SpeedCam(3)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, events of the last few days have renewed my disgust over my speeding infringement incurred last January in the Cross City Tunnel (CCT) (image enlarges).

Namely, 66kph in a 40 zone after 10pm, the same conditions as those incurred in the Lane Cove Tunnel (LCT) fines, which were waived yesterday by the Minister for Wavering Over Speeding Tickets. He did so after sustained public pressure from hundreds of aggrieved motorists, and rightly so.

If nothing else, the exercise has been a wonderful example of people power utilizing the Web, with the creation of sites like roadwatch.com and tunnelboycott.com acting as instant rallying points. They in turn inspired the mainstream media campaign.

Still, notwithstanding that public pressure, I’m struggling to ascertain on what technical grounds the government saw fit to rescind the LCT penalties. At best the reasons are something to do with unspecified ‘anomalies’,

However, after an intervention from Premier Morris Iemma, Mr Roozendaal backed down completely this morning, hours after an earlier reversal when he promised a review due to "anomalies" in speeding penalty figures.

It would appear motorists, myself included, were deceived by insufficient advanced warning of an approaching 50% speed limit reduction coupled with a variable speed camera. So why is the LCT any different to the CCT ? According to the Minister, 

"Further statistical analysis provided to me this morning, which was based on other tunnels in Sydney, indicates that the Lane Cove Tunnel accounts for a disproportionately large number of infringements issued in tunnels in NSW," he said.

"Of the speeding offences in NSW tunnels issued since January 1, 2007, the Lane Cove Tunnel accounts for over 30 per cent. Clearly there is a problem."

So what; the LCT was a highly-used free tunnel compared to a rarely-used $3.50 tunnel. It’s not a true comparison and thus the problem is not necessarily unique to the LCT.

Therefore I’ll be interested to see the findings after their review of the LCT 'anomalies'. The case has the makings of a legal precedent, providing me with grounds for an appeal. Fair enough..?

Comments

[Hugo Watson]

But did the government actually say sorry?

[Sanjay]

Hi Adrian..As an ex cabbie i understand how traffic fines suck and how easy is it to get trapped. I cant understand why your fine can't be waived if it can be done for LCT motorists who commited same offence under same circumstances. May be you need a way to find your voice heard like LCT motorists.Goodluck..

[adrian]

Thanks Sanjay, nice to hear from you again. I trust it's all good for you/

[Roy]

Hi Adrian
Ive used some of your content on my Dublin Taxi website, I hope you don't mind, I've credited you and linked back to the site
www.dublintaxi.net