Victorian Speed / revenue cameras

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Not this old chestnut again.

Don't speed and you don't have to pay a fine.

Doesn't matter if the cameras are there for safety or revenue.

If you don't speed, you don't pay. It's very, very easy.

Been driving for 17 years, never had a speeding fine, never had so much as a parking ticket. It's really not that hard.

[Zone-5]

{removed by admin}

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Anyway, back to the topic...

[GPSGuided]

LOL you guys! It's just a forum.

[Strider]

Geez there's some cockheads about lately.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Zone-5]

{removed by admin}

[Zone-5]

{removed by admin}

[Zone-5]

{removed by admin}

[MickyB]

Geez there's some cockheads about lately.

Yep

[Zone-5]

LOL, you guys should know...

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

What I'd like to see is a national licence.

1. Get federal oversight and standards of licensing.
2. Align all the minor and annoying differences between state road laws.

One licence. One set of road rules. One standard for everyone.

If nothing else, it would mean speed camera tolerances are consistent nation wide.

[GPSGuided]

What I'd like to see is a national licence.
...
If nothing else, it would mean speed camera tolerances are consistent nation wide.

With that, who should pocket the revenue from speed/red light cameras? Federal or State? Hopefully they won't get into a fight like the GST.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Yes, money grabbing politicians are always a problem GPS.

I'm not advocating the the federal government own or collect the camera revenue. I'm suggesting a national standard on the tolerances of said cameras, and road rules aligned nation wide.

Each state can charge as much as they see fit for breaking the allowable tolerance as far as I'm concerned... Because I won't be paying it!

[north-north-west]

What I'd like to see is a national licence.

1. Get federal oversight and standards of licensing.
2. Align all the minor and annoying differences between state road laws.

One licence. One set of road rules. One standard for everyone.

If nothing else, it would mean speed camera tolerances are consistent nation wide.

Yes please.

[GPSGuided]

I'm not advocating the the federal government own or collect the camera revenue. I'm suggesting a national standard on the tolerances of said cameras, and road rules aligned nation wide.

Each state can charge as much as they see fit for breaking the allowable tolerance as far as I'm concerned... Because I won't be paying it!

Yes, I think it would be great to have a national standard too. However, I suspect they'll turn into a money grabbing exercise if they get involved. As such, suspect it'll remain a state matter.

[Zone-5]

One licence. One set of road rules. One standard for everyone.

Oh really, It's called the Australian Roads Rules, da!

The Australian Road Rules are a set of model road rules developed by the National Road Transport Commission (NRTC) which form the platform for State and Territory road rules across Australia.



I'd prefer to keep our laws local and out of the FEDs hands. In fact get rid of the Federal Govmnt anyway, parasites!

[climberman]

That's why everywhere else in the world they have that allowance; but a huge fine for what is within the tolerance of the speedo is simply revenue raising.
I worked with an engineer who used to be employed by VicRoads [ he was a very polite fellow BTW] and he informed me that most of our newer major roads have been designed for a vehicle speed of 160 kph and in his expert opinion were dangerous at the current speed limits. Makes you wonder why we employ experts at the design stage and leave decisions to idiots in parliament

I work daily in and with road design / road development / road approval for major roads in NSW.

Roads are NOT designed at 160km hr in either the horizontal or the vertical alignments. It is simply costly and unnecessary.

Parliamentarians also do not set speed limits, although of course a Minister can overrule a departmental decision if they choose, and against advice, as long as it's not against the law.

[GPSGuided]

Don't quite understand the reference in MD55's post that it's dangerous to drive at our present speed limit on roads with higher speed spec. My tyres are rated close to 300kph and I assume they can handle 110 with ease and with a large safety margin. Different here?

[Moondog55]

I had a National licence
They cancelled the scheme for some reason
GPS guided it's all about the road camber. With a well designed road the camber is such that the car will track straight when travelling at the road design speed; have you ever seen those demo shots on the proving grounds when the test drivers take their hands off the wheel at 160kph? Same thing applies in reverse so that when not travelling at the road design speed you need to be constantly adjusting the cars steering and a moments inattention will take you somewhere you had no intention of going.
Highway and freeway corner camber may not be visually evident but it is there. Back when we had no speed limit on Victorias roads except for the Primafacia 50MPH we used to drive the old Malty bypass at 100mph hands off the wheel so to speak and the car drove itself safely around the curves. That road has been changed now with widening and the speed camber is now practically all gone but 35 years ago it was visibly evident

[climberman]

You also need to be able to see around corners or over crests or through troughs with enough reaction time to stop should you need to (safe sight stopping distance). There's a huge additional cost in getting the vertical alignment right for higher speed roads, typically. You also need longer entry and exit lanes, wider clear zones and all that sort of gumph, which all add, continually to cost in construction and cost in operation and maintenance. On freight routes you also have increased lengths where heavy vehicles and light vehicles respond very different to grades, and so increase the speed differential between vehicles, which increases crash occurrences.

[GPSGuided]

I agree. It's much more than just camber on bends at that kind of speed. Driving on the Autobahn at 200+ is a very different experience except on shortish sections of our local highway.

