Road Rules

Here’s a community service announcement and a shocking reminder about the imbeciles sharing our roads. They could be in the car next to you. Here’s hoping it’s not this bloke. NSW Police highway patrol officers this week charged a 20-year-old male learner driver with a number of offences stemming from a video that depicted him travelling at 223km/h on a freeway south of Sydney.

A Tesla Model 3 driver keen to explore the performance of his electric car will instead be walking, hitching a ride or catching public transport after losing his licence for six months after being caught allegedly driving at 147km/h in a 60km/h residential area – almost two-and-half-times faster than the posted speed limit.

Here’s further proof speed cameras are more about revenue raising rather than saving lives. A fixed speed camera in Sydney’s CBD has stopped issuing fines – sending warning letters instead – after more than 36,000 drivers were snapped in three months, which was more than seven times the rate of the state’s next busiest speed camera.

Revenue collected from speeding fines is set to increase by nearly 60 per cent, according to figures listed in the Victorian Government's 2020-2021 Budget this week. The increased revenue is the result of an initiative by the State Government to increase the speed camera program by 75 per cent. The discrepancy between the expansion and the forecasted revenue aligns with figures showing speed and red light camera fines have been falling in recent years.

The clocks skipped an hour over the weekend in Victoria and NSW, as Australia’s two most populous states started daylight savings ahead of summer. Do interrupted sleeping patterns and longer daylight have an impact on road safety?