A new phenomenon has appeared on Facebook. A dedicated group of car enthusiasts are posting pictures under the "Block their Shot "heading, recording strategies used to prevent roadside speed camera cars from booking speeding motorists.
We now have 45 camera cars operating in New South Wales and they rotate between 640 sites supposedly chosen because of their poor accident records. They are usually SUV's and they are sign written, and they automatically record the speed of passing traffic and take a picture of any vehicle exceeding the posted speed limit. The owner then gets a speeding fine in the mail.
Warning requirements seem to vary. Sometimes there is a small sign on the roadside warning "Speed check ahead "- and sometimes a sign on the far side of the camera car warning "Speeds have been checked " - and sometimes there are no signs at all evident.
These "Block their Shot "fanatics park a vehicle close behind a camera car and often raise the hood, or sit under a beach umbrella and block the camera view of passing cars. They do this because they claim these speed checks are purely revenue raising and contribute little to road safety, but apparently they break no law and the government is considering passing legislation to make this a new offence.
That certainly raises some interesting questions. Many will remember the tactics used to get drivers to slow down decades ago. In those more primitive times the police used to set speed traps by timing passing cars between two spots of a measured distance. It was the practice of other motorists to flash their lights to give warning when they discovered one of these traps. Even today, some drivers still flash their lights to give warning to approaching cars that a police DUI checking station is operating nearby.
One of the weaknesses of camera cars is that they detect a speeding vehicle, but not the driver. It is up to the owner to nominate the person driving at the time of the offence. You can be sure that many a young person perilously close to license cancellation because of demerit points accumulation will pressure Mum to take the rap - and that is an offence that could lead to a prison sentence.
Psychologists generally agree that there is a more lasting reduction of speeding when a driver gets pulled over by a Highway Patrol police vehicle and a speeding fine is written. A traffic fine that arrives in the mail - often weeks after the event - lacks impact and most people believe that the revenue raising aspect is higher in contention than increasing road safety.
There is also a very different culture present in the way we now live. Some would call this the "Communication Age " and the development of apps such as Facebook and Twitter encourage people to compete for attention on the world stage. Anyone with a camera in their phone can snap a picture and have if seen by millions in a matter of seconds - and that to many brings the same lure of fame that once belonged to movie stars.
There is probably more a need for fame than mere altruism in saving people from traffic fines when those pictures of "Block their Shot "incidents appear on Facebook. Fame is measured by the number of people who post a "like " to what is posted and hence the incentive for action to become more outrageous and appealing. Naturally, the government protests on road safety grounds, but any reduction in revenue is treated seriously.
A warning has been given. Stop impeding camera cars or new legislation will be put in the pipeline to make this a legal offence. Of course, to some that will simply be a challenge to find new ways to overcome detection. Already, some camera cars have been put out of action by wet paper spread over their rear windows to block the camera view.
Unfortunately, this lure to fame draws some to undertake extremely dangerous stunts and there have been casualties. Such is the downside of opening the Internet to the masses. We are now at the mercy of whatever the human mind can envisage - to amuse others !
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