Police in every state plan to immediately increase police presence on regional roads leading up to a “National Day of Action” on Tuesday 27 August 2019.
We contacted the police in each state to find out what a National Day of Action will involve, but they have not revealed anything specific.
One police media unit replied: “The National Day of Action is still in the planning stages. We hope to provide updates as the day approaches.”
National forum
However, they have all pledged to increase police presence on rural roads after yesterday’s national meeting in Victoria of all state road policing deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam said there was “great value in the jurisdictions all coming together to workshop the challenges and consider short-term solutions at a national level, as well as developing some longer-term collaborative strategies”.
“From discussions it was clear there are some common challenges that we are all facing,” she says.
“A particular trend is the increasing trauma on our rural and regional roads, as well as the emergence of drug driving.”
Yesterday’s forum involving all police jurisdictions agreed to participate in a National Day of Action on 27 August.
They also resolved to “work together to look at ways that data and research can be shared, as well as a coordinated communication approach for road policing messaging in the community”.
It is unclear what this means for the motoring public, but we suspect greater road policing and more speed camera deployments.
Tougher penalties
Police patrol for mobile phone misuse
The forum also follows a recent national summit on driver destruction in Queensland.
It says that “half of all speeding crashes happen at just 1 to 10km/h over the limit”.
Of course most accidents happen at that speed, because most people now drive within 10km/h of the speed limit!
Herd mentality
With everyone driving within 10km/h of each other, it takes vehicles ages to pass slower traffic.
We also have a breed of arrogant motorists who think it is ok to hog the right lane because they are doing the maximum legal speed.
Consequently, our highways and major multi-lane roads have a constant herd of motorists travelling in all lanes at roughly the same, legal speed.
But has it created an even and orderly flow of traffic that delivers motorists safely to their destination?
No.
The road toll is still too high, traffic snarls are getting worse while road rage and motorist frustration levels are through the roof (if you have one!).
Riders at most danger
Brisbane traffic
While motorcyclists can now avoid some of the snarls and frustration by legally lane filtering, they are also the most vulnerable vehicles in this deadly mix.
Hemmed in by motorists who won’t move over, motorcyclists are in danger of becoming invisible in the traffic.
Clearly the continuing road safety strategy of greater adherence to strict speed limits and frequently changing speed zones is not working.
These strategies only serve to force us to gaze at our speedos instead of the road which means drivers can easily miss a motorcyclist darting through the traffic.
Lane discipline
One effective safety strategy is more lane discipline on multi-lanes roads as practised in Europe.
Why don’t police patrol for drivers illegally hogging the right lane?
A plan to temporarily lower speed limits on regional highway intersections when approaching side-road traffic is detected may not work for motorcycles.
The technology has been initially installed at the intersection of Glenelg Highway and Dunkeld-Cavendish Road and Penshurst-Dunkeld Road, near Dunkeld, Victoria, and will be rolled out across the state.
Watch this video to see how it works.
The problem for riders is that it uses the same inductor loop technology deployed at traffic lights that often fails to detect small motorcycles.
VicRoads says this new side-road-activated speed technology will trigger an electronic speed sign to lower the speed from 100km/h to 70km/h on the Glenelg Highway.
“There are no plans to install speed cameras through the side-road-activated reduced speed zones,” VicRoads told us.
However, we expect there may be extra policing at these intersections to enforce compliance.
The electronic speed limit sign will also be activated by vehicles waiting to turn right from Glenelg Highway on to either Dunkeld-Cavendish Road or Penshurst-Dunkeld Road.
Glenelg Highway image shows Dunkeld-Cavendish Road on the left and Penshurst-Dunkeld Road on the right (Google Maps).
“The reduced speed limit will stay activated until there are no more vehicles on the side roads waiting to enter or cross the main road,” VicRoads says.
VicRoads is also installing short lengths of “flexible steel guard fence” in front of the new electronic signs to reduce the risk of motorists crashing into them.
Local rider Anthony Morrison says he is concerned about the new technology.
“My concern naturally as a rider coming along a 100km/h zone and suddenly presented with a 70 speed sign with a car behind me is scary just like the 40 with flashing lights,” he says.
Riders are warned they could have their licence suspended in one hit under double demerit points which apply this weekend in NSW for the Queen’s Birthday (June 8-10, 2019).
