As a law abiding motorist I would not ordinarily dream of deliberately committing a crime, but if masquerading as a curious motorist to a traffic officer (in order to get some information) constitutes a crime then by all means I am guilty as charged. I have long been driven by an unquenchable sense of curiosity, so I recently posed as an overly curious and concerned citizen and introduced myself as such to two traffic police officers operating a speed trap camera along a busy inner city road. They were all to glad to break the monotony of their work and have a chat and what I learnt was nothing less than jaw dropping, if not insightfully staggering. So if you have ever been mildly curious about the inner workings of a laser camera… read on.
Our speed trap camera operators work a minimum of 1 daily 6 hour shift, during which time, they simply sit on a cushion (looked like the bottom of a typists chair actually), balanced upon a wooden box on top of the laser camera’s battery casing. For a period of six hours, the traffic camera operator tag team, take turns to peer into the lens of their camera, whilst simultaneously “pulling the trigger” of the camera to “catch” motorists who exceed the speed limit
All speed control cameras are designed to measure the speed of approaching or departing vehicles, or both, depending on the type of camera. However, whenever you see a “photographer” on the side of the road, they are only legally permitted to take pictures of vehicles travelling on the side of the road they are sitting on, meaning they cannot trap traffic on the opposite lane from where they are. That does not give motorists license to drive above the speed limit should the camera not be on their side of the road, as there usually is another tag team of photographers on the opposite road as well.
Speed cameras are attuned so that vehicles travelling within the speed limit are “invisible” and only vehicles travelling above the limit can be seen and photographed by the camera. Most motorists slow down immediately we see a speed camera, and then defiantly increase speed when we think we are out of range. Newsflash, a motorist is visible in the camera lens for a distance of up to 200m (which is approximately a distance of 7 street light poles) and the range can differ depending on the type of camera used.
My first question to the officers was why their job was not done by fixed cameras – after all, their time could be better used elsewhere I reasoned, such as catching real criminals? Their answer was one of many astounding revelations they would share over the course of our 2 hour chat. They said the department felt the fixed cameras were “too expensive” (which made me wonder if SA Police officers are cheap labour) , and also offered that they felt the police department simply wanted to be able to raise their employment ‘quotas’ and didn’t put in as much effort into creating employment conditions favorable to employees. Most police personnel nowadays are only in the police force as a result of not being able to get employment elsewhere. Clearly the days of honor, duty and the love of the law are gone as nowadays it’s more about simply putting bread on the table and meeting other basics
Whilst researching for this article, I discovered that fixed cameras are easy to identify and identifying camera locations in other countries, (where speed cameras are seemingly not used as a means to generate revenue), motorists are aware of the location of the speed cameras as the governing body of that country uses brightly colored cameras and numerous road signs to indicate the location of the cameras. In those countries, speed cameras are purely about reducing speed, so much so, that there are websites which indicate the location of cameras. In South Africa, however, our esteemed photographers can usually be spotted squatting in the bushes or under trees, looking all the more the fugitives, than the speeding motorists they are looking to catch.
I had to fane surprise when the photographers told stories about the abuse they are subjected to on the roads, such as having bottles and cans thrown at them, to say nothing about the verbal abuse leveled at them. Sitting with them I experienced it firsthand - many a motorists’ middle fingers seem to be on Viagra. The officers themselves seemed to feel that the abuse comes with the job, but pointed out a desire to have access to government sponsored counseling as some of the trauma has long lasting effects. All traffic officers wear bullet proof vests and all are armed. Should a situation become physically threatening, they would use their firearms. The officers I was with were also surprisingly understanding about the situation and they themselves question the reason they are instructed to hide, if indeed the objective is to enforce safety. They offered that they should sit in the open for all to see, that the roads they monitor should have more than one road sign communicating the speed limit and presence of speed trap cameras and that fixed cameras would be more effective than human personnel. Not bad thinking right?
In the past, I felt I was on some sort of Traffic Fine Offender Top 100 list or that I was a Traffic Fine Revenue Generator or something as I seemed to receive traffic fines weekly. Hence, I had to ask if they had targets to meet, and if they were expected to “catch” a certain number of offenders per shift. They answered that there was no need to set targets as offending motorists were a dime a dozen and as if to prove that fact, the officers showed how during the first hour of my being with them, one driver was caught speeding a record 4 times! There were 22 offenders photographed in the first hour of my chatting with the cops, and they had been on the job for 3 hours prior to my arrival. .
