New South Wales Drivers 'Block' Traffic Cameras In Social Media-Backed Protest
Speed cameras are the bane of motorists, a needed safety measure for road safety advocates, and a boon to government coffers ( just ask Waldo, Fla.). Motorists in New South Wales, Australia, however, have decided to fly the two-fingered salute the only way they know how: By popping the hood.
According to Autoblog, the social media campaign Block Their Shot is encouraging drivers in NSW to “breakdown” in front of the state’s 45 traffic cameras, which are mounted in trucks like the one above.
As for the cause of the protest, use of said cameras increased in the last half of 2014, with a total of 7,000 hours of footage gathered over the period, compared to the 5,580 hours gathered during the last six months of 2013. In turn, the fines collected charged upward into the stratosphere, from $310,000 AUD ($250,000 USD) in 2013, to $1.35 million ($1.08 million) between January and October 2014.
Though the campaign is popular with motorists — over 40,000 Facebook likes as of this writing — both safety advocates and government officials would like to have a word or two with those behind it. NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay hopes the “idiots” grow out of this, lest he puts “draconian fines in place,” while University of New South Wales professor of road safety Raphael Grzebieta believes the campaign is putting lives in danger by encouraging speeding.
Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.
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That's a nice Holden that dude's got there. I wonder if the camera car is a Frontier or an Equator.
I'd rather slap a square of contact paper in front of the camera and be on my way. How long can you keep up the fake "car broke down" act anyway?
The camera cars move constantly and most have a favorite hunting spot. Usually at the bottom of hill or after a blind corner where cars pick up speed. The speed limits are 1 kilometer over the limit and attract massive fines. Public holidays mean the fines and demerit points on your license are doubled. In Victoria you cannot spot the mobile camera because they are privately owned...! in ultimate abuse of Thatcherism principles Victoria privatized the speed camera department. So any car parked on the street could be a speed camera. But the latest toy they have is number plate recognition software . They catch a lot of unlicensed cars and drivers with those...beware big brother has new technology to empty your bank account.
In Australia speed cameras are purely about revenue raising. Pure and simple. There is a lot of rhetoric about speed kills, needing to save lives, blah blah but in general that is just the cover story. Here is how it has gone down in the last few years .... Speed cameras introduced, generally set to trigger when people speeding by 10% or more given the accuracy of speedos etc. Initial result is good income for government, no change to the road toll. But then the drivers tired of being fined all slow down a bit, still no chnge to road toll. But government complains revenue is dropping. Solution is to lower threshold for speed detection from 10% to 3 km/h. Revenues back up, road toll still unchanged. Drivers slow down again, revenues down, no change to road toll. Hmmm, government complains about revenue. New solution is to double number of speed cameras, hoping to catch those 'evil' drivers who allow there speed to creep from 90 km/h to 94 km/h. Revenue goes up again, road toll still unchanged. And it just goes on and on ...