Speed Cameras are a Hazard
In Australia, as I’m sure with many other countries, they’re installing more and more speed cameras aimed at intersections. The government says that they are effective at stopping people from speeding. Maybe. The interpretation of the data is debatable and I’m not certain that the government has it right. For instance, this new installation of a speed camera that caught 8043 motorists in 27 days not far from where I live, in an area already dense with speed cameras. If only 0.07% of motorists that pass a fixed speed camera gets caught, that means that 11490000 motorists passed through that speed camera during that time, almost 3 times the population of Melbourne.
My interpretation is fairly obvious; people that commute or use that road often knows where the cameras are and slow down. This means that speed cameras work at slowing down the populace but only where the cameras are looking, which is also where the government is getting there data from. This is too small of a data set to make an accurate interpretation.
But I digress, I’m not here to debate if speed cameras are useful, even though I was fined $180 for a first time offence with only 3km/h over the speed limit. I’m here to debate that speed cameras are a major hazard for motorists, especially motorcyclists like myself.
The problem stems from several ingredients coming together to make a perfect recipe for a fatal disaster. One of my biggest fears while on my bike is getting t-boned by a drunk driver or cut off by someone that didn’t see me. For a motorcyclist going the speed limit, it can be a death sentence.
My motorcycle isn’t that powerful, only an 800cc, but it can still accelerate fairly quickly. The smallest turn of the throttle and I’m easily over the speed limit if going at speed. This wouldn’t be much of an issue if my speedometer was within my view while I was driving, but my helmet blocks it. This is to say, while I’m driving through an intersection with a speed camera, I’m hardly paying attention to what’s around me, only my speedometer and the person in front.
If someone were to say, cut me off like it happened a few weeks back, I have no way of properly react to it. The only thing that saved me that day was a quick swerve. If I would of been a second later, I would not of been so lucky. Any motorcyclist will tell you that knowing your surroundings drastically reduce the potential for disaster but adding an extra (unneeded) distraction is just asking for trouble.
I consider speed cameras to be a hazard akin to motorists that text while driving. If you are obligated to have speed cameras, please don’t put them at intersections. I’d rather not die because a drunk didn’t see the red light while I was looking intently at my speedometer, pondering my last seconds of life why there’s so many speed cameras in this city.
