Speed cameras
Select from the topics below to jump to the information you need.
- How do speed cameras work?
- What happens if my vehicle is photographed?
- Where are speed cameras located?
- Speed camera revenue
How do speed cameras work?
Mobile speed cameras work by emitting a super high frequency (radar) beam across the road. Any vehicle passing through the beam at a speed which exceeds the pre-set limit, is automatically photographed. Speed cameras can measure the speed of vehicles travelling in either direction.
Fixed speed cameras also use a radar to measure vehicle speed. If a vehicle is detected exceeding the speed limit an image of the vehicle is captured along with information about the location, time and alleged speed.
What happens if my vehicle is photographed?
The speed camera photo is imprinted with information such as the date, time, a location code, the posted speed limit and the speed at which the vehicle was travelling. Each photo is carefully examined by specially trained adjudicators to determine whether a speeding ticket will be issued. If you receive a speeding ticket, it will include a photograph and relevant details of the offence, including the fine and the number of licence demerit points allocated for the offence. Adjudicators can enlarge photographs to ensure accurate identification of the vehicle.
Below is an example of information captured by a speed camera.
Where are speed cameras located?
Mobile speed cameras are operated by uniformed police officers at sites that have been approved according to strict selection criteria. Crash history is the major factor used to determine sites. Mobile speed cameras may also be placed at:
- areas of high risk speeding behaviour that have been checked and referred to regional traffic advisory committees
- roadworks — for the health and safety of workers.
Fixed speed cameras have been introduced into south east Queensland at:
- Bruce Highway at Burpengary
- Main Street at Kangaroo Point (approach to Story Bridge)
- Pacific Motorway at Tarragindi.
An additional six speed camera sites will be introduced in Queensland during 2009 at:
- Gold Coast Highway at Labrador — from 28 September
- Gold Coast Highway at Broadbeach — from 31 August
- Warrego Highway at Redwood — from 31 August
- Warrego Highway at Muirlea (Ipswich) — coming soon
- Nicklin Way at Warana — coming soon
- Sunshine Motorway at Mooloolaba (Mountain Creek) — coming soon.
Keep checking this web page for the go-live dates for all locations as they become available.
Download the fixed speed camera fact sheet (PDF**, 38KB) for more information about speed cameras.Speed camera revenue
Distribution of revenue from camera-detected offences is restricted by the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995. This requires that all money collected from camera-detected offences (after paying administrative costs) be used for:
- road safety education and awareness programs
- road accident injury rehabilitation programs
- road funding to improve the safety of the sections of state-controlled roads where crashes happen most frequently.
Most other states in Australia do not have any policy or legislative requirements in place for the distribution of camera-detected offence (or other traffic fine) revenue.
For more information about infringement notices issued for camera-detected offences visit the Queensland Police Service website.
Related information
**While this department has taken every possible precaution with the creation of these files, they are downloaded and used at your own risk. Adobe Reader is needed to open and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files and is free to download from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Various tools to enable access to these files for people using a screen reader can be found at http://access.adobe.com. Further information is available from the "Help with downloading, reading and printing PDF".
Last updated 11 November 2009
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