It follows a hefty 14 demerit points and $1200 fine handed out to a Harley-Davidson rider over the Western Australia Day long weekend (June 1-3, 2019).
Traffic Enforcement Group officers tweeted the above photo of the fine after nabbing the rider at more than 120km/h in an 80km/h zone in Ravenswood.
Police noted on the fine that the rider told them: “She (his bike) was flooding and gurgling; just gave it a blat”.
His licence will be suspended for three months.
Double points danger
Double demerits apply in certain holidays in NSW, the ACT and WA.
Riders from Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory and South Australia passing through NSW, ACT or WA during a declared holiday period do not cop the double demerits.
However, Queensland riders should note that in certain circumstances they do apply.
The law in Queensland is that double points do apply to speeding offences of 21km/h or greater over the speed limit and seatbelt offences if they occur more than once within a 12 month period.
“For example if you commit two speeding offences of driving 21km/h over the speed limit in a 12 month period, you will be allocated four demerit points for the first offence and four demerit points for the second offence plus an additional four demerit points,” he says.
“This means that you will have accumulated 12 demerit points within a 12 month period and you risk having your licence suspended.”
How demerit points are recorded
Double points apply in NSW and ACT over the Australia Day weekend, Easter, Anzac Day, Queen’s Birthday, Labour Day and Christmas/New Year (from December 21 2018).
In WA, the double points apply on Australia Day (unless it falls on a week day), Labour Day, Easter, Anzac Day (unless it falls on a week day), Western Australia Day, Queen’s Birthday, and Christmas/New Year.
If a rider in another state commits a traffic offence in a state during a double-demerit period, the offence is recorded as a double demerit offence on their traffic history in the state where the offence happened.
The state licensing authority will then report the offence to the transport department in your state who will record the offence on your traffic history.
However, the double points will only apply in Queensland under the circumstances described above.
Choice of penalty
Stephen says that if you have committed a traffic offence recently and you receive a Queensland Transport notice that you have accumulated your allowed demerits, you will have a choice of a good driving behaviour period or a licence suspension for a period.
“When considering whether to agree to a good behaviour driving behaviour period and a licence suspension, it is important that a licence holder understands that accepting a suspension of their licence may preclude them from making an Application for a Special Hardship Order or an Application for a Restricted (Work) Licence for the next five years,” he warns.
If you are unsure about how many demerit points you have, you can search your record online at your state’s transport department website or call them and request a copy of your traffic history.
The summit was told C roads (minor unsealed roads) have the highest number of fatalities.
It is reported there was general agreement that lowering the speed limit on many country roads was the solution to reducing the road toll in regional areas.
However, it must be in partnership with regional communities so they understand the long-term view.
The state government’s summit included experts from the TAC, VicRoads, VicPol, MUARC, RACV, Road Trauma Support Services Victoria and cycling and motorcycle advocates including the Victorian Motorcycle Council and the Motorcycle Expert Advisory Panel.
Other suggestions at the summit included:
Country road limit
The proposal to reduce speed limits on tens of thousands of kilometres of country road follows a 2018 report by the International Transport Forum that studied data from 10 countries including Australia.
It suggested any country road without a median barrier should have a 70km/h speed limit.
The report found that crashes, injuries and fatalities decreased when speed limits were dropped and speed camera use increased.
According to a scientific formula, it showed that every 1% increase in average speed resulted in a 2% increase in all injury crashes, a 3% rise in fatal and severe crashes and 4% more fatal crashes.
It not only recommended the 70km/h rural roads speed limit, but also 30km/h in city streets with high pedestrian use and 50km/h on urban roads.
Their recommended speed limits are based on the “Safe System” principles that speed should be set “at a level that humans can survive without dramatic consequences in case of a crash”.
The report also noted that “lower driving speeds generally improve citizens’ quality of life, especially in urban areas”. They also reduce emissions, fuel consumption and noise, it said.
Reducing speed limits on rural roads to 70km/h may be understandable in some densely populated countries.
But in our sprawling nation, it would bring our transport system and our economy to a halt.
It may also sound the death knell for motorcycling as many riders concerned about the heavy use of speed cameras have sold their sports bikes and bought adventure bikes to explore the more remote country road network.
Australian case study
The Australian case study was based on data from 1997 to 2003 where urban speed limits dropped from 60km/h to 50km/h (except in the Northern Territory) and speed camera use increased.
