Victorian Government keeps point-to-point cameras switched off on the Hume Highway after incorrect infringements were issued
By Ruza Zivkusic | June 23, 2011
Point-to-point cameras on Victoria’s Hume Highway will remain switched off despite only nine people being wrongly fined.
Accounting firm Deloitte has released a report to the Victorian Department of Justice (DoJ), assessing the process used to identify incorrectly issued infringements to drivers on the highway.
The independent report is now before the Auditor-General who is currently investigating the state’s road safety camera program.
Police Minister Peter Ryan says the cost of the $131,000 report had been “largely absorbed” through a fine to red light camera company Redflex for breaching its contractual obligations in issuing nine incorrect infringements.
“Victorians have been concerned about the integrity of the Hume P2P cameras after they were switched off by Victoria Police last October when nine infringements issues were found to be incorrect,” Ryan says.
“The release of this independent report is another step in helping to restore the community’s confidence in the state’s road safety camera systems.”
Out of the 68,000 infringements that were issued since the commencement of the point-to-point program, only nine were wrongly fined.
The system records vehicle details at point A and point B and uses the information and the distance to calculate the average speed the vehicle was travelling at. It is then used to determine if a vehicle was exceeding the speed limit.
“The technical fault in the Hume P2P system led to images of vehicles being incorrectly retained within the Hume P2P camera system,” the report says.
The images of the vehicles were taken during a period when the camera clock at point A was out of synchronisation with the GPS.
“Under the business rules, the images should have been deleted from the system.”