@CJ Morgan

<<It won't work because Australians are culturally averse to dobbing each other in>>

perhaps we have to shift our mentality from this into 'love thy neighbour' (and society). We shouldn't be dobbing out of hatred for one another, but out of the desire to help society. we could rename the 'dob-in' franchise to something more honorable like something revolving around the word 'duty'.

<<we're thankfully a long way yet from perfecting the kinds of technology that 'future of australia' envisages to the extent where it would be remotely workable. Australia is already too much of a surveillance society. I can't believe the ease with which some people countenance further erosion of such personal freedoms that we still retain.>>

I don't understand which personal freedoms have been eroded. The concept of fearing big brother (as far as I understand it) revolves around paranoid theories without validity. Who is this big brother exactly? Whats his name? He does not exist!

I do understand that a surveillance society can be psychologically damaging to many who are inclined towards paranoia, but the answer cannot be returning to the middle ages. Education is the only solution because regardless of what we want, progress will take us in that direction.

@Ludwig

I missed 'visions of the future' but will watch it tonight on the ABC website. Thanks for the heads up.

I agree with you to some extent about empowering people but for me the efficiency of the system takes precedence. In regards to the justice system I do advocate that the human element should be strengthened, by granting the judges more discretionary powers and simplifying the law as much as possible so that the loopholes are ironed out and become straight. Too many escape justice because of a completely irrelevant technicality.

Regards,
Sam (Future of Australia)

Ludwig,

You are correct. However the overtime issue is not that police need to get it from that source. It is simply that outsourcing speed cameras to profit making bodies won't free up police.

"The big thing about this business is – if speed cameras are really successful in reducing speeding and thus reducing accidents, injuries and deaths, then how can the government or police or public possibly justify their current very limited use? Why aren’t they everywhere?"

They get scaled up as the economic need increases. There is very little overlap with reducing deaths. Indeed in Queensland there was a 50% increase in speed related deaths between the year of their introduction 1997 and 2009 the most recently completed year.

Nevertheless in 2009 only about 2 in 10 fatality crashes were speed related. They have very limited potential for safety and are part of the emphasis on the easy to profit from herd rather than the truly dangerous driving. Most crash causes are all but ignored because targetting a small proportion of drivers isn't profitable.

It is hard not to take a cynical view for this and the reasons you gave.

Also, if police work requires the rationalisation that every driver is a potential killer who needs monitoring and that normal driving speeds aren't safe because they are above a number (based on limits from the 1940s) that some bureaucrat decided to put on a sign to cover all weather conditions why would they trust us to report dangerous drivers? You have ideas about safeguards but first the overly negative perception of the average person needs to be overcome.

Have you considered that if police weren't targetting the herd that their increased ability to catch the minority of people who are generally anti-social and are willing to endanger lives in the car would make the community input less important?

Sam why would Australian governments give up hundreds of millions of dollars by not targetting the herd and incur a large expense at the same time. Do you really believe that their goal is to improve safety?

@mjpb

I understand they're used to the income, but the power ultimately rests in our hands.

The income wouldn't disappear completely. Repeat offenders will still incur fines.

The large cost of implementation would be offset by the savings accrued by eliminating speed cameras, and efficiencies created within the traffic authority and police department.

Regards,
Sam (Future of Australia)
https://sites.google.com/site/futureofaustralia/