It found that the mean speed decreased by 0.5km/h, while the total number of crashes decreased by 25.3% and the number of persons injured by 22.3%.
There were differences between states:
NSW mean speed reduction of 0.5-0.9km/h resulted in a 22% casualty crash reduction;
Victoria 2-3km/h reduction resulted in a 12% reduction;
Perth 0.3km/h led t a 21% drop;
Regional Western Australia 3km/h – 16%;
South Australia: 3.8km/h and 2.1km/h drop on unchanged arterials ed to a 23% crash drop; and
Queensland there was no relevant crash data for the 6km/h mean speed drop.
The study also found that the reductions in the proportions of vehicles exceeding 60, 70 and 80km/h speed limits were more substantial than the reduction in mean speed.
It accredited this to strong enforcement of urban speed limit reductions.
Looking at severe crashes, the covert use of mobile speed cameras in Victoria, Australia, has been shown to be very effective in reducing injury crashes and fatal outcomes (Cameron and Delaney, 2008). Recent research has also shown that only 7% of injury crashes in Melbourne are now attributable to high-level speeding, compared with 24-34% in other Australian major cities where mobile cameras are operated less effectively (Cameron, 2015).
A Toronto rider has developed an affordable but ugly head-up display (HUD)for a motorcycle helmet that provides speed alerts only so you don’t have to stare at your speedometer all the time.
Colin Lam, who has started producing the HUD for just $US79, admits the controller unit is bulky and ugly, but says it could just save your licence and your life.
“I just thought it was a cool idea and there weren’t any on the market at the time and the ones that were promised cost $700+,” he told us.
Colin’s HUD display unit fits in the visor aperture of any helmet while a bulky and ugly controller attaches to the back with a GoPro-style mount.
Ugly controller
The display unit shows coloured lights that relate to your speed which it gets from a Bluetooth connection to an Android app.
You can set the coloured lights for brightness via the app.
App controls
Colours change from blue (0-9km/h), green (10-19km/h, yellow (20-29km/h), orange (30-39kmh) to red (40-49km/h).
Then it repeats the cycle, going back to blue for 50-59/km/h, green (60-69km/h, yellow (70-79km/h), orange (80-89kmh) to red (90-99km/h).
That’s a lot to remember and it could become a little confusing and distracting trying to remember which colour is which speed.
Hardware engineer
Colin and his Kwaka
Colin is a hardware engineer who started while he was living in California a few years ago.
“I started working on the idea when I got back to Canada in 2016, after I realised that there wasn’t really much helmet display tech out there (this was at the same time that Skully went down),” he says.
“I envisioned something like a fighter pilot’s HUD, but I wound up with this thing. It’s a hell of a lot simpler.”
Bulky issue
He agrees that the controller unit is bulky, but says slimming it down could be difficult.
“The best way to slim down the rear unit is to replace the three alkaline AAA batteries with lithium ion,” he says.
“But Li-ion batteries don’t do well when they’re punctured or abraded. They explode.
“Alkalines, on the other hand, are usually okay, even when they’re sawn in half.
“Keeping the price tag low means using off-the-shelf batteries that are still safe, so I’m kind of stuck.
“As for the ugliness, you know, I figured that it’s kind of like Crocs. It’s kind of obvious, so I shouldn’t bother hiding it. If it’s useful enough, though, I think people will look past that.”
A rider who evaded Northern Territory Police and sped away at up to 280km/h on a Kawasaki ZX-10R is still on the run.
NT Police say a motorcycle cop tried to intercept the rider when he noticed the false “XPLOD” plate on the back of the black-and-green Kwaka on about 9am on Monday (13 May 2019) on the Stuart Highway near Palmerston.
The rider initially slowed, but then sped up to 280km/h through the Temple Terrace intersection.
The rider was last seen wearing a lime green coloured shirt, black shorts and a green and black helmet with a gold iridium visor.
If you have information which may identify the rider you can contact police on 131444 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers or call 1800 333 000.
Hooning charges
The rider faces speeding and hooning charges.
If it’s their first offence, their bike would be impounded for 48 hours and cop a $220 fine and three demerit points.
Fines escalate and the rider could face jail time if it’s their second offence within a two-year period. Their bike could also be impounded for three to six months.
