A ROAD safety advocate has slammed the behaviour of western suburbs motorists after figures revealed more than 165,000 infringements were recorded by two cameras on a Brimbank road over 15 months.
RoadSafe Westgate chairman Jim Giddings said that with speed directly contributing to at least 30 per cent of deaths on Victoria’s roads, motorists needed to take greater care on the M80 Western Ring Road.
He described the figures, released by the state government last week, as ‘‘an indictment on the community’’.
A camera on north-bound lane two in Keilor East has recorded 101,488 infringements since January 2012, topping the state each quarter over that period.
A camera on lane one detected 64,602 infringements in the same period, second on the statewide list.
Between January and March this year, 15,132 infringements were issued on lane two.
That was almost three times the number collected from a camera in the Burnley Tunnel (5142), which was third on the list.
Lane one collected 8557 infringements in the same period.
Some of the offences involved red light or registration infringements but most were for speeding.
“Speeding affects both the risk of a crash happening and the severity of injuries sustained when a crash does happen,’’ Mr Giddings said.
“We need to assist the community in understanding the consequences.”
Inspector Chris Gilbert of Brimbank police said the figures were disappointing.
“It tells us a number of people are ignoring the safety issues on this busy highway,” he said. “I support the use of these cameras to drive home the message that speed is a major contributor in death and serious injury on our roads.
‘‘I hope for the day that these cameras become ineffective, as this will mean the culture of drivers on our roads has changed positively.”
