Ben O'Shea from Perth Now spotted mobile speed camera 50m before 100km/h speed sign on Mitchell Freeway onramp.

I found Ben O'Shea's article in Perth Now interesting as Ben saw a mobile speed camera set up about 50m before the speed limit sign on a Mitchell Freeway onramp. Unfortunately I don't know which onramp which would have been good to know.

Ben O’Shea: Freeway speed camera trick isn’t only revenue-raising, it’s akin to daylight robbery | PerthNow

I was under the understanding the guidelines in Victoria stated mobile speed cameras shouldn't be set up within 200m of a change of speed limit sign and thought the same may apply across Australia.

However there's two things to note here. First, there's the law and there's guidelines. If I'm correct, basically the law states we can't exceed the speed limit and that's all we can rely on if we went to court. You're at the mercy of the court and I wouldn't be too confident. I did have a parking fine dismissed before getting to court for the third time because the distance between signs didn't meet the Australian Standard, but that's only because the Whitehorse Council withdrew the fine (after nearly two years).

When we see a speed sign ahead we all speed up. Strictly speaking we'll often be breaking the law and if you do that you can expect to get fined. It's weird how you can't be at the speed limit when you're speeding up approaching the sign but you have to be at the speed limit when slowing down approaching a sign. Although what is reasonable to some would be taken advantage of by others. Some people would speed up just as they approach the sign and others would speed up hundreds of metres before the sign.

More and more the government is tightening down and things we used to do (or still do now) can potentially end up getting us a fine. Remember the good old days when you'd use the momentum of the hill going down to help you go up. Environmentally friendly but now we have to brake continuously to make sure we don't exceed the speed limit and accelerate as the hill rises again, only to have slowed even further due to gravity and friction before the acceleration kicks in. It really is all very petty but that's the way it is.

You know the law and whilst you may not be happy with some of the laws, stick to the laws and stop donating to the government's coffers. Ultimately it's your choice. 

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au