The road toll

IN many ways I’m not a fan of stationery camera cars, partly because they can be used so easily to raise revenue.

One case in point is the location on Wingewarra Street on the backside of Apex Oval, where it’s a natural speed trap because people are driving down one of the city’s steepest hills.

I’ve been told by RMS that this location is a hotspot for serious crashes but despite having covered almost all the serious road smashes in Dubbo for a couple of decades, I can only remember a couple anywhere near there.

And the RMS never backed up its claim with any evidence.

But at holiday time, and on the Easter long weekend especially, it’s great to see any measures that can potentially slow people down and make them think.

There was a camera car stationed just before the Burrendong Dam turn-off coming from the Dubbo side during the weekend and if it gave any motorists pause for thought, well that’s a good thing.

Having said that, many of the boats being dragged to the dam are now so big that I doubt many of the vehicles towing them could exceed the speed limit anyway.

Some people still drive in a risky way, however. While I was driving between Wongarbon and Wellington, on the way down to the fishing comp early on Good Friday morning, a speeding driver flew past me at probably 130-140km/h and tucked back in to the left hand lane just as the highway patrol car appeared