Fine boost to revenue

FINE revenue from upgraded road safety cameras at four Geelong intersections has exceeded $2 million in a year.

The total for fines issued at the intersections of Princes Highway and Purnell Rd, Corio; Thompson Rd and Separation St, North Geelong; Moorabool St and Fyans St, South Geelong; and Settlement Rd and Torquay Rd, Belmont is revealed in the Road Safety Camera Commissioner’s 2018-19 annual report.

An average of 20 drivers a day in 2017-18 were nabbed at the intersections by cameras capable of catching motorists speeding and running a red light.

Road Safety Camera commissioner John Voyage said excessive speed remained the “biggest road safety issue.”

“Not only is control reduced, and reaction time shortened, but speed also results in more severe outcomes for road users,” he said.

“The key message in Victoria is that there is a widespread lack of recognition of the risks associated with speeding. It is not for individuals to determine what they consider to be an appropriate speed in the circumstances.”

The camera at the Princes Highway-Purnell Rd intersection was the most lucrative in the Geelong region, raking in $835,942, followed by Thompson Rd and Separation St ($448,396), Moorabool St and Fyans St ($432,965) and Settlement Rd and Torquay Rd, Belmont ($301,157).

Motorists nabbed at these intersections rose from 354 in 2014-15 to 7251 in 2017-18.

“The improved camera systems have played a role in detecting much larger numbers of infringing drivers than their predecessors. The road safety consequences are that more drivers have received a reminder that speeding is unacceptable,” the RSCC report says.

The state’s most lucrative upgraded camera was at the intersection of North Rd and Clayton Rd, Clayton. It caught 16,872 drivers in 2017-18, which was worth more than $4.1 million in fines.