A new set of speed cameras in Tasmania caught nearly 80 times as many motorists breaking the speed limit than when they were last operational.
Pulse Tasmania reports the new speed cameras on the Tasman Bridge – linking the Hobart CBD on the western side of the River Derwent to the City of Clarence on the east – detected more than 700 motorists breaking the 70km/h speed limit in their first week in operation.
The old speed cameras – reportedly first installed in the 1990s – were switched off in the 2022-23 financial year, having only detected 458 speeding motorists between July 2021 and June 2022, an average of 8.8 per week.
Fortunately for those the cameras detected travelling above the speed limit, the speed enforcement devices were only being tested, though they can now start reporting offences and issuing fines.
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“The new technology will detect speeding vehicles in all bridge lanes and multiple vehicles at once, making them a strong speeding deterrent,” a spokesperson for Tasmania’s Department of State Growth told Pulse Tasmania.
“The testing phase has now ended and any suspected offences will be reviewed by suitably trained staff within the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management.”
Like speed cameras in other Australian states and territories, Tasmania’s new technology can upload images of alleged offences to a motorists’ road user portal, allowing them to review the material in more forms than just a picture on a paper infringement notice.
Sensys Gatso is the supplier of the Tasman Bridge cameras, and also operates more than half a dozen mobile speed cameras in the state, which can also fine drivers for mobile phone and seatbelt-related offences.
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