Tablelands drivers claim miscalibrated speed cam in fine dispute with TMR

Following a review of a speed camera at Malanda that hundreds of drivers claim is not functioning properly, it has been decided all infringements recorded by the device will remain valid.

Following a Transport and Main Roads review of a speed camera at Malanda that hundreds of drivers claim is not functioning properly it has been decided all infringements recorded by the device will remain valid.

Tablelands residents facing licence suspensions are fuming after hundreds of traffic infringements were allegedly incorrectly issued to motorists while driving on Malanda Atherton Rd.

Up to 200 drivers have been slapped with more than 350 speeding fines with instances of the same motorist being fined six to seven times during a 10-day period last month.

Transport and Main Roads have been inundated with drivers requesting infringement reviews after being booked outside the Ozcare retirement home.

It has been claimed a TMR fixed speed camera at Malanda has incorrectly issued speeding fines to Tablelands' motorists. Picture: Google

Hopes that fines would be waived have now been dashed by the main road authority.

“We have reviewed the operation of all Transportable Road Safety Cameras and can confirm all camera devices are operating correctly,” a TMR spokeswoman said.

“To ensure accuracy, several validations and checks are undertaken prior to infringements being issued from TRSCs.

“These include calibration of the speed camera, secondary validation of the speed camera’s accuracy at each deployment, verification of the offences and manual adjudication of detections prior to an infringement notice being issued.”

Most claim to have been booked doing 68km/h in a 60km/h zone and all insist the camera has been calibrated incorrectly or is not working properly.

Heartbreaking stories have emerged of drivers with impeccable traffic histories who now face losing their licences.

Hill MP Shane Knuth went on the offensive and accused the government of “revenue raising” and issuing unfair fines worth thousands of dollars.

He said the speeding fines were causing significant stress and financial hardship.

“These are police, doctors, nurses, business people, pensioners and ordinary mums and dads, some who have never received a speeding fine in their life and it is unacceptable,” Mr Knuth said.

“One well-known local business owner said she specifically looked at her speedometer when going through the stretch of road, when the camera was there, and she was doing 61km/h but received a speeding fine for 71km/h.

“Another 71-year-old woman, who has been driving for more than 50 years, within the speed limits and never received a speeding fine, received an infringement notice at 73 km/h.

“Another man said his wife, who is a resident at Ozcare and visits her every day, will lose his licence as he received three infringement notices during the period in question, so he will be unable to visit his wife in care.

“I have never seen anything like it and it’s a case of pure revenue raising by the government.”

Mr Knuth has raised the issue with the Far Northern district manager for TMR and has called on Transport Minister Mark Bailey to action a complete investigation into the validity of the location and accuracy of this unmanned stationary speed camera.

According to TMR 94 per cent of vehicles passing the speed camera were not found to be speeding.

There were 342 offences at more than 20km per hour over the speed limit.

There were eight offences at more than 40km per hour over the speed limit.

The highest speed in the 60km per hour zone was 124 km per hour.

The TMR spokeswoman denied the issuing of inaccurate infringements and stated fine recipients who believe their infringement was inaccurate can select from the options to contest the fine in court.

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Originally published as Tablelands drivers claim miscalibrated speed cam in fine dispute with TMR