Drivers caught speeding in the Orana region have paid more than $4.3 million in fines in the past five years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And for two years in a row, more than $1 million has been paid by speeding drivers per year.
A total of 3132 fines were handed out by Orana Highway Patrol during the 2015/16 financial, according to the latest statistics from the Office of State Revenue.
That was a 22 per cent drop on the previous year but still put $1 million into the state government’s finances.
The 2015 financial year produced a record high, with 4050 infringement notices issued and $1.27 million paid in fines.
Most of the 2016 drop is a result of the final two months of the financial year, with June recording the lowest number of infringements (155) since December 2011.
The peak months came during December and January with the holiday road campaign and increased police presence catching out 348 and 373 drivers respectively.
Acting Inspector Ben Macfarlane from Western Region Traffic and Highway Patