QLD Peculiar Speed Camera Fines

[Chris 65]

Hi. I recently received four speed camera fines within the space of two days, from driving through Airport Link toll road in Brisbane (from the same camera). This caught me largely by surprise as I have never received a speeding fine or driving violation (currently on final year of P2 license QLD). What struck me as rather bizarre however was that every speeding fine allegedly claimed that I was doing 89km/hr. I do not use cruise control and I strongly believe that at most I always do 84km/hr which I have done for the past 6 months on the daily. I have checked my speedometer and it is accurate within 2km/hr. Not being too familiar with the speed camera laws myself, I was wondering if there is an explanation and or an argument which could be used to dispute these alleged infractions? (The fines are not duplicates as they all have their own unique times, photos etc.)
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[Tim W]

Pretty much no, there isn't.
Speed cameras are a scientific instrument, and are presumed at law to be accurate.
To defeat the infringement, you would typically need to displace that presumption,
which is not impossible, but requires the advice of a specialist traffic lawyer.

As to checking your own speedo - forget it.
Unless you did it in a lab in controlled experiments, with reporting in admissible form,
it's worth nothing.

 

[Rod]

I'd be checking whether the camera is mounted to an overpass, or a standalone gantry.

Speed cameras must be steady as fast movement of the camera affects the reading. Slow movement as in a wobble is not so much an issue, but tremors as in having the shakes can seriously affects readings. I've not done research into this but have walked across a few overpasses as trucks have passed me and the vibrations are significant. I'm not a radar/lidar expert but have often wondered if any studies have been done testing accuracy when cameras are fixed to the bottom of an overpass used by trucks. Maybe call an expert or two for an opinion.

 

[Rod]

BTW, I did find this article Category: | Herald Sun

It is a tacit acknowledgement vibration can be an issue.

VICTORIA’S top roads cop has rejected an RACV push to tear down defunct speed cameras on the West Gate Bridge — saying many motorists still think they’re working.

Two sets of rusting cameras on the west and eastbound lanes were turned off more than a decade ago because vibration and wind made them unreliable.

 

[Chris 65]

Thanks for the advice Tim W and Rod!

The tunnel is coming up on it's sixth year (constructed in July 2012) so weathering of the cameras may be possible.

I'll definitely be researching those points further to try and find a credible stand point for my situation, and if need be seek professional help.

 

[Clancy]

Are you saying you drive approximately the same speed every day over a period of time with no fines, then suddenly started getting fines? If so, how long were you driving without getting fined?

1) Possibly the speed camera was off for a period of time due to needing maintenance? After getting fixed, boom, you start getting fined.

2) Possibly the camera operators wen't getting enough fines out of it, so they re-calibrated in such a way as to make it more strict.

3) Did you recently get new tires? New tires will actually make your spedo register a tiny bit less speed than normal - it could have tipped the balance if you were already close to camera trigger speed.