Sorry, this doesn’t have alot to do with much of anything… except it’s just TOO funny! Enjoy!

Axe attack in Victoria, Australia leaves speed camera vehicle with smashed door and window.

A forty-year-old speed camera operator in Victoria, Australia was frightened yesterday by a man armed with an ax. The operator parked on Wedge Road in Carrum Downs at around 7:30pm. After turning on the camera, he relaxed in the passenger’s seat as the automated machinery proceeded to generate citations ready for mailing to the owners of passing vehicles.

At 10:30pm, the operator was startled by the sight of an ax shattering the driver’s side window of his vehicle. The axman poked his ax toward the operator a few times before leaving the scene. The operator was unharmed, only suffering a slight cut to his finger from glass shards. The speed camera car’s door suffered extensive damage.

Police are now looking for the axman, described as 5 foot 10 inches tall wearing a dark jacket, dark pants and a beanie. A police dog’s search of the area failed to turn up evidence of the axman’s whereabouts, but it did succeed in uncovering an elderly man’s marijuana growing operation.

Nine out of ten speed camera tickets in New South Wales, Australia go for violations of 2 to 9 MPH over the limit.

Let’s say that again!

Nine out of ten speed camera tickets in New South Wales, Australia go for violations of 2 to 9 MPH over the limit.

A little over zealous, don’t you think?

The state of New South Wales, Australia generated A$143 million in profit from ticketing motorists last year. One of the largest sources of this revenue came from tickets issued to motorists accused of driving between 2 and 9 MPH over the limit. Documents obtained by the Sydney Daily Telegraph show that of 620,194 fixed speed camera citations issued in 2007, a total of 542,290 were for violations of 9 MPH or less. These minor violations generated $49,256,687 in revenue, helping the state to more than double the amount of fines collected over 2006.

Some state residents claim that inaccurate cameras are trapping the innocent. A lone speed camera located on St Helena Hill generated 19,381 in fines worth $2,646,916 last year. The number of fines issued exploded from an average of 13 per day in 2006 to 97 per day last year. Over a thousand motorists have insisted to local officials that they were not speeding when the camera issued a citation.

The Roads and Traffic Authority has refused to provide refunds because the agency finds no reason to question the citations.

“The RTA examined a random sample of speed camera offences that were recorded in June and found that in every case the camera was correct,” Minister for Health Reba Meagher said in answer to a parliamentary inquiry. “RTA technicians, along with the camera’s manufacturers, visited the St Helena Hill site to conduct further tests on the speed camera. These tests also proved the camera was working accurately and there were no faults in the system.”

Source: (Sydney Daily Telegraph (Australia), 3/18/2008)

Survey shows two-thirds of Victoria, Australia police believe speed cameras are installed only for profit.

A landmark survey of 3459 police officers in Victoria, Australia today exposed a disturbing shift in law enforcement priorities. A total of 42 percent of the police surveyed by the Herald Sun newspaper believed their primary mission has become revenue generation.

The shift is seen even more clearly in the attitude of police toward speed cameras. A mere six percent believed the government’s assertion that the purpose of photo enforcement was to reduce traffic fatalities. More than 70 percent of respondents insisted profit, not safety, was the true motivation. The state earned A$147 million with 671,063 mobile speed camera fines in the last fiscal year.

A spokesman for the chief commissioner dismissed the revenue raising claims by pointing to a government report that showed significant reductions in the number of accidents and injuries where speed cameras are used. In the Herald Sun survey, front line officers criticized high-ranking police officials for manipulating certain types of statistics to achieve a public perception of success.

“Everyone knows that the current crime figures are incorrect and tweaked by command to ensure the force looks good,” one officer wrote.

In 2006, the British Medical Journal compared hospital admission records to UK police statistics to conclude the police were underreporting the number of serious injuries from traffic accidents. Experts suggested that police officers were being coerced to do this to create the appearance that speed cameras were responsible for a reduction in serious injuries. The Herald Sun survey showed officers in Victoria were told to implement similar practices with respect to major crimes in Victoria.

“They tell us not to report certain crimes as what they actually are instead telling us to report them as lesser crime, so it shows the stats for serious crime are down,” another officer wrote.

Source: (Herald Sun (Australia), 4/11/2008)