NSW’S $7million speed camera!

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