68,000 Speeding Fines May Need To Be Refunded In Australia Due To Faulty Cameras

from the where's-that-brick-wall-heading dept

For many years, we've noted that speed cameras were notoriously unreliable, with stories of brick walls traveling at high rates of speed, a car being clocked at an astounding 420 mph and another story where a parked car was given multiple speeding tickets, all while remaining blissfully stationed at the curb.

One of the main traffic camera providers is the company Redflex, which has been having trouble lately, as many governments are ditching the cameras. And it looks like things may be getting even worse. Reader midofo points us to the news that the government in Victoria, Australia is now realizing that its Redflex speed cameras were faulty. There's now an investigation into just how many fines will need to be refunded. Of course, the only reason they figured this out was because a woman got a ticket for traveling nearly 100 mph in a car that simply could not go that fast. That resulted in an investigation and the discovery that the cameras weren't working properly (of course, some might argue that since the cameras are really just about revenue generation they were working just fine...).
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: australia, faulty, speed cameras, speeding tickets
Companies: redflex


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    John Doe, 2 Nov 2010 @ 4:39am

    What was she driving?

    She must have been driving a Chevette.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Revi (profile), 2 Nov 2010 @ 5:23am

    Apparently the issue here was due to a sync error. That is to say, the cameras were for point-to-point and the clocks were out of sync.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Pixelation, 2 Nov 2010 @ 5:54am

    It seems you should have a right to know at the time it happens that you have been clocked and will be getting a ticket. That way if you were traveling 35mph and got a ticket for 50mph, you would know the camera was wrong. Weeks later, unless you NEVER speed, you likely wouldn't remember. You should also have a right to know if the radar for the camera has been calibrated properly.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    bUSTER, 2 Nov 2010 @ 6:07am

    420MPH

    I'm sure the guy who got a ticket for going 420MPH has that posted on his wall to brag to all his friends

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Speeder, 2 Nov 2010 @ 7:48am

      Re: 420MPH

      We are the guilty party.
      During a shake down run the driver was about to kick in the afterburner on the LSR vehicle when several kangaroo's were sucked into the turbine forcing a shutdown.
      The goal for this run was 520MPH, we'll be back!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        marak (profile), 2 Nov 2010 @ 3:25pm

        Re: Re: 420MPH

        Yeah ive had that, bloody kangaroos getting stuck in the intakes on my small jet/car :P


        The drop bears are worse.....

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Papa Fox, 2 Nov 2010 @ 6:10am

    The Victorian State government is declining to refund the 68,000 infringement notices. Apparently a clock skew is not a "systematic error."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Any Mouse, 2 Nov 2010 @ 7:10am

      Re:

      Yeah, did you read that one all the way through? It says that 9 were wrongfully fined since 2007. They are refusing to refund on the others until after the system has been audited by a third party.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Overcast (profile), 2 Nov 2010 @ 6:50am

    What wonderful "justice".

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    marak (profile), 2 Nov 2010 @ 3:23pm

    *waits patiently for his letter in the mail with his refunds!*

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.