also they can take units out and have them hidden in bushes and behind walls , yes the get you done from the rear as well! they are painted black and now have units in very thin tripods and the cam is not much bigger than a cigarette packet.. They are not run by the police, but lets leave the police  [even though they are in on it, see the latest campaign] out of it. Even the minister for police said they are not supposed to hide them, wish I could post up some pics to show you guys how cleaver they hide them, maybe later.
 Back to perspective..  You can be done here for as little as 4kph over the speed limit ok that's less than 2.5 mph, in the east they get done for just 2 that's less thats 1.25 mph ! guys in Vic correct me if Im wrong. I saw a speeding fine from Victoria that booked someone for 3kph over the speed limit the fine was $3000, yes you read right $3000!! Just because it was a company car and they wouldn't or couldn't identify the driver.. Sorry but in anyone's book that's just a money grab for 3kph = 1.8 mph.
There is a loophole that people are unaware of and that is that if you have a car that 10 years and older by Australian Design Rules its speedometer can be out by 10% + 4 kph, so you can see this discrepancy between getting booked! You wouldn't even know it.. All new[er] cars now have there speedometers advanced under new laws, so people effectively drive under the speed limit, without knowing it and wonders why the hell the person behind gets frustrated..??

So tell me what you guys think, will you say like a lot of people don't speed and you wont get caught, or is this just blatant revenue raising with the way they set the tolerance at such a low speed? What does your country do? 

Thanks for your time guys...

[Aussie Challenger]

Yes Talkwrench over here in the East in Victoria the tolerance is 3kph on ANY vehicle no matter how old or new it is, the government use it to raise revenue plain and simple.
As you may already be aware we here in Victoria top the list as the most revenue raised and it is increasing each year and no other state will be able to catch up for the fore see-able future.
For our American cousins many American States have been modeling their laws and camera usage on us here in Victoria.
Over here if you merely pass a mobile or Cell phone to a passenger, it doesn't even have to be turned on it is an automatic $450 fine, no appeal, pay up.         

[Talkwrench]

I hope the guys in the U.S. don't let this happen to them. I have driven in Cali a few times and although Ive seen some bad driving one thing I like is that fact they just drive.. they drive without having fear. And it seems to be no different. I don't mind if people are booked for using a mobile [cell] while driving [tho' not if you just hand it to someone pfft!]  Im a firm believe that its inattention and poor driving skill is what kills.. not 5 or 10 kph over the speed limit...

[brads70]

Freedom is an illusion..... money grab , peoples republic of Australia ! 

[Talkwrench]

Indeed.. People just swallow it, even my good friend and my wife believe its a good thing and yet they both just got speeding fines Agh??!!!
 I believe most people are sheeple .
What do they do in Canada Brad?

[brads70]

Indeed.. People just swallow it, even my good friend and my wife believe its a good thing and yet they both just got speeding fines Agh??!!!
 I believe most people are sheeple .
What do they do in Canada Brad?

They tried speed and red light camera's here but people kicked up suck a stink and it got challenged in court and got tossed I think? We just have speed enforcement via unmarked/marked cars/SUV's .

[JayBee]

Brad's pretty close. Here in Ontario we had "Photo Radar" introduced by the provincial (NDP) government in 1994. It lasted 11 months because of an election promise by the Progressive Conservative party to scrap it if they got elected. Well they got elected. Some statistics said the program reduced speeding. It was a cash grab too, I read it cost 4.5 million to operate and brought in 19 million over that period.

As for "over the speeding limit", I found that the police are pretty lenient and tolerant of 10 kph (6.2 mph) over. Some even let you go at 15 (9.3).

Compared to you guys, we have it pretty good here. Driving is still enjoyable.

[Katfish]

Definite money grab,
Here in Florida you can't be ticketed unless going at least 5mph over the posted limit.
We have traffic cams here too, caused a big stink when it was found out the private company that runs the system was lowering the amount of time between yellow and red to catch more people running lights.
Gotta love that right?

[ChallengerHK]

Freedom is an illusion.....

Only when citizens are sheep

['Cuda Hunter]

I consistently get speeding tickets.  In Colorado we are allowed 11 points in one year without loosing your license.  Then you get your points back after two years. 
so in the second year you can get another 6 points.  As long as you don't get 18 points taken off in two years you keep your license.  All points return in two years.
I speed all the time. I've been getting tickets since the first day I got my learners permit.  2.5 mph over the limit on my way to church with my mom and brother and sister. Ridiculous.
Anyway, I feel camera's are nothing more than a money grab and in my opinion an infringement on my rights.

