Police speed traps ordered out of hiding

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Police have been barred from lurking behind bushes to clock speeding motorists.

Acting Police Commissioner Steve Long has issued guidelines banning "hidden or camouflaged deployment" of speed cameras or laser detectors, after public criticism.

"All speed measuring devices are to be operated in an overt manner," he has told police throughout the country.

But Mr Long says police will continue using unmarked patrol cars to catch speedsters.

National road policing manager Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald said yesterday police had sometimes camouflaged themselves, particularly at accident "black spots". But he said the practice was never widespread.

And camouflage techniques were not as surreptitious as in Western Australia, where police had hidden cameras in rubbish bins.

Mr Fitzgerald denied that the guidelines were inconsistent with the "anytime, anywhere" policy of not indicating where speed cameras are likely to be stationed.

Although that policy was aimed at keeping motorists everywhere on their guard against the temptation to speed, subterfuge was not considered necessary and cameras should be able to be seen.

"We have to be open and fair with people, to give them a fair chance."

He did not see anything sneaky about parking unmarked police cars on motorway off-ramps in rural areas, ready to pounce on motorists zipping by below. "They are not hidden and not camouflaged, and their drivers are in uniform."

The guidelines have for the first time prescribed how police should use discretion in not generally ticketing drivers of cars travelling less than 11km/h over the speed limit, or trucks less than 6km/h over the limit.

But they say this is not a mandate for drivers to exceed limits, as travelling less than 11km/h too fast could pose safety risks. Police could ticket motorists in such cases.

Drivers can also expect leniency in the first 250m of a lower speed zone, except in circumstances such as when road workers or children near schools need protection.

National's police spokesman, Tony Ryall, described the ban on hiding in bushes as a victory for motorists, claiming public confidence in the police had been sapped "by this Government's aggressive quota ticketing policy". "During that time, there has been a huge increase in traffic ticketing, but the road toll has gone up," he said.


Mr Fitzgerald did not want to comment on Mr Ryall's statement, but he said earlier that the number of speed camera tickets issued had declined by 15 per cent under the "anytime, anywhere" policy, and the road toll of 340 people killed this year was 36 fewer than at the same time last year.