‘Do not speed in a camera vehicle’: Tech gaffe prompts stern warning over ‘excessive’ speeds
A company whose job was to catch lead-footed motorists across Victoria has accused its own camera car drivers of breaking road rules.
A major speed camera car operator used by the Allan government to patrol Victorian motorists has been left red-faced for pleading with its own drivers not to speed after dodgy tracking software was fitted in their cars.
In just one hour of being activated, new technology being trialled to track drivers of Serco speed camera cars issued 23 road safety alerts, prompting senior management to scold drivers for driving over the speed limit, and in some instances, driving at “excessive” speeds.
In an internal memo to Serco staff, camera car operators were warned about the high speeding rate and were reminded that speeding was against the law.
“It is a reasonable management expectation that MRSCOs (mobile road safety camera operators) do not speed in a camera vehicle,” the notice said.
But Serco, the company that holds a road safety contract with the state government, later backtracked on its stern notice after scrapping the rollout of the new journey mapping technology in its speed camera vehicles because it believed the alerts were inaccurate.
Despite management’s concerns over some instances of excessive speeding, it is understood algorithms in the trial technology were set incorrectly and were not primarily geared for speed detection.
Serco could not say how many actual speeding incidents were detected during the trial, but a spokeswoman told the Herald Sun the company expected its team members to follow all laws at all times.
“Speeding is unacceptable,” she said.
“We have robust training and compliance monitoring processes, and our operations are designed with feedback from employees to ensure they are continuously supported to perform their best work, safely and in adherence with contractual and legislative requirements.
“Serco is proud to support the Victorian Government’s Road Safety Program.”
Following the month-long trial of the faulty tracking software in August, Serco removed it from its camera cars.
A Victorian government spokesman said the Department of Justice and Community Safety had requested Serco conduct a review of the speed detections.
The government spokesperson said speeding was unacceptable and all camera operators were expected to follow road rules.
Transport Accident Commission chief executive Tracey Slatter said everyone had a role to play in keeping roads safe.
“Our message to all Victorian motorists is to make safe choices and always drive within the speed limit,” she said.
It comes after the Herald Sun last week revealed speed and red light cameras across the state have been offline for a record amount of time last year, with the Road Safety Camera Commissioner’s most recent annual report showing fixed cameras were down a combined total of 1665 days.
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Do not speed in a camera vehicle’: Tech gaffe prompts stern warning over ‘excessive’ speeds
