Contrary to recent media reports, Queensland is not fining drivers speeding close to speed sign zone changes.

I recently read people in Queensland were now getting fined when speeding very close to the speed signs when the speed limit zone changes. This concerned me as it appeared to be an easy way to increase revenue. Yes, people shouldn't speed. Being a good driver also means obeying the road laws. None of us obey the letter of the law, all the time. I decided to do some research.

After finding a few articles with photos showing the same location, things didn't make sense to me. The road markings did not match where the speed signs were located. The following is the article on Yahoo News, but I think I also saw headline from the Courier Mail.

Aussie driver caught twice by 'sneaky' placement of speed camera on highway (yahoo.com)

It turns out the driver was mistaken (along with many others), who believed the sign in their picture was a speed limit sign. It isn't a speed limit sign. It is an informational sign for a camping area and the road name.

The following video is from my travels and starts just before the sign shown in the speeding fines and then continues on to the speed limit change, about 220m further on. 

Driving Queensland, Agnes Water to Gladstone - Tour #3 - YouTube

People are speeding up before reaching the sign and from the other direction, not slowing down to the speed limit as they reach the sign. This is normal driving behaviour, but it isn't legal behaviour. You have to at or below the signed speed limit for the section of road you are travelling on. If you're approaching a 60km/h sign from a faster section of road, you need to be at or below 60km/h when you reach the sign. If you're approaching a 100km/h sign from a lower speed limit zone, you can't speed up before you reach the speed limit sign. Not what we all do, but something we should be doing.

So in this case the media reports are based on incorrect information, and unfortunately, lack of fact checking.

Kelvin
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Edinburgh, Scotland, High Street to Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh, Scotland, High Street, The Royal Mile

Edinburgh, Scotland, High Street

Edinburgh, Scotland, Victoria Street, Diagon Alley

Edinburgh, Scotland, Grassmarket Market Square

Aldimobile Auto Recharge leaves users open to bill shock.

In February I moved to Aldimobile. Overall it's been a good service, but then recently something unexpected happened.

It was after midnight and I received an SMS, "Hi, Your ALDImobile PAYG credit is fully depleted. Please go online or use your mobile app to recharge."

My first reaction was to go and top up the account.

My next reaction was what the? I'm on Auto Recharge. Shouldn't I be covered?

Turns out at the end of the month the Auto Recharge can take up to a day to be applied. So for hours and up to a day, anything you use is taken out of your PAYG balance. Luckily there was only a $4.88 balance which was cleared out by Aldimobile. Never knew where that 12 cents went, but my guess now is data use during the time Auto Recharge hadn't been applied in the past. A second service also had money taken out.

To me the worst-case scenario is you have a large PAYG balance and you're watching a movie online and your balance is cleared out.

Of course, all of this can be found online, as long as you make the effort to read further than the first screens. ALDImobile also states "No bill shock", but isn't an unexpected and an unknown amount being charged what bill shock is?

I didn't know ALDImobile's Auto Recharge meant you weren't fully covered with your monthly payment. Perhaps others don't know as well, which is why I'm sharing this story.

I don't think ALDImobile's Auto Recharge is good enough and as a result, have moved to another provider so this is not an issue.

Kelvin