Fault forces speed camera shutdown

Victoria Police have suspended use of all point-to-point cameras on the Hume Highway after a fault was identified in the system.

Victoria Police, Department of Justice and contractors Redflex, who provide and maintain the cameras, have urgently investigated the fault since it was discovered on Friday.

This work has identified nine occasions when actions were wrongly taken by Victoria Police against drivers.

Two of the matters have now been withdrawn, and Victoria Police will be urgently contacting the remaining seven people to ensure the penalties are reversed and all monies are refunded.

Technicians at Redflex have identified the fault - which is completely unique to the point-to point cameras - and will implement a solution within the next few days, police say.

But police Deputy Commissioner Ken Lay said the cameras would not be switched back on until they had been thoroughly tested by independent assessors.

"I am incredibly disappointed that this has happened," Mr Lay said in a statement.

"As soon as the problem was identified we immediately suspended use of the point-to-point cameras and I will not be reinstating them until I am personally convinced that the fault has been 100 per cent eradicated and that measures have been put in place to ensure that this can never happen again.

"Statistically, these faults have been extremely rare - nine out of approximately 68,000 penalties issued since January 2008 - but that is nine too many."

The problem was identified after police served a notice to surrender to a driver who had been photographed on September 24 this year.

The driver protested against the notice and this prompted further investigation by the police members.

The investigations showed that the clock on one camera was out of synch with a second camera.

The reason for this is being urgently investigated by the Department of Justice, which has also conducted a complete check of the camera logs and verified that all otherinfringements were issued correctly.

he point-to-point system is used in several other Australian states and also overseas.

This is the first time this fault has been detected.

Mr Lay added: "It is also important to note that these cameras are entirely different to all others used in Victoria.

"The same fault could not possibly apply to other types and I continue to have absolute confidence in them.

"It is essential we fully understand this issue. Whilst these point-to-point cameras are switched off, police will maintain a strong presence on the Hume Highway.

"We will be deploying more mobile cameras to the area to ensure that the speed limits are properly enforced."

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