Only three sites, but don’t be fooled

By Paul Dunlop
MOTORISTS could hardly feel blinded by the glare of speed cameras in Pakenham.
The State Government’s release of all speed camera sites across Victoria shows just three locations in the town where motorists might be snapped.
This compares with seven camera sites in nearby Warragul, eight in Cranbourne and a whopping 23 in Colac which has several thousand fewer residents.
There are even eight sites in Lang Lang at locations along the South Gippsland Highway.
Two of the Pakenham sites are along the Princes Highway, between Ryan Road and Oaktree Drive and between Pakenham Road and O’Shannessy Street.
The other camera site is in Main Street, near Snodgrass Street.
Police Minister Tim Holding said that motorists should be aware that they can still be booked on any stretch of road.
“They can be booked either at those sites if there’s a camera deployed there or by any police unit operating a radar camera anywhere, not just in those sites, but anywhere in Victoria.”
The State Government’s list shows more than 2500 possible locations for mobile cameras around Victoria.
Other Cardinia locations include Kooweerup (one), Garfield (one), Bunyip (two), Nar Nar Goon (two), Upper Beaconsfield (one) and Emerald (one).
The Princes Highway is a popular camera site. There are also four cameras at Berwick.
Motorists can view the website, which details the locations, at www.justice.vic.gov.au/speedcameras.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) Noel Ashby and Mr Holding launched the website to reduce the road toll.
Mr Holding said individual camera locations would remain secret on a daily basis.
Victoria Police’s mobile camera policy and operations manual is also available outlining how speed camera sites were selected on the basis of accident history, possibility of future accident risk or the history of road law flouting frequencyfor any particular location.
Mr Ashby said police were prepared to do whatever it took to stop people killing themselves and others on the roads.
“If just one motorist logs onto the internet, takes a mental note of a speed camera location and makes the choice to slow down: that’s potentially one life saved,” he said.