Tailgating B-doubles and revenue raising traffic cameras

Two weeks ago I set off with my wife on what has become an annual trip to Burleigh Heads on Queensland's Gold Coast. We left early afternoon from Melbourne hoping to get beyond Albury before the dark and the madness of semi-trailer and B-double drivers put a stop to driving. We reached Albury just as darkness fell and decided we could risk going on to Holbrook another forty odd miles (65 kilometres) further on.

I was on the lookout for impatient semis and B-doubles because apparently I never travel fast enough for them, although I keep to the speed limit. I was confident we were ahead of the nightly trek along the Hume Highway which many truck drivers refer to as "Sesame Street" because of the mad characters one comes across during the night hours. I thought we were safe. But as we came over the hill about five miles out of Holbrook, up came a gigantic B-double and sat on my tail as we came down the hill and on to the straight stretch towards Holbrook. On the dual carriageway he lurched quickly from out behind me, passed well above the speed limit and disappeared into the dark. I could only discern LOGISTICS on the back.

The actions of drivers like that are criminal. And they get away with it.

Two days later, as we were driving into Coffs Harbour just inside the built-up area a semi-trailer raced by as if it were a racing car. Just as I commented on the driver's recklessness he suddenly jammed on his brakes. Huge screaming smoking tyres and the truck skewed to a stop at the end of a sixty yard skid. The lights had changed and the little Corolla up ahead had stopped on the amber signal. When we came up beside the truck the Corolla full of women was in sight. They appeared unaware of their close shave. Had that semi-trailer been twenty yards ahead of where he was they would have been crushed. When the lights changed the Corolla turned right leaving open space for the truck. He accelerated off leaving those at the speed limit far behind. He was out of sight by the time we were beyond the built-up area on the other side of Coffs Harbour. The number plate was 679 QFD.

We drove on to Woodburn, an isolated little town on the Clarence River about twenty miles out of Ballina, where we had lunch. A nice spot in the sun to relax and eat. The road through fields and bush into Woodburn and out of Woodburn is mostly open traffic with a speed limit of 110 kph. As we were leaving Woodburn I suddenly saw a fixed traffic camera. I glanced at the speedometer. It was on sixty kph, which is the speed limit one expects. I stood on the brakes bringing the needle back to fifty kph as I passed the camera. The speed limit in Woodburn was 50 kph. Two weeks later we arrived home to find a speeding fine for $84.00. The camera clocked me at 63 kph - to which I say rubbish. I had been caught by a blatant revenue raising traffic camera.

Labor governments are adept at this. The Brumby robber government in Victoria is the top seed for revenue raising traffic cameras. The tactic is to syphon off money from the ordinary citizen under the pretext of traffic safety. Punishing and robbing for the misdeeds of the few. There's a bewdy on the new Eastlink freeway which has caught dozens of drivers for being minimally above the speed limit. The chances of an accident at that point on Eastlink at just above the speed would be less than winning the $50 million lotto.

Labor government budgets are dependent on the revenue from cleverly placed traffic cameras and they will slip them in wherever they can.

See my comment on truck tailgating.

Comment: gerard@gerardcharleswilson.com