…especially in Oz. This year alone, speeders and disobedient drivers have paid $61 million dollars to the Victorian government, which is the state where we live. I discovered this tidbit of information while reading an article in last Sunday’s paper, The Herald Sun.
The editor, Peter Rolfe, explains that “in the first three months of this year, 631,861 fines – more than 7,020 a day – were issued for motorists ignoring speed limits, running red lights and failing to pay tolls.” What I find most interesting is how these law-breakers are discovered and punished.
Throughout Victoria, and other major cities in Australia, there are hi-tech cameras strategically placed on freeways and in cities. There are very few police on the road and most traffic violations are caught through these cameras. Ryan actually informed me of this during my visit last month when I made a flippant comment about how slow he was driving on the freeway.
If you are the unlucky driver caught breaking the law, your license plate will be caught on camera, you’ll receive your ticket in the mail and will have to pay a fine. From the sounds of it, fines are in-line with what we’d expect to pay in the US and increase based on the scale of the offense. In your lovely letter, you’ll also be notified of how many demerit points you’ve earned due to the offense. Speaking to an Aussie with experience (who shall remain nameless), each driver can earn up to 12 demerit points before his or her license is suspended or revoked and each individual offense can earn you several points.
I feel like this is where I should say. “Hi, I’m Laura. And I’m a speeder.” But, since the thriving metropolis of Des Moines was installing cameras at a snail’s pace when we left, I doubt I’ll have anything to worry about even by the time I return.
Watch out! We’ve already received speeding and parking tickets. Many of my husbands co-workers had stacks of them before returning to the States. 🙂