Police want higher fines for those going less than 10 km/hr over the limit

reports:

Assistant commissioner Dave Cliff said some drivers were running the risk of speeding because they knew the fines were “very, very low”.

“If you're speeding 10kmh or less it's just a $30 fine which is less than a parking fine. That's a worry for us because we really want to deter people from speeding,” he said.

And how many accidents are caused by vehicles going 5 km/hr over the limit? Almost zero. But the want more money out of them.

While Cliff did not name what type of price he would like to see, he said it was worth considering the example of Victoria, where fines started at $194 for speeding at 10kmh or less, or New South , where the minimum fine was $114.

So Cliff wants the fine for 5 km/hr over the limit to increase 600%.

“They're obviously dramatically higher. But if you were to test it with the general populace, if you're travelling 10kmh over the limit past a school what do you think the fine should be?

What has that got to do with someone doing 105 km/hr on a motorway?

If there is a problem with people speeding past schools (is there?), then you can have special fines for that.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, a road safety campaigner and editor of The Dog and Lemon Guide, said vehicle-activated signs displaying speeds would be “far more effective and far cheaper than speed cameras”.

Yep, I find those great. But of course they don't bring in revenue.

He said the police had an “obsession” with small breaches of the speeding laws, which had not lowered the road toll but had alienated many otherwise -abiding motorists.

“It's created the impression that the cameras are solely there for revenue gathering.”

The reality is the average speed has reduced. The 85th percentile open road speed has reduced from km/hr in 2000 to 102 km/hr today.

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