NSW’S $7million speed camera!
July 30, 2009 by David Twomey
It will probably get a pat on the back from the New South Wales Government, it certainly won’t win any kudos from motorists, but one speed camera in suburban Sydney has raised $7million in revenue in a year.
Described by Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph as the state’s nastiest speed trap, it has caught out 71,288 motorists and raised millions of dollars for the New South Wales Government.
Two cameras pointing each way on one pole at Cleveland St, in Sydney’s Moore Park, netted more than $7 million from June 2008 to June this year.
It is the biggest revenue haul of any set of cameras at a time when revenue has dropped by more than $17 million across the state compared with the same time last year, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Angry motorists believe officials dropping the speed limit on the stretch of road from 60km/h to 50km/h on the day the cameras were installed in 2007 increased the haul.
“The day the camera came on line I drove out the gate and the camera went off, I thought, ‘I am only doing 60′ and I looked up and there was a 50km/h sign. It was the first day I saw that sign,” a worker at the Moore Park driving range said yesterday.
NSW Roads Minister Michael Daley refused to answer questions about whether it was a deliberate tactic to lower speed zones to boost revenue, referring questions on the placement of speed cameras to the RTA.
An RTA spokesman claimed the cameras were installed to cut accidents. He also said the speed limit had not been lowered.
The two Cleveland St cameras topped a list of the 10 biggest revenue-raising fixed speed cameras in NSW.
The RTA found support from pedestrian council president Harold Scruby, who said speed changes being introduced with speed cameras was fine if motorists were warned.
“There is evidence of major changes in driver behaviour,” Mr Scruby said.
A spokesperson for state motoring organisation, NRMA, said it supported highway patrol pulling people over because speed cameras failed to deter motorists from driving recklessly.
With: The Daily Telegraph
Print it: 
I have no sympathy for those who get caught by fixed speed cameras as there are at least 3 signs before hand blatantly pointing out that there is a speed camera ahead and what the speed limit is.
Though I don’t necessarily agree with the consequences.
I don’t think those signs are placed in victoria Acfsambo.
Also something to consider, this means people have been “speeding” (doing 60 in a 50) along that particular stretch of road with no accidents for quite some time now.
bastards!
Acfsambo – In reference to this article the day the cameras came online the speed limit was reduced to 50kmph. motorists travelling on the road that day that were doing what they thought was the speed limit 60kmph so were not speeding. A warning perod should have been in place but as the article shows, the RTA didnt even know the speed limit had been changed.
I dont mind red light cameras but speed cameras are revenue raisers. Set them to 10+ k’s over the limit and fines will be cut by half.
I agree sam-R, even set them to 5km over, its so easy to creap 5km over for a few seconds then adjust your limit. The way things are going we will have to watch our dash more than we watch the road!
Thanks KC, they are at least in NSW.
Sam-R, I also agree that they are too sensitive (aka should be tripped at at 10km/h over).
Also they drivers should have seen the new speed signs,its a condition of diving to observe the speed signs, though the RTA should have put in a probation period, that is people caught speeding up to 60km/h be told but not fined for say 3 months.
So the RTA are bastards for making money from people breaking the law?
I told this same story some months (years?) back – a car wobbling along a 60 zone doing around 50, the driver talking on his hand-held mobile, his wife(?) cradling a baby in her arms in the front seat and all this whilst passing a speed trap in Albion Park Rail, NSW – the police officer sitting in the passenger seat of the police car reading a newspaper. Not revenue raising, indeed.
I agree with the NRMA – speed cameras do nothing to deter reckless driving or poor vehicle maintenance.
Acfsambo – the trouble with reading the roadside signage is there is too much roadside signage. Drivers now spend most of their driving time reading signs and checking their speedo to ensure they are complying with laws and not “watching” the road.
Luckily (?) Cleveland Street is usually so choked with traffic that speeding is the least of your concerns. That particular stretch of road also has a school zone, so in the mornings ultra-paranoid drivers slow down to about 30km/h to make sure they’re not going to get caught.
Pete, i know what you are saying. I was just saying what divers should be doing by the book, not practically.
Re;
Acfsambo Says:
July 30th, 2009 at 11:23 am
I agree, but the RTA doesn’t mind an ‘accidental’ ambush from time to time.
Harold Scruby himself is the pedestrian council.
What were all the accidents to cause the camera to be installed, a flock of sparrows killed by a bus?
I would rather recieve a ticket in person from a Hwy Patrol officer than some crap robot system.
Actually the RTA has yet to produce any evidence that it is any less of a black spot now than it was before….
Ka-ching! Road safety my arse… Don’t get between a politician and an easy dollar, you’ll get stomped. All that crap about “don’t speed and you won’t get fined” and “we don’t want your money, we want you to slow down” would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.
I live around this area and I can tell you now that these changes (camera and speed limit) were advertised on those electronic message boards that they use for a couple of months prior to them being introduced. Therefore anyone jumping up and down about getting booked are either stupid or blind or perhaps both? I’m not saying I agree with the RTA or anything like that but seriously if you want to speed surely you can do the speed limit for that stretch of road, it’s not like they’re hard to spot.
I know what you mean guys, but if the fines don’t apply for 10km/h over the limit, there will still be idiots who will border on or over the limit and whinge about getting fined.
Cammo is right. They did have big electronic signs there for some time before. I can understand them being placed there for the school zone but it didnt need to be reduced to 50km/h during non school times, there’s decent visibility and its 4 lanes wide.
Try driving at the limit religiously day in and out and see how much abuse u can receive and near misses from agro motorists tailgating etc.
So, let me get this straight. Comments range from “I’d rather get a ticket from a Hwy patrol officer”, through to blaming the RTA for lowering a speed limit and putting in speed cameras. Speed cameras really get those that are paying absolutely NO attention, whether they be fiddling with a car stereo, using their phone, or evensimply having an in depth conversation with a passenger in the car. Not keeping the mind on the task at hand (driving), is what gets morons caught by the well signposted NSW speed cameras, which the RTA set at 10% or so. (unlike the 2km/h VIC farce). Won’t be long now before the next media beat-up about how Hwy patrol do their jobs. People DO NOT have to have their eyes fixed on their speedos. If they can’t exercise enough vehicle control through appropriate gearing/braking, and maintain a speed, then they shouldn’t have licenses. Many a ‘careful’ motorist, gets booked before/after a speed camera having been observed to slow down for said camera, then speed up well over the limit after passing the camera.
A truck tire and a bit of petrol should do the trick.
I got caught here Sunday morning 9am fully alert, reading the school zone times and speeds. The ‘50′ Zone is not well sign posted at all, a deceitful trap!
The need to monitor your speedo with your eyes off the road is far more dangerous. This would definitely lead to an increase in rear end accidents.
There is a big black 50 with the red ring around it, can I ask what you would you would have since that apparently isn’t good enough?