Police Minister credits covert speed cameras for a drop in lead-foot motorists
By Brad Gardner | April 6, 2011
Covert speed cameras have been credited for a drop in lead-foot motorists in Queensland despite only being introduced a year ago.
Police Minister Neil Roberts says there has been a steady decline in the number of motorists caught speeding since Premier Anna Bligh allowed up to 30 percent of mobile speed camera operations to be conducted covertly.
Roberts says covert detection devices were used between April 2010 and January this year. He says 4.5 million vehicles were monitored, with almost 87,000 motorists caught speeding.
“In April 2010 there were 24.45 detections per 1,000 vehicles. By January 2011 this had decreased to 16.07 detections per 1,000 vehicles, a reduction of around 33 percent,” Roberts says, citing Queensland Police statistics.
“The government believes that the deployment of covert and marked speed camera vehicles will continue to motivate drivers to slow down and make our roads safer.”
Roberts says the detection rate for marked cameras is around 6.8 vehicles per 1,000.
His comments come as Queensland Police prepares to switch on 40 new digital red-light cameras in the south-east of the state.
“The message to motorists is clear: the Queensland Police Service will continue to use a mixture of on-road enforcement and technology to continue driving down the road toll,” Roberts says.