Speed Cameras. Another Reason To Avoid Sydney's TollRoads

I am hearing from more and more people who are being booked for minor speed offences (10km over the limit) or less while using Sydney's privately owned tollroads. Namely the cross city tunnel. I just heard from a guy who was booked for doing 90 in the tunnel. The speed limit is 80 apparently.

All reports indicate that there is usually no one in the tunnel for obvious reasons. When I see stuff like this day in and day out, and premier Iemma comes on the radio saying "We only put cameras in black spots" and such meaningless idiotic statements as "There's no such thing as safe speeding", I fail to see how these cameras exist for any other reason than to make money.

Imagine paying through the nose to use an inadequately built tollroad such as the cross city tunnel, an you have only paid to use it because the roads you used to use have been closed off, and then you get pinged again with a $200 fine for going 10km/h too fast on a road with no one else on it.

Another thing that worries me, is that if one of these cameras were faulty, and I get a ticket, even though I'm not actually speeding, what comeback do I have? I get a ticket in the mail a few weeks later, and I can't even remember the trip. Most punters will get the ticket in the mail, and say "Oh, well, I must have been speeding because the camera says so", and pay the money. I would probably do the same because I don't have the time or money to fight it.

If I know a road has a speed camera, I will always choose an alternate route for this very reason, tollway or no tollway. Even if it means backstreets and speed humps. Again, I'd rather pay for tyres and suspension than give money to the government for free (well, more than I already do anyway).

I have only lost one point from my license, and that was in Melbourne, by a speed camera that was mounted within 200m of a speed limit change, and I was booked for doing 84km/h in an 80 zone. After an experience like that, one does tend to see the whole "speed kills" campaign as nothing more than propaganda to justify the rorting of motorists in this way. Safety doesn't have anything to do with it.

I would have lost many more points from my license (maybe all of them) if I had not chosen to avoid all roads with speed cameras installed. Especially when you see all the court cases being raised recently because of their alleged innacuracies.

If the government cared at all about road safety, they would make it harder to get a license, they would fix the inadequate roads and the numerous dangerous intersections that exist in Sydney. You only have to look at the on-going issues with expansion joints on the M4, and the RTA's refusal to install flashing lights around schools to inform motorists when they should slow down during shool hours to see how much the RTA and the government care about your safety.