Heads roll after Victorian drivers avoid 700,000 fines
“Significant changes” have been made to the team managing Victoria’s traffic cameras after the Herald Sun revealed rogue drivers have avoided a whopping 700,000 speeding and red light fines.
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Heads have rolled over the management of Victoria’s speed and red light cameras.
The Herald Sun on Tuesday revealed drivers had avoided 700,000 fines because cameras were switched off — some for roadworks completed more than 2 ½ years ago.’
It has sparked safety concerns and likely cost millions of dollars.
Police Minister Lisa Neville, who had Victoria’s Road Safety Camera Commissioner look into the problem, revealed she had already made changes to the team charged with managing the cameras.
These were made after the WannaCry ransomware attack, which downed cameras in June 2017.
“It became clear to me that we didn’t have the right people doing the job,’’ Ms Neville said.
“I’ve already made significant changes to the team that manage the camera arrangements in Victoria and they’re putting in place these recommendations and other changes that we need to make sure that we have the most robust system.”
Ms Neville said some fixed speed and red light cameras had been off for “way too long” and would not allow a system where cameras deactivated for roadworks were left off long after construction was complete.
“This was of concern to me,’’ she said.
“The biggest issue is the issue of roadworks.
“Those cameras are there to save lives and I want to make sure that we’re using them in the best possible way as often as we can.
“This is not about revenue raising. “We know these cameras save lives. We know that they work. We know if people think they’re going to get caught they will change their behaviour so we need them operating as best as possible.”
Road Safety Camera Commissioner Stephen Leane found fixed cameras were down about 18 per cent of the time in his 2 ½ year analysis.
His recommendation for mobile cameras at roadworks sites was already being pursued, Ms Neville said.
Mr Leane, formerly Victoria’s top roads cop, told the Herald Sun: “Cameras save lives.”
“I am keen to see that where they are installed they are operating for as many hours in the day as they can,’’ Mr Leane said.
“The system needs to be fair so if you speed or run a red light you are treated the same as a person who did the same thing as you.
“When cameras are deactivated for longer than they should be it affects that fairness.”
The Department of Justice and Community Safety is responsible for Victoria’s speed and red light cameras.
The commissioner, on the request of Ms Neville, examined the downtime of fixed and mobile safety cameras between July 2017 and December 2019.
Fixed cameras were down about 18 per cent of the time.
Cameras were switched off for testing, vandalism, upgrades and technical issues including the WannaCry virus which struck in June 2017.
But roadworks were the main reason cameras weren’t on — accounting for half of deactivated sites in the last six months of last year alone.
A whopping 80 per cent of downed cameras hadn’t been working for at least 90 days.
Five fixed cameras switched off for roadworks — including one at the corner of William and Flinders streets and another at Olympic Blvd and Batman Ave in the city — hadn’t been working fully for at least 2 ½ years even though construction had long finished.
The others were at Terminal Dve and Centre Rd in Tullamarine, Centre and Huntingdale roads in Oakleigh South and the Western Ring Rd at Keilor East.
Four of eight cameras on Geelong Rd were deactivated because of Westgate Tunnel and road widening works.
“Speed and red light cameras are there to protect us and keep us safe on the road,’’ Mr Leane said.
“The community should know that there’s every chance that if they break the law they may well get a ticket.
“For government there is advice in this report to keep the system operating as effectively as it can.
“There has been improvement in the last three years but there is room to do better in managing the system.”
The commissioner recommended an audit of long-term deactivated camera sites to check why they weren’t operating and better co-ordination between authorities.
Herald Sun analysis shows of the estimated 700,000 fines which weren’t detected almost half were on highways, a third related to speed cameras at intersections and almost a fifth at red light cameras.
There were no downtime issues with mobile cameras.
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