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ROADS and Maritime Service (RMS) clearly has a high maintenance legal department — and it has nothing to do with road building.
Last month the Mercury reported from Lithgow Court that an Orange resident had fallen foul of the RMS system after the car registered in his name had incurred a speeding fine at the speed camera at the top of Victoria Pass.
RMS refused to accept a statutory declaration that he was not the driver because it had not been received within the required 21 days.
When it came before Lithgow Court Magistrate Michael Allen did not record a conviction but was required to order payment of $1800 in RMS professional costs.
Now a truck driver has discovered the high cost of not paying up within the time on an infringement notice.
And once again it all started at Victoria Pass when the man’s truck exceeded the specified average speed through Hartley by 10 km/h.
It was the elapsed time between the camera at the bottom of The Pass and the third one at River Lett that did the damage on this occasion.
These cameras, together with another at the bottom of The Pass, are intended to keep truckies to a safe speed on The Pass and appear to have been effective in that regard.
But it’s the longer run through the valley that caught up with a 35-year-old driver from Bradbury back on July 24 last year.
At the time of the offence it was a confusing mix of speed limits with the court told there was a 40 km/h speed limit applied to the first 2.08 kilometres, then it’s up to 60 for a miniscule .03 of a kilometre (just 300 metres) then 80 for the final 200 metres.
According to the RMS that equates to an average speed of 41 km/h through the valley— and the defendant in this instance averaged 51.
That cost him a fine of $335 but he has to pay ‘professional costs’ more than four times that amount, $1500 to be paid to the RMS.
FOOTNOTE: There is another elapsed time camera at the top of River Lett Hill and two more at Meadow Flat and Glanmire.
These cameras only register average speeds of heavy vehicles but are not programmed to register passenger vehicles or light commercials.
What was originally installed as an elapsed time camera at the top of Victoria Pass was later modified as a regular speed camera and has provided regular income for RMS from unwary motorists.