Bohle’s $ 300k hotspot

A SPEEDING motorist was caught every 101 seconds at the worst hotspot in Townsville.

A movable police speed camera operated on Ingham Rd in Bohle for about 50 hours in 2017 and it issued 1787 speeding tickets.

Those tickets cost drivers at least $ 300,216 in fines. As previously revealed in the Townsville Bulletin, the region’s drivers paid $ 4.9 million in speeding fines in 2017.

A movable speed camera on Dalrymple Rd in Currajong ran for just under 23 hours and ticketed 408 drivers, one every three minutes and 20 seconds.

Police documents obtained through a Right to Information request revealed the city’s high- speed hotspots.

On Malbon Rd, Kirwan, a camera issued one ticket every two minutes and 35 seconds. The camera ran for about 10 hours and issued 221 fines.

The police documents also reveal Townsville’s worst hoon was nabbed at nearly 70km/ h over the speed limit – in an 80 zone. The driver was caught driving at 149km/ h, the highest speed recorded in the Townsville area in 2017.

RACQ spokeswoman Lauren Ritchie said many drivers went into “autopilot”, especially on streets they knew well.

“Often when people are on the roads they drive every day, they go into autopilot mode. They think ‘ I know these roads’ and don’t switch on. That’s a form of driver distraction which is one of the fatal five,” she said.

“On suburban roads there are so many other road users. You have to deal not only with other cars, but pedestrians, cyclists, children. That just adds complexity to driving.

“When you speed you give yourself and your car less time to react to anything unexpected.”

Regional road policing boss Inspector Peter Flanders said every traffic cop would have “two or three” serious highspeed crashes they have responded to that will stick with them forever.

“To be honest, my first reaction at every major crash I attend is anger,” he said.

“It’s just such a pointless waste. I have never been to a crash that needed to happen. You just think that this person did not need to die.”