On most roads, motorists have a 10km speeding “leeway”, so that if driving above for instance 60km/h on a particular road, one is still within the speeding limit, whereas driving just 1km above the that leeway results in a fine. Although traffic fine amounts seem undetermined at this stage (AARTO has replaced the old fining system and amounts seem varied at this stage), it is safe to calculate cost of speeding at R100 per 1km over the speed limit. Of the 22 offenders mentioned earlier, the “lowest’ speed was 75km/h and the highest 89km/hr. The driver at 75km/h can expect a fine of approximately R500 – which is roughly the cost of a full tank on a small car and nothing to be sneezed at, whilst the 89km offender is likely to receive a notification to appear in court. Let’s do the maths and calculate 22 offenders per hour over a 6 hour period totals 132 offenders. If each driver was caught at even 1km above the speed limit leeway(at R100 per km), and if my high school arithmetic is correct, then that tag team stands to collect approximately R13200 per shift. Bear in mind that they work daily (including weekends and holidays) and perhaps if would be a reasonable to assume that each photographic tag team generates over R 1 million per month. I am sure it is more complex than that, and that those who are better informed will jump down my throat at this, but until and unless the traffic violations and corresponding fines is clearly communicated, I don’t see any other way of calculating the revenue offenders generate for the City.
Driving at speeds of up to 20km/hr above the prescribed speed limit is an offence which falls under the category Non Admission of Guilt (N.A.G) which simply means offenders need to appear n front of a judge and give reason for their behavior. The judge will then pass an appropriate fine at his discretion, (or maybe his mood or the creativity of your story!).
Of course it was my civil duty to bring up the issue of bribes at traffic road blocks etc, and not surprisingly, the officers I was chatting with had NEVER taken a bribe in all their careers. They did however offer that the public were as much to blame are corrupt officers in this regard. After all, they asked wide eyed, what is a law abiding traffic officer to do when presented with a few crisp R100 notes along with a driver’s license, especially at mid month? Apparently some renegade officers have a better way of generating their own income and simply target high profile personalities in the evenings. They target a TV personality, “celebrity” politician or business person and follow them around until their driving pattern changes. Then they pull them over and proceed to “arrest” them. One of the officers recalled a story he found particularly hilarious, about how such offenders usually breakdown and literally throw money at traffic cops in return for their not being arrested. It took a while for him to realize he was implementing himself in the process of telling his story. Ooops!
Another point of discussion was the leniency seemingly shown to taxi drivers. Would it surprise you as much as it did me to realize that most traffic cops do not have their own cars? They use the same taxies they are charged with impounding to and from work and live in the same communities as the taxi drivers and their owners. The photographers simply asked “How do I arrest the guy who takes my children to school and brings me to work and how do I face my neighbours when they cannot get to work either?” Food for thought I had to admit.
On a lighter issue, I had always had a burning desire to know where our speed trap camera crew answers the call of nature, given there are no bathrooms in the immediate vicinity they operate in, (I had rather disturbing thoughts in this regard I must admit), but fortunately, it was not what I had envisaged. I learnt that they have to pack up their gear and go to the nearest garage, (you will notice that in most instances, photographers are usually a short drive away from a petrol station for that exact reason).
Surprisingly, both the public and traffic officers tasked with enforcing traffic laws have similar concerns albeit expressed in vastly differing ways. It would seem though that the benefactor in the great debate which is the issue of speed trapping vs. safety enforcement is government, who employ ‘cheap’ labour (tick employment quota box), to enforce some measure of safety on the roads, whilst generating seemingly obscene amounts of money. The only defense motorists have is to use the cruise control feature now standard in most vehicles whilst continuing to question the laws currently in place.
Notice : This is the unedited version of a similar article published in Motor Mania on 10 June 2011. Get your copy of Motor Mania every Friday in The Sowetan, The Times, The Herald, The Daily Dispatch.
Motor Mania is a publication owned by Avusa Media
