Speed Camera Encounter

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Just reading the thread from XR8-290 reminded me of a strange encounter I had with a speed camera just before Xmas.

We went down to Morwell for our work Xmas function, travelling in our 2008 TX Territory. We ended up leaving about 11pm (2300 hours) and the road home was pretty quiet, so used my high beams whenever I could.

Just to set the scene, about halfway between Traralgon and Rosedale there are two sets of overtaking lanes, with overtaking lanes on both sides of the road. The first set is about a kilometre long, and begins just after a gentle downward-sloping corner. It ends just before another small hill, and then there is another set about 600 m long a further 500 m down the road.

Anyway, I was pretty much travelling by myself, and had just passed a car coming in the opposite direction as I was coming down the hill into the first overtaking lane, so switched my high beams on. Almost instantly, there was a fairly bright flash emanating from the right hand side of the road, about 500 m in front of me. Instinctively, I turned off the high beams, back to low beams, thinking that the flash had come from a car coming in the opposite direction. It wasn’t until I got a little closer that I realised the flash had come from a camera car (I travel this road every day to work, and the silver Commodore Sportswagon is a common sight).

Of course, my first reaction was to check the speedo, and I found that the car was sitting at exactly the speed that I had set the cruise to – 103 km/h, which I am pretty confident is actually around 100 – 101 km/h actual speed. The wife and I got talking about it on the rets of the run home, and we both thought that the flash had not come from the car’s lights, rather it was the flash of the camera flashes that are mounted on the front bar (it was more of a white light than the typical yellow of Commodore headlights).

I kept a watch of the car that was travelling some distance behind me, and it appeared that the same thing happened to it, too.

To this day, I have not received a fine (surely I would have got one by now?), but can’t really work out why the flash occurred. Sure, the operator might have been a little blinded by the high beams, but to flash me like that means he must have a manual button available to him.

Anyone know anything about this or encountered something similar? used:

Craig H

[Burnout]

Min, min light mate, lot of 'em round there!

[last fairlane]

This happened to me a couple of years back
I was driving along Mt cotton rd in an 80 zone in the truck
and was told by the CB that there was a camera car up ahead
I sat on 75kph just to make sure and I was flashed
well I did a U turn and went back and knocked on the door
of the camera car
here in QLD they use Mercedes vans or 4 wheel drives with a flash light on the front and back
any way I asked what was going on as I was only doing 75kph
and he told me it was a test and that every 10th flash was a test
and was told not to worry about it
so I left it at that
of course nothing happened to me no fine or anything
but it does make you think
thanks john

[Dauphin]

I often had a camera car parked out the front of my house when I lived in a bad main road. Every so often it'd flash for no reason, so I believe it was a test / calibration flash. It's great entertainment sometimes.

[JamesR]

Originally Posted by psychobimbo

Anyone know anything about this or encountered something similar? used:

Craig H

i had the same thing happen, driving from Sale to T'gon a few months ago.
never received a fine either. i also thought that speed cameras weren't allowed to flash you from the front?

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Burnout

Min, min light mate, lot of 'em round there!

You now have thousands of Southerners wondering what the hell a Min Min light is .



(don't tell them)

[The Monty]

I had this a week and ahalf ago. Saw the camera flash a car about a km up the road, and I thought it was weird as I was sitting on 101-103, and was catching the car up ahead (100 zone) so I slowed to 98, and when I went passed it, it flashed me. I havent got a fine yet, but I was deffinately not speeding. If I was, I would cop it no questions asked, as I have done in the past, but if I get fined for this one, I dont know what to do.

[Mad Maxine]

Maybe it's just a ploy to make cars slow down? Still, if you aren't speeing in the first place, this would make it really annoying, to say nothing about the legality of it for no good reason. I'd ask the Traffic Branch about it to get an official response as to why this is happening.

MM

[zdcol71]

I use the term cop with no other conotation than the colloquial term, but surely we have some, if not many, cops on here who could anonomously enlighten us on this (and possibly many more) contentious topics?

[Den76]

All camera cars must do a start and end of session test photo plus one every hour, you could of been there at the end of there session.
All camera cars have a manual flash button this is to check that the flash is working, its part of there quality checks prior and during there sessions.

[snowcone]

It certainly is a waste of a highly trained resource (the cop) killing time in a camera car when real crime is taking place all over the country. You don't have to be weapons trained and physcologically evaluated to sit in a van as a minder.

[GS608]

I guess it saves them hiring more people, save money by rotating officers from the traffic branch to sit in the van.

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Originally Posted by snowcone

It certainly is a waste of a highly trained resource (the cop) killing time in a camera car when real crime is taking place all over the country. You don't have to be weapons trained and physcologically evaluated to sit in a van as a minder.

Well, in Vic at least, there's no impact upon Police numbers as most of the cars are operated by private company contractors. Of course, in our area, these are mostly ex-police anyway.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by psychobimbo

Well, in Vic at least, there's no impact upon Police numbers as most of the cars are operated by private company contractors. Of course, in our area, these are mostly ex-police anyway.

Speaking as an Interstate Truck driver I'd rather Mr plod operate any speed camera than someone who is there solely to make a profit.

[XMPboy]

definately a calibration flash, i do a lot of k's and every time i get flashed i pull up and ask why, 5 out of the 7 times in the last three months it has been a calibration flash