AN average of 71 drivers a day have been caught speeding by a fixed camera on the Princes Freeway at Hoppers Crossing.
The Forsyth Road bridge camera, covering the Melbourne-bound lanes of the freeway, recorded the highest number of speeding drivers in the state between October and December last year, according to a state government website.
In total, 6553 drivers were caught in the 92-day period, raising more than $1.15million in revenue. The government earned an average of $12,520 a day from the camera.
A speed camera on the other side of the freeway caught an average of 52 drivers a day during the same period, making it Victoria’s third-most profitable camera having raised $866,722. Wyndham highway patrol Acting Sergeant Darrin Sheahan said the actual number of people speeding on that section of the freeway was much higher, with police regularly using mobile speed cameras to catch people speeding before and after the fixed units.
“We actively sit out on the freeway and detect and intercept motorists for speeding using marked police vehicles to show a visible police presence, and we are still repeatedly apprehending motorists exceeding the speed limit by 20km/h or more.
“A lot of motorists know the fixed speed cameras are at the Forsyth Road overpass and they choose to speed before and after they reach that point. Those are the people we catch in person.”
The municipality’s seven fixed speed cameras caught 23,892 people during the quarter, up from 21,682 for the same time last year.
But Acting Sergeant Sheahan said it appeared Wyndham drivers were beginning to get the message, with the city’s road toll down on the same time last year.
“We have not experienced a death on Wyndham roads so far this year. At the same time last year four people had died on our local roads.
“This could be as a result of our increased number of vehicle impounds, increased enforcement of speed limits and targeted patrol strategies.”
Acting Sergeant Sheahan said drivers needed to understand that anyone could be involved in an accident.
“In nearly all collisions there is an element of human error,” he said.
