I cannot say that I'm impressed with the current way of happenings regarding the traffic law enforcement system, particular with the current mobile speed trapping system. I recently suffered financial loss due to the mobile speed trapping systems and I feel as if it is no longer about traffic law enforcement but more about moneymaking. Friends of mine travelled to Cape Town by car and come back with speed fines amounting to closed to R3000, all on mobile camera and within a radius of less than 20km stretch of road, some of these fines differs with between 5 and 20 minutes. Recently I travelled to Kimberley, drove safely followed all road rules, however my biggest mistake was travelling 107km on a National road whereby the speed limit is 120km/h. There were temporary road signs indicating the speed limit of 60km/h because of road works, in these zones I followed the speed limit to the latter because of the road conditions. My understanding is that once the area is clear and there is either no temporary sign or roadworks than the speed limit must revert to the original speed limit which is 120km/h on a national road, because of this I was caught on mobile camera doing 107km/h, I was then summoned via mail for an amount of R700 for the crime of exceeding the speed limit. To fight with the relevant authorities does not help because it might result in a long court process so we just pay and get it over and done with but the big problem would be when they start using the demerit system whereby your drivers licence might be revoked. Why am I asking whether this is traffic law enforcement or moneymaking…? In small local authorities or provinces there is a drastic need for visible law enforcement, however due to limited resources these guys are manning the mobile cameras, most probably the main income stream for these authorities, in bigger metro's you'll find three to four mobiles cameras on a 5km road radius, normally trapping in both directions, these metro's used latest technology equipment funded by the taxpayer at a enormous prize, now authorities are forced to trapped motorists in order to pay for these resources and still profiting, it therefore no longer constitutes traffic law enforcement, but more of a moneymaking exercise.
Why not using fixed cameras, which will provide a guaranteed income, these equipment operates day and night, through rain or sunshine and it will be much cheaper and effective to maintain. (I mean the purpose of mobile speed trapping is moneymaking not law enforcement, because if you exceeding the speed limits, the traffic official don't stop you because they hide behind trees or camping out) - The traffic law enforcement officials hiding behind the trees can then be used elsewhere or they can be used as visible law enforcement officials thus ensuring road safety and reducing road incidents.
From a personal perspective I really don't support this many mobile cameras on the road, not because I want to be reckless but I feel that those resources can be managed elsewhere and at a reasonable prize.
Now for the big question: Why paying a lot of money renting fancy equipment - Is fixed cameras the way to go?
SO many questions… SO little answers…
Gino, whilst not disagreeing with what you have to say, I need to correct a few misconceptions you have. Firstly, the speed limit on a national road other than a freeway is 100km/h, NOT 120km/h. Loads of people get this wrong due to spending a lot of time driving on freeways and, sadly, because roads authorities sometimes post incorrect speed limits on national roads, like the R50 route between Pretoria and Delmas. Mobile speed cameras have proliferated in South Africa for two reasons. Firstly because people simply don't obey the speed limit and secondly, and in my view, more importantly, because private companies and traffic authorities have identified this fact as a perfect revenue source for them. It can be said, without much fear of contradiction that these entities have no interest in road safety or in getting people to obey the speed limit, since that would severely hamper their ability to make money out of it. People often mistake my and JPSA's vehement disdain for speed cameras with being anti-speed enforcement and that is simply not true. What we are "anti" is the fact that traffic authorities have lost any sense of what traffic enforcement SHOULD be about and have instead decided to focus on just one area - speed. If only we could convince people to abide by the speed limit, we could starve these traffic authorities and their private business partners out of the bushes.
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