Lead-footed motorists beware: third fixed speed camera installed along major Cairns road

DO you have a habit of nudging past the posted speed limit? If so, you may want to find out where Cairns’ latest permanent speed camera it has been installed

• When is a speed camera not a speed camera?
• Speed camera raking in $4600 an hour

LEAD-footed motorists will be forced to fork out handsomely while travelling the Bruce Highway south of Cairns, following the installation of a permanent speed camera.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads has installed a combined red light speed camera at the intersection of the Bruce Highway and Coombs St, adjacent to Mt Sheridan Plaza.

A TMR spokeswoman said the location of the speed camera had been decided in collaboration with police.

She said this included assessing the number of crashes on the section of road during the past five years, the severity and causes of the crashes that had occurred, and the frequency of high-risk speeding behaviour in the area.

“The combined cameras promote compliance with traffic lights and intersection speeds,” she said.

“Other combined red light speed cameras already operate in Queensland, with current research showing these systems are proving effective in reducing vehicle speeds and the risk of casualty crashes at intersections.”

She said speeding remained a significant contributing factor to road fatalities in Queensland, accounting for 21 per cent of the 247 road deaths that occurred statewide last year.

There is now three red light speed cameras across the Far North, including at the intersection of McCoombe St and Mulgrave Rd, Mooroobool, and at the intersection of Upwards and Sheridan streets, Cairns North.

RACQ’s head of technical and safety policy, Steve Spalding, said while the organisation had a preference for a visible police presence for enforcement of speed limits, the latest fixed speed camera would help make the highway safer for motorists.

“As motorists drive faster, the risk of crashes increases,” he said.

“The impacts are more severe, and mistakes happen at higher speeds — so we need safe speeds.

“If motorists kept to the posted speed limit, there wouldn’t need be a need for enforcement, there certainly wouldn’t be any tickets issued, therefore there would be no points lost or money paid.

“It’s only revenue raising, if people are speeding.”

Originally published as Lead-footed motorists beware: third fixed speed camera installed along major Cairns road