intersections. These cameras will detect both those who speed and those who run red lights. The Government is also intending to introduce a series of cameras along particular roadways which will allow motorists to be fined for having an average speed over a particular distance which exceeds the speed allowable.
These developments have all meet with varying degrees of criticism from the Victorian Opposition and from some motorist lobby groups.
'On-the-spot tickets', or 'infringement notices' as they are more properly called, are a relatively new and rapidly expanding feature of modern criminal justice across Australia.
In Victoria in1965 the number of traffic offences subject to on-the-spot fines was eleven. The penalty was either S1 ($2) or S2 ($4). By 1985 the number had grown to 124.
The 1992 Victoria Police listing of on-the-spot offences shows more than 200 traffic related infringements out of a total of 387 offences with penalties ranging from $15 to $900. At least 45 of these also resulted in licence cancellation or demerit points.
The dramatic increase in the number of 'on-the spot-fines' for traffic violations is an attempt to prevent courts becoming clogged attempting to deal with such offences. Road-related offences have increased dramatically for two reasons. Firstly there has been a huge increase in the number of cars being driven. Secondly, technological advances have made it far easier to detect those committing traffic offences.
The growth in registered motor vehicle ownership proportionate to population has been massive. In Victoria the rate rose from 42 vehicles per 1000 population in 1925 to 604 per 1000 of the population in 1992. It has almost doubled every twenty years.
This huge growth in the number of cars on the road has resulted in an explosion in the number of traffic-related offences. They now exceed any other category of offence.
The emergence and expansion of on-the-spot tickets has also be...