A WA parliamentary question seeks data on motorcyclists caught speeding by rear-facing cameras and the enforcement of fines. The Police Commissioner declined to provide the data due to resource constraints, citing owner onus legislation as the basis for prosecution.

AnsweredQoN 2670Legislative Assembly
Asked
6 September 2007
Portfolio
Police and Emergency Services

QuestionView source ↗

(2) Since then:
(a) how many motorcyclists have been photographed in this way;
(b) of these, how many have been sent infringement notices;
(c) of these, how many have paid the infringement fine; and
(d) of those who received infringement notices but have not paid the fines, how many are estimated never to pay the infringement fine and why?
(3) What owner-onus law or regulation gives the police the power to prosecute a motorcyclist photographed from the rear; and
(i) if such an owner-onus provision exists, does it apply also to drivers of other vehicles; and
(ii) if no such owner-onus provision exists, how do police enforce the payment of infringements by motorcyclists caught speeding by cameras photographing from the rear?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
16 October 2007
Responded by
Minister for Police and Emergency Services
Response time
40 days
Western Australia Police advise that they are currently researching the use of dual camera systems to assist with the securing of photographic evidence relating to speeding motorcyclists. Combined with the owner onus legislation, the identification of speeding motorcyclists will allow Police to prosecute motorcycle owners or the other rider nominated.
(1) There is no special camera to record the rear number plate of motor cyclists; the existing speed cameras are capable of being operated in receding mode so they are effectively turned around. WA Police have used cameras in this manner since speed cameras were introduced into Western Australia in 1988.
(2) Therefore the data for this question would take a significant amount of time to collate. The Commissioner of Police has advised he is not prepared to divert valuable resources away from core policing activities to provide a response.
(3) Sections 58, 58A and 102 of the Road Traffic Act 1974 vests the responsibility on the 'responsible person' for a vehicle (whether private citizen or company) to identify the driver of that vehicle and to put things in place to ensure they are able to do so. Photographic images provided on Traffic Infringement Notices are not required under current legislation and are provided by WA Police as a courtesy.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more