A group of Queensland police officers have called on the state government to ditch the ‘sneaky covert speed cameras’ in favour of more patrols on the roads.
Ian Leavers, head of the police union, explained that policemen are tired of being abused and called ‘revenue raisers’ by disgruntled members of the public.
The Courier Mail reported that Mr Leavers has officially appealed to the government to remove ‘unmarked and unmanned cameras’ and instead ‘put more police on the roads’.
QLD police called for unmanned speed cameras (left) to be replaced with police patrols (right)
Police union Boss Ian Leavers said police are sick of the abuse over ‘revenue raising’ cameras
The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) fully supports the call, adding that ‘its members hate the hidden cameras which drivers believe just put cash in government coffers’.
There are currently 18 covert speed cameras in the sunshine state, which last financial year accrued $132 million in fines from 106,000 miserable motorists.
RACQ member Steve Spalding also weighed in, saying that as long as drivers believe that speed cameras are simply revenue raisers, any road safety discussion would be ‘derailed’.
Saying that simply the presence of a police car on the road was enough to slow down drivers, he explained that unlike cameras, officers could monitor ‘general driver behaviour’ as well as their speed.
Additionally, there have been claims that the speed cameras are incorrectly fining motorists who haven’t broken the law.
RACQ member Steve Spalding said that the presence of police is enough to slow down drivers
Russian-born property developer and multi-millionaire businessman Lev Mizikovsky, who is also an avid motorbike enthusiast, slammed speed detection technology as ‘outdated’.
He was fined last week for riding 75km/h in the 60km/h zone, but strenuously denies that he was speeding and plans to challenge it.
Mr Mizikovsky claimed that speed-detection devices told police that a vehicle was driving over the speed limit, but couldn’t specify which vehicle.
He also accused police of bias against motorcyclists, saying: ‘When you are on a motorbike you automatically get the ticket. They have to judge who is getting the ticket and they judge it is the motorbike.’
Mr Mizikovsky has echoed for the covert cameras to be dropped, on the ground that it would ‘help end criticism of police’.
Businessman Lev Mizikovsky has claimed that police speed detection technology is ‘outdated’
During the last election campaign, Mr Leavers appealed to politicians from both the Labour party and the LNP in a letter that asked for the removed of unmarked cameras.
‘Police receive significant criticism from the public and are accused of being ‘revenue raisers’ when unmarked speed camera vans and unstaffed speed camera trailers are deployed,’ the letter reads.
‘We ask for a commitment to the end of using these ‘sneaky’ devices so that we can regain public confidence.’
Mr Leavers explained that police were asking the government not to introduce any more unmanned speed cameras, and that all staffed mobile speed trailers be marked with police logos.
Police Minister Mark Ryan reveled that there were ‘no plans’ to remove covert speed cameras
However, police Minister Mark Ryan reveled that there were ‘no plans’ to take covert speed cameras off the roads.
‘The deployment of speed cameras is strictly an operational matter for police and the QPS has indicated there is no plan to phase out the use of unmarked mobile speed cameras,’ a spokesperson said in a statement this week.
‘The Palaszczuk Government supports the hard work our police do every day on our streets to enforce the speed limits and other road rules that demonstrably save lives.
‘There have been too many fatal crashes caused by speed and we are committed to providing police with the resources they need to prevent these tragic accidents.
‘The Palaszczuk Government has committed to not civilianising or outsourcing policing duties.’
A spokesperson for QLD premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) said there are no plans to remove cameras as they enforce ‘speed limits and road rules that demonstrably save lives
The call for removal comes at a tricky time as the RACQ reported on Thursday that multiple new unmarked speed cameras would be installed on three major Queensland highways.
‘Our members tell us a visible police presence is always the preferred option when attempting to enforce road safety, but point-to-point cameras are becoming more common,’ Mr Spalding told the Courier Mail.
‘Speed is one of the Fatal Five for a reason – motorists need to take responsibility for their own behaviour and ensure they’re doing the right thing and sticking to the speed limit.’