  As I understand it though, in Australia you pretty much have no rights since you gave up your guns.  Your government can do ridiculous things like take your license because of two mph over the speed limit.  You guys are really hating it there.  That sure takes all the fun out of driving.  At least cars that drive themselves will work great for you guys over there.  no chance of speeding if you have absolutely no control.  Just get in and go to work then go back home.

It appears that we have a "sheeple" problem here in the states as well.  They just haven't taken over yet.  I feel for you guys. Repeal and fight your government.  OR whatever they use as a guise to steal your money. 

[Aussie Challenger]

I haven't been in America for about 8 years now but always enjoyed driving there as I found the drivers were more aware of what thy were doing while driving plus you have a couple of sensible laws that we don't have like being able to turn right through a red light when safe, our government will not even consider our equivalent.
Back in the 50's and 60's it was a lot freer over here but as governments became strapped for cash they figure the motorist is a soft target especially when they only have to take your picture.
At traffic light intersections we have 2 cameras installed, one because you went through the red light, then also as some motorists speed up they get you for speeding as well. I do not condone driving through red lights but unfortunately it is fairly common, the revenue raised through all of our states cameras is in the 100's of thousands of dollars.            

[Talkwrench]

Ok just to let you guys know we ALSO have unmarked police cars, they can be just about anything Subaru, Camry, they get you while driving with that radar. Personally I think they would do better being marked and in traffic that way if you where inclined you would slow down it doesn't cost you a cent.. !
Yes we have red light cameras too, those I 'm fine with running a red light is suicide, but as someone pointed out you have to be careful too as people are over cautious and can slam on the brakes.. mmm kinda thing they do when seeing a camera hidden in the bushes !
NEWS just to hand! Now remember I said about the state gov claiming that it has lowered the death rate by 'about' 23%. Well on this mornings news the latest is because of our congestion and slow traffic it is going to cost us 53 billion dollars in the future [AUS], by 2031 Perth will be the worst.. Agh but we are all tolled we are going too fast and killing people by the score??  In my state we have had a MASSIVE increase in population over the last say ten years because of the mining boom, I personally have seen the changes in the road in that time , I now have to go to another street and use the lights to get on the main road as its already blocked and you cant get on. So what Im saying is that its the congestion on our roads that has lowered any sort of death rate,  its got nothing to do with their so call speeding campaign they are just taking the credit !!

Yes they did take about 50% of our guns mainly rabbit rifles, I think the cost was about a billion dollars to buy back the guns. They keep saying we have not had any massacres because its worked so well.. mmm yet just about daily in Sydney's west there is a drive by or someone is shot, hey worked great.. Oh and then there was that Muslim guy that held all those people hostage at the Lindt store the shotgun was unlicensed.. A mother stabbed 8 of her children to death in QLD with a knife but hey that's ok it was a knife..?! Would have been a totally different story if it was a male and killed his kids with a gun..??

[jimynick]

I don't know about you guys, but if I lived in Oz- land of $3000 speeding tickets, every time I saw one of those cameras, I'd get out with my tire iron and "tighten it's nuts". Don't forget to approach from the rear and cover your face/plate, as the Nazis shouldn't get a freebie. 

[Priesty]

I recently had a discussion with a Victorian police officer in a social setting about the road toll & speed cameras etc. He was quite quick to claim all the improvement in the lower road deaths & injuries squarely at the door of the increased speed camera enforcement. I asked him if he thought that some other factors may also be influencing these results, for instance : ABS, IRS, stability (yaw)control, improved braking designs & materials, improved suspension geometries & components, crash safety testing & subsequent chassis redesign, drivers airbags, passenger airbags, side curtain & seat airbags, improved tyre compounds & designs, improved seat belt pre-tensioner designs, etc.etc.etc.
He looked at me & said an emphatic NO !. If he was wearing his sidearm I would have shot one of us, not sure which one... 
It's a losing battle I'm afraid.
 BTW I mean no disrespect to the Victorian police force, they do a great job for very little thanks, just imagine what more they could accomplish if they weren't sidetracked with writing tickets for 3km infringements.

my

[Talkwrench]

I doubt you will get cop tell you anything else.. They have to believe what they are doing is right or they couldn't get their head around it.. I had a mate years ago who was a speed camera operator. He always used to say if you don't speed you won't get caught.. Strange coming from him as he had a 500  hp car..?? Anyway I rang him one day to ask what the where setting the cameras at. He said no I don't do that job anymore and he could now say that they where revenue raisers no question. He said they amount of people caught just over the limit was huge, he said occasionally late at night on the freeway no one around they might get someone doing 100mph but rare..