Mr BAILEY - 1998-02-24
He is aware that the opposition supports the initiative to introduce red-light and speed cameras to clamp down on dangerous drivers. Has he accepted the opposition's suggestion to amend the legislation to guarantee that the cameras are used in compliance with Australian standards?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, as this matter is Government Business item No 1 on the Notice Paper, I have considerable information to provide to the honourable member. I am happy to answer part of the question in the time remaining. Had he been truly interested in this matter, he might have asked his question rather earlier.
Mr Bailey: I gave it to your officers 3 weeks ago. You did not get back to me on it.
Mr COULTER: The member for Wanguri came to my office some time ago and expressed some concern about the way the speed cameras will operate, and how people may be certain that the results will be fair. A particular concern he raised was the use of speed detection devices on multi-lane roads and the possibility of the vehicle in the photograph having the wrong speed attributed to it. The information supplied subsequently by the member for Wanguri related to radar, speed detection equipment.
The technology to be used for the speed detection cameras is laser technology that has the capacity to clearly identify the target vehicle. This overcomes a problem that was prevalent with earlier radar detection technology when used on multi-lane roads. The laser-based detector has a target area of about the size of a 5 piece at 100 m. Therefore, unless someone is riding on a motorcycle that is thinner than a 5 piece, I do not think we will have a problem. The camera takes 2 images. One is wide-angle, showing the road, the target and any other vehicle, with crosshairs indicating the target, while the second image is a close-up of the number plate of the target vehicle.
The equipment to be used will need to be to the satisfaction of the director of transport under the Traffic Act. That is Mr Chris Bigg. The equipment has been selected but not yet purchased. I understand it will be about 6 weeks before it arrives and it will take 4 months to install and hook up to the computer technology etc. The speed detection devices in use in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia have been calibrated by the CSIRO and the University of Tasmania. This combination of a laser speed detection device
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and digital camera is very new, but it has been approved by the National Measurements Institute in Holland and by the Home Office in the United Kingdom.
Mr Bailey: That is not an Australian standard.
Mr COULTER: That is not an Australian standard. I take your point. While there is no relevant Australian standard at this time, there is an operator's manual produced by the manufacturer. The time of measurement is one-third of a second. If, while speed is being measured, another vehicle or object comes into the line of sight, an error message is given.
Police intend to recruit officers who will be responsible for the training of all officers who will operate the speed cameras. The Commissioner of Police will approve suitably qualified officers and notify this approval in the NT Government Gazette in the same way that he does for qualified officers for breath-testing equipment. Thus, while there is no particular Australian standard as yet, with the research that is being carried out by my department and the standards that have been checked elsewhere in the world and also, of course, in Tasmania, I am confident that an Australian standard will be set and that the machines in use in the Northern Territory will qualify for that standard once we have it.
Another issue raised is where these cameras will be used. I have approved the establishment of committees in both Darwin and Alice Springs to examine appropriate sites. The committees will be chaired by police and will include representatives from the Automobile Association, the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory and the Department of Transport and Works. They will be looking at speed profiles and accident history and potential in developing a series of appropriate sites.
For the information of the honourable member, we will be installing these devices no matter how technical or pedantic he may be about them. These cameras are approved. They are excellent in terms of the technology that is currently available. Nobody will be able to argue that it was not their vehicle but another one. To pick up something the size of a 5 piece at 100 m is very accurate, as I think honourable members will agree. There is no Australian standard that signs off on these devices, but the testing that has been undertaken internationally and elsewhere in Australia is acceptable to me. I believe it will be acceptable to honourable members this afternoon when we pass the legislation.
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ANSWER
Madam Speaker, as this matter is Government Business item No 1 on the Notice Paper, I have considerable information to provide to the honourable member. I am happy to answer part of the question in the time remaining. Had he been truly interested in this matter, he might have asked his question rather earlier.
Mr Bailey: I gave it to your officers 3 weeks ago. You did not get back to me on it.
Mr COULTER: The member for Wanguri came to my office some time ago and expressed some concern about the way the speed cameras will operate, and how people may be certain that the results will be fair. A particular concern he raised was the use of speed detection devices on multi-lane roads and the possibility of the vehicle in the photograph having the wrong speed attributed to it. The information supplied subsequently by the member for Wanguri related to radar, speed detection equipment.
The technology to be used for the speed detection cameras is laser technology that has the capacity to clearly identify the target vehicle. This overcomes a problem that was prevalent with earlier radar detection technology when used on multi-lane roads. The laser-based detector has a target area of about the size of a 5 piece at 100 m. Therefore, unless someone is riding on a motorcycle that is thinner than a 5 piece, I do not think we will have a problem. The camera takes 2 images. One is wide-angle, showing the road, the target and any other vehicle, with crosshairs indicating the target, while the second image is a close-up of the number plate of the target vehicle.
The equipment to be used will need to be to the satisfaction of the director of transport under the Traffic Act. That is Mr Chris Bigg. The equipment has been selected but not yet purchased. I understand it will be about 6 weeks before it arrives and it will take 4 months to install and hook up to the computer technology etc. The speed detection devices in use in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia have been calibrated by the CSIRO and the University of Tasmania. This combination of a laser speed detection device
Page 15
and digital camera is very new, but it has been approved by the National Measurements Institute in Holland and by the Home Office in the United Kingdom.
Mr Bailey: That is not an Australian standard.
Mr COULTER: That is not an Australian standard. I take your point. While there is no relevant Australian standard at this time, there is an operator's manual produced by the manufacturer. The time of measurement is one-third of a second. If, while speed is being measured, another vehicle or object comes into the line of sight, an error message is given.
Police intend to recruit officers who will be responsible for the training of all officers who will operate the speed cameras. The Commissioner of Police will approve suitably qualified officers and notify this approval in the NT Government Gazette in the same way that he does for qualified officers for breath-testing equipment. Thus, while there is no particular Australian standard as yet, with the research that is being carried out by my department and the standards that have been checked elsewhere in the world and also, of course, in Tasmania, I am confident that an Australian standard will be set and that the machines in use in the Northern Territory will qualify for that standard once we have it.
Another issue raised is where these cameras will be used. I have approved the establishment of committees in both Darwin and Alice Springs to examine appropriate sites. The committees will be chaired by police and will include representatives from the Automobile Association, the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory and the Department of Transport and Works. They will be looking at speed profiles and accident history and potential in developing a series of appropriate sites.
For the information of the honourable member, we will be installing these devices no matter how technical or pedantic he may be about them. These cameras are approved. They are excellent in terms of the technology that is currently available. Nobody will be able to argue that it was not their vehicle but another one. To pick up something the size of a 5 piece at 100 m is very accurate, as I think honourable members will agree. There is no Australian standard that signs off on these devices, but the testing that has been undertaken internationally and elsewhere in Australia is acceptable to me. I believe it will be acceptable to honourable members this afternoon when we pass the legislation.
Page 16
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016