For a third hooning offence, the court can forfeit and dispose of the bike and the rider could face even tougher fines and jail.
If the bike is stolen, it will be returned to the owner.
It is unlikely a person will be sold a vehicle subject to a current impound or forfeiture order.
Police pursuits
A leading police study has found the three most pressing issues for police reform around the world are use of force, policing of violence in families and high-speed pursuits.
A 2009 Australian Institute of Criminology study found deaths in custody at police stations are declining but “deaths in custody” as a result of high-speed pursuits were rising.
While less than 1% of police pursuits results in a fatal crash, 38% of the people killed are innocent bystanders.
It’s much worse in the USA where one person dies every day as a result of a police pursuit. Of those deaths, 1% are police, 55% suspects and 44% bystanders.
Most police procedures acknowledge the judgement of the officer at the scene to begin a pursuit.
However, continuation of the pursuit is then deferred to a senior officer at the station or headquarters.
They have to make a quick judgement based on the lethal risk to the community of the chase versus the lethal risk to the community of letting a serious offender escape.
This must be backed by information, not just mere suspicion.
Queensland police figures show only about 3% of pursuits involved imminent threat to life or a suspect escaping after a homicide.
Police have a duty to not only prevent and control crime, but more importantly, they have a duty to protect the community and that includes from their own reckless behaviour and judgement.
TV chopper captures pursued rider performing stunts
Restrictive practices
Despite criticism from police unions, most pursuit policies around the world, including the USA, are becoming more restrictive.
In many jurisdictions, pursuits are only allowed if there is a serious risk to public safety or in relation to a major crime involving death or injury.
However, there is an issue about making these pursuit policies public. Some say they should be public to show transparency while others believe it would give criminals clues on how to evade police.
Those who support pursuits point out that the number of people evading police is rising as a result of more restrictive pursuit policies, despite higher penalties for evading police.
Making the issue more complex is the degree of the pursuit.
Should there be an upper speed limit for police? Should police be allowed to break other road rules in the pursuit?
There have been incidences of police driving at more than 200km/h in a pursuit and on the road side of a major highway.
Another issue is whether police should be criminally culpable in the instance of a death resulting from a pursuit.
To a degree, technologies such as CTV and number plate recognition cameras, negate the need for pursuits, anyway.
* What do you think about police pursuits? Leave your comments below.
Melbourne plans to drop its CBD speed limit to 30km/h, the lowest of any capital city in Australia, following a Monash University report to council.
The new speed limit will replace the 40km/h limit introduced seven years ago between Flinders, Spring, La Trobe and Spencer streets.
The university research says the lower speed will protect vulnerable cyclists and pedestrians.
In 2017, the United Nations Global Road Safety Week called on 30klm/h speed limits in all city areas, citing World Health Organisation claims that a 5% cut in speed would result in a 30% reduction in the number of fatal road traffic crashes.
Share responsibility
AVMC chairman Peter Baulch
Victorian Motorcycle Council chairman Peter Baulch says that while road safety is a shared responsibility of all road users, “pedestrians have a responsibility to be fully aware of their surroundings at all times, without distractions”.
“However, for this 30km/h idea to take root and become law, it would require a change of both legislation and regulations, for which VicRoads says it has no current plans,” he says.
“Is this idea of 30km/h in the CBD another case of punishing the masses for the crimes of a few?
“VicPolice and the media generally report that many pedestrian incidents are the result of pedestrians being distracted by devices (phones, tablets, etc, often with earphones), which affects their ability to both see where they are walking and hear what is around them.
“A cynic may even suggest this is a plan to rid the CBD of vehicles all together.
“It’s time for pedestrians to be more disciplined and less distracted, like they were when probationary constables patrolled CBD intersections and pedestrian crossings.”
Unfriendly city
Longtime motorcycle advocate Rodney Brown says he believes Mayor Sally Capp’s strategy is to “have a city full of pushbike riders and thousands of hoops clogging up the footpaths”.
“Certainly it will not be a friendly city for motorists,” he says.
“Pushbike riders and pedestrians need to know and obey the road rules and police need to concentrate on those walking blindly while texting, talking on their mobile phones, ignoring stop-walk signals/signs and J-walkers.
“Police need to fine pushbike riders who believe a speed limit doesn’t include them. Maybe pushbikes need a speedo.
“Lowering the speed limit to 30km/h may encourage pushbike riders and pedestrians to take more risks.
“Melbourne City Council needs to run an advertising campaign encouraging pushbike riders and pedestrians to be more responsible with regards to their own safety when navigating in and around the City of Melbourne.”
The Monash report on CBD speeds follows a council review of central Melbourne transport.
Among the recommendations in the City of Melbourne’s transport strategy due for release next month is moving motorcycle parking from the footpaths to the streets.
New Saudi Arabian Saher speed cameras that can also detect tailgaters and excessive lane changing will directly bill a motorist’s bank account when they detect a traffic offence.
When the cameras detect an offence the motorist receives a text message and the fine amount is automatically withdrawn from their bank account.
Such Draconian measures where a motorist is not even given the chance to defend themselves could be expected in a country where homosexuals are stoned to death. (It will be interesting to see if any riders or teams boycott next year’s Dakar Rally which is being stage in the country.)
However, the extensive capabilities of the cameras will surely be under scrutiny by police and governments in other countries.
Saher cameras
Saher means “one who remains awake” in Arabic.
These new cameras are high-resolution and act not only as a traffic infringement unit, but also as a 24-hour CCTV unit monitoring nearby streets for police.
They rotate 360° to capture images in all directions.
Their features include capturing instant and average speeds, number plate recognition, red light violations, excessive lane changing, vehicles in the wrong lane, mobile phone use, seat belts and even tailgating.
Saher camera captures a driver using a mobile phone (orange)
It’s interesting that excessive lane changing and tailgating are specific offences while in most countries they are a police interpretation as dangerous driving.
In Saudi Arabia, it is an offence for car drivers to travel fewer than three seconds behind a vehicle, four seconds for SUV drivers and five seconds for trucks.
There aren’t many Saudi laws that we would want to follow, but perhaps these may be worth considering.
Aussie expat
For anyone travelling to the Mid East for work, a holiday or to watch next year’s Dakar, an Aussie expat has some words of caution.
He says any traffic fines incurred by foreigners are attached to their visa and they will not be allowed to leave the country without paying.
That is also the case in many other countries. However, the Saudis can get nasty about unpaid fines.
“If you get lots of fines or drive very fast the authorities will take your car,” the expat says.
“If you have many many unpaid fines the authorities get very nasty and they’ll get your power or water disconnected until the fines are paid.”
Fines are not excessive, though.
Speeding up to 20km/h over the limit costs 300 Saudi Riyals (about $A110) and tailgating attracts an SR150-300 fine (about $A55-$110).
However, if you “gathering for joy at riding areas” it will cost SR1000-2000 (about $A375-$750).
Camera surfing is the phenomenon where riders and drivers slow as they approach a speed camera and then speed up after the cameras.
The expression of camera surfing was developed by former Victorian Road Safety Camera Commissioner Gordon Lewis and it’s been proved in research by his office.
So does that mean rather than generally slowing traffic, speed cameras may be causing motorists to speed up in areas they know or believe there are no speed cameras?
University of Melbourne Chair of Statistics and motorcyclist Professor Richard Huggins says he has experienced this phenomenon, “especially on the freeways around town where there are fixed cameras”.
Fixed cameras
“Frequent users of the roads know their locations,” the Prof says.
“Mobile cameras can only be set at approved locations and those are also known to regular users of the roads.
“In any case, most GPS systems know where they are.
“The Highway Patrol and solo motorcycles are a different matter as there are no fixed sites.”
They measured millions of trips and were able to assign the speed of each vehicle as they passed the first and last cameras as well as their average speed over the distance.
(By the way, only South Australia and Victoria have instantaneous cameras at the start and end of point-to-point camera installations which means you could possibly cop three fines for speeding. In other states you can only cop the one “average speed” offence.)
It found that drivers slowed at the start and end and sped up in between. Check the animation below which clearly shows this trend.
In fact, it found that drivers who averaged up to about 113km/h average speed on the 100km/h sections were actually going slower than the speed limit at entry and exit.
That means they would have had to travel at much more “dangerous” speeds than 111km/h to reach their average speed.
We put it to current Commissioner John Voyage that the average speed cameras were therefore almost encouraging motorists to speed faster than if there were no cameras.
He says we are “100% wrong”.
What do you think? Please leave your comments in the section below.
