Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/05/574.asp

8/4/2005

Australian Court Trial Uncovers Speed Camera Tricks
Speed camera trial in Melbourne, Australia brings out details of how the devices are misused.

A speed camera insider in Victoria, Australia testified yesterday about how the devices are issuing tickets to motorists who were not speeding. Graeme Marr, a former employee of camera contractor Tenix Security, appeared before Broadmeadows Magistrates Court in Melbourne, Australia as a defense witness for motorist Glenn Hilburn, 43, who was accused of driving 69 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.

Marr explained that on three occasions he refused to set up devices at the exact location where Hilburn was accused of speeding. He said that despite a manual explaining that the radar cameras should never be used where metal objects can reflect the beams and cause reflections and erroneous readings, most operators ignore the rules.

Radar expert Dr. Wolf Garwoli confirmed the testimony, explaining several common sources of error in an Australian television interview. "If you have multiple targets in the beam or if you set it up incorrectly whereby you bounce it off the road or you set it up looking into a bend then the radar fails," Garwoli said

The court ultimately found Hilburn guilty of driving about 5 MPH above the limit, for which he was fined A$800 (US $615). Last year the Victorian government issued 699,638 such tickets, collecting A$104 million in revenue from cameras.

Source: Secrets of speed cameras revealed (Herald Sun (Australia), 8/4/2005)

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