In the first three weeks of operation the cameras, distributed from Cairns all the way to the Gold Coast, issued 1,607 fines to speeding drivers – the equivalent of 100 penalties every school day.
This included one motorist who was nabbed travelling between 31kph and 40kph over the speed limit, as well as 29 drivers who were snapped speeding 21kph to 30kph over the limit.
If we assume these are the typical (sub)urban school zone where it's 40 km/h during school zone hours, in what is otherwise a 60 km/h zone, that means these 30 drivers would have been speeding even if it wasn't currently a school zone, and one of them was going 10 over the non-school-zone limit. That's shocking.
Honestly, while I'm sympathetic to all the people who complain about being stung for going a couple ks over the limit, when you're more than 10 over the limit and there are no other extenuating circumstances (unclear signage, close to the speed limit change, etc.), the punishments for speeding do not seem anywhere near high enough. Nor, more crucially, are the chances of actually being caught and fined.
I have so much less sympathy for anyone who speeds in a school zone, signage or otherwise. If there are kids around, drivers need to show caution. It's basic consideration and helps make our communities safer.
I'm almost never even driving during a school zone time, let alone driving in a school zone, let alone speeding in one.
That said, I did cycle through a school zone just this morning. It was right at the start of the school zone time (literally I think about 7:05 am). There were no children about.
So while I still think speed limits are a good thing and I have no sympathy for people who disregard them, I'm not convinced that it's necessarily any worse in terms of child safety for a driver to have been going 55 then than it would be when I drove down the same street when it was not a school zone at about 12:30 pm today.
If we assume these are the typical (sub)urban school zone where it's 40 km/h during school zone hours, in what is otherwise a 60 km/h zone, that means these 30 drivers would have been speeding even if it wasn't currently a school zone, and one of them was going 10 over the non-school-zone limit. That's shocking.
Honestly, while I'm sympathetic to all the people who complain about being stung for going a couple ks over the limit, when you're more than 10 over the limit and there are no other extenuating circumstances (unclear signage, close to the speed limit change, etc.), the punishments for speeding do not seem anywhere near high enough. Nor, more crucially, are the chances of actually being caught and fined.
I have so much less sympathy for anyone who speeds in a school zone, signage or otherwise. If there are kids around, drivers need to show caution. It's basic consideration and helps make our communities safer.
I'm almost never even driving during a school zone time, let alone driving in a school zone, let alone speeding in one.
That said, I did cycle through a school zone just this morning. It was right at the start of the school zone time (literally I think about 7:05 am). There were no children about.
So while I still think speed limits are a good thing and I have no sympathy for people who disregard them, I'm not convinced that it's necessarily any worse in terms of child safety for a driver to have been going 55 then than it would be when I drove down the same street when it was not a school zone at about 12:30 pm today.
Is it though? People speed constantly on every street or road.
EDIT: It is also possible some of them could have been 70 zones normally.