Speed Cameras - Fixed
This is the 24 / 7 / 365 tax machine. In some locations just 3 km per hour over the posted limit will earn a fine. That's a slow walking pace! You're expected to believe that a leisurely stroll above the "so-called" safe limit will make you a dangerous driver, even at 2 o'clock in the morning with not another soul in sight. This is a cynical abrogation of the states duty to make real improvements in road safety. Meanwhile - dumb, unskilled, incompetent drivers in unsafe cars rule the roads unmolested. Can the bar be raised above this level of hypocrisy?

FIXED Speed CameraFixed Speed Camera
 Fixed Speed Cameras are expanding throughout New South Wales. These devices operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They are not based on radar or laser technology. The speed measuring is achieved when a vehicle passes over strips buried in the road surface. The camera is mounted in a box looking down on the traffic. Two types of warning signs precede Speed Cameras in NSW. The first states that a Speed Camera is ahead. The second advises that the speed of your vehicle will be read.

As of February 2003 there were 110 "fixed" Speed Camera locations throughout New South Wales. There are 45 in the Sydney area of which 4 are in school zones. In the country there are 65. Only 6 of those are in school zones. More information about the sites may be obtained through the Roads and Traffic Authority Web site.

The long term "Road Safety" value of these devices is unclear. Drivers who pass them regularly may slow down "just in that location" and then increase their speed further down the road. If the intention is to guarantee most motorists will drive at or below the speed limit in that specific, short stretch of road then they might be deemed successful. However, nobody has ever proved that small increases in velocity above the "posted" limit will produce crashes. Collisions invariably include some other "action" that precipitated the crash. Governments refuse to target these aspects of road safety. Why? Is it too difficult? Are they aware that it will not produce a profit?