The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is set to bring nine analog film speed cameras into the digital age, with high resolution images from the cameras to be electronically transmitted back to the QPS traffic camera office for processing.
The analog cameras will also be upgraded with infra-red flash technology, which means more clearer pictures taken of speeding motorists at night.
An upgrade of a speed camera in the Queensland suburb of Broadbeach on the Gold Coast Highway is set to go live today. QPS would not say where the other eight speed camera sites scheduled for an upgrade are located.
Traffic camera office Inspector Allan Hales said the Broadbeach speed camera will not be interrupted while being upgraded, so drivers who speed in the area will receive an infringement notice in the mail.
“The speed camera is still monitoring vehicle speeds while being upgraded, and police are concerned that many motorists are still not complying with the 60 kilometre speed limit in the [Broadbeach] area,” he said in a statement.
“With speed being a contributing factor to around one in five serious traffic crashes in Queensland, the QPS is committed to reducing drivers exceeding the speed limit on our roads.”
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The speed camera upgrades are happening as part of the state government’s <i>Speed Management Strategy</i> (PDF) which is designed to bring the state’s road toll down.
According to the latest Queensland road crash safety report statistics, there have been 161 deaths so far in 2014. In 2013 there were 200 deaths as a result of road crashes, and in 2012 there were 191 fatalities.
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