Hume Freeway speed camera complaints slammed by commissioner

By Laura Michell

A group of drivers who claimed to have been falsely fined for speeding on the Hume Freeway at Craigieburn have been slammed.

Road Safety Camera Commissioner John Voyage recently tabled his 2017-18 annual report in Parliament, providing reports on investigations and services carried out by his office last financial year.

Mr Voyage said one of the biggest issues dealt with by his office in 2017-18 was complaints about the point-to-point speed cameras on  the Hume Freeway at Amaroo Road, Craigieburn.

In November last year, a Facebook group formed, with members claiming they had been wrongly fined by the Amaroo Road cameras.

Members of the group claimed to have been fined for driving at 108km/h in a 100km/h zone. The group was joined by more than 200 people.

Twelve people lodged complaints about the cameras with the Road Safety Camera Commissioner, prompting an investigation.

Mr Voyage said none of the people who complained allowed his office to access their driving record or any dash cam or GPS logs.

In his annual report, Mr Voyage said there was no evidence of inappropriate fines being issued, and called out the group for attacking the “integrity of the speed camera system”.

“I am of the view that the complaints are without basis. A collection of people has set out to question the validity of their infringements, and in doing so, to attack the integrity of the fixed digital road safety camera system and the people who work in it,” he said.

Mr Voyage said drivers needed to realise that speeding between point-to-point cameras was “dangerous” rather than “inconvenient”.