[corvus]

With all due respect this topic has gone off Bushwalking .

[vicrev]

I agree. It's much more than just camber on bends at that kind of speed. Driving on the Autobahn at 200+ is a very different experience except on shortish sections of our local highway.

AAaahh........The Autobahns....... ..In most euro countries ,the semis MUST keep to the inside lane & cannot exceed 90kph on the freeways,& guess what , IT WORKS.......also they are off the road weekends !....all the revheads can & do, hurtle down the Freeways,like there is no tomorrow (for some there isn't)..........Check me out Hallu,on that statement,the gray matter could be a bit confused......Could you imagine the likes of Lindsey Fox agreeing to keeping his trucks down to 90kph & off the road weekends ?.. ....

[GPSGuided]

LOL! After being rear ended a few times by vehicles coming up at 250km/h, drivers anywhere will learn pretty quickly to keep the inner lane clear.

[Moondog55]

That's why it's here Corvus and not part of bushwalking discussion
Also with due respect to those who think our current speed limits are reasonable I differ. We have the same speed limits on single lane badly maintained country roads as we do on our major freeways and in a reasonably modern vehicle [ anything from 1995 onwards I guess] freeway speeds of 135 /155 k seem reasonable to me if you can afford the fuel and tyre costs.
As to politicians setting speed limits "OF courser they do" Every time we have a minor crash they go around ordering lower speed limits, well at least they do in Victoria.
As to the argument that revenue cameras have lowered the road toll that is a facile and erroneous statement. The lower road toll has been about better roads and safer cars and to be brutally honest a lot more vegetables on life support who would have died 20 years ago and I don't think that has been an improvement
And yes I have lost mates and family in car crashes

[Strider]

Even more worryingly, we also have the same speed limits on single lane badly maintained major highways. I drove down the Bruce Highway yesterday from Hervey Bay to the Sunshine Coast - what a goat track!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[climberman]

That's why it's here Corvus and not part of bushwalking discussion
Also with due respect to those who think our current speed limits are reasonable I differ. We have the same speed limits on single lane badly maintained country roads as we do on our major freeways and in a reasonably modern vehicle [ anything from 1995 onwards I guess] freeway speeds of 135 /155 k seem reasonable to me if you can afford the fuel and tyre costs.

Thinking about our current state, do you think it means freeways speeds will go up or other routes will come down in speed? Modern freeways in Oz are not designed in both the vertical and horizontal alignment at the speeds you talk of. Yes, you can drive that fast, but that doesn't mean they are designed for it. There are a range of other factors beside the road design that lead to the set limit on any given piece of road.

As to politicians setting speed limits "OF courser they do" Every time we have a minor crash they go around ordering lower speed limits, well at least they do in Victoria.

Err, no. That's not how government works in general.

As to the argument that revenue cameras have lowered the road toll that is a facile and erroneous statement.

No, it's not. Lower speeds result in lower trauma. Its simple physics.

The lower road toll has been about better roads and safer cars and to be brutally honest a lot more vegetables on life support who would have died 20 years ago and I don't think that has been an improvement

It's a combo of RBT / seatbelt / cars / roads / limits. There have always been people who are seriously incapacitated by crashes - but as the deaths reduce so do serious injuries. It's some kind of weird urban myth that a reduction in fatalities has led to an increase in serious injury.

And yes I have lost mates and family in car crashes

This doesn't qualify any of us in road safety.

[north-north-west]

With all due respect this topic has gone off Bushwalking .

It was never on bushwalking and is in the between walk section anyway. Please don't be such a grouch. xxx

[photohiker]

Yes, we used to be able to drive at any speed over the prima facie limit in Victoria as long as we could prove we were driving safely. Have you ever stopped to see the crankshaft impaled in a tree at Pretty Sally on the old Hume highway? The results of high speed, driver error and/or vehicle failure.

Back then, and before I had a license, I can remember being a passenger in a Ford V8 from Grifith NSW to Melbourne at 100+ mph average speed. Quick trip! We saw a total of about 6 cars on the road before we hit the city. Contrast today, there would be hundreds of cars on the road including inexperienced drivers, old codgers, distracted parents, foreign tourists, etc, etc. No, we do not have suitable roads to allow people to travel at 160kph. That would be putting the general public out as cannon fodder.

If we wanted to have those speeds on highways, we would need to build the infrastructure to suit. Even TA isn't thinking of doing that. Double the speed and you cube the resistance, the fuel pours down the pipe at an enormous rate at those speeds. That's not just about whether the driver can afford it, we should be reducing our fossil fuel use, not increasing it. Instead of building freeways to enable high speed driving, we should be improving public transport, including a fast rail network between capitals.

[Moondog55]

As much as I despise the artificially low speed limits on our major highways I must agree that we need much better high speed infrastructures. Starting with a maglev from Melbourne to Sydney and underground rail shuttles from our major airports to city centres
Rail travel from Geelong to Melbourne has only just got back to travel times set 100 years ago when the track was new but due to poor maintenance some sections of the tracks are still limited to 40kph, Commuter rail service between major satellite dormitory towns need to be much faster than that.