Victoria Police shuts down point-to-point speed camera after a technical fault falsely identified drivers as speeding
By Ruza Zivkusic | October 18, 2010
Victoria Police has suspended all point-to-point cameras on the Hume Highway following a technical fault with the system.
Nine drivers have been affected by the fault and two of the matters have been withdrawn.
The police force is calling on the remaining drivers to come forward so the penalties are reversed.
The fault is the first of its kind and was discovered on Friday. Victoria Police, Department of Justice and Redflex, which maintains the cameras, are investigating the fault, considered unique to the point-to-point cameras.
It was identified after police served a notice to surrender to a driver who had been photographed on September 24.
The driver protested against the notice, prompting further investigation.
A solution will be made within the next few days and the cameras will not be switched back on until they have been thoroughly tested by independent assessors, Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay says.
“I am incredibly disappointed that this has happened,” Lay says.
“As soon as the problem was identified we immediately suspended use of the point-to-point cameras and I will not be reinstating them until I am personally convinced that the fault has been 100 per cent eradicated and that measures have been put in place to ensure that this can never happen again.”
The faults are usually rare, with nine out of 68,000 penalties that were issued two years ago found to be faulty.
“But that is nine too many,” Kay says.
“People must have confidence in the road safety system. We can not afford for that confidence to be eroded by errors such as these.”
The point-to-point system is used in several other states and also overseas.
The system takes time-stamped, digital photographs of all vehicles and works out the time taken to travel between one camera site and the next, with the distance between points several kilometres long.
The average speed is calculated by time-over distance. If it exceeds the speed limit, an infringement notice is issued.
The systems are designed to prevent drivers from slowing down when they see a camera and speeding up again after passing the camera, which is called ‘camera-surfing’.
The system in Victoria is only on the Hume Highway and has five camera sites, with both directions of travel covered.
The cameras have proven to be an effective part of the Victorian road safety campaign, Lay says.
“They have slowed down the speed of traffic on the Hume and no doubt saved countless lives.
“It is also important to note that these cameras are entirely different to all others used in Victoria. The same fault could not possibly apply to other types, and I continue to have absolute confidence in them.”
Have you been mistakenly fined due to a technical fault in point-to-point cameras? Leave your thoughts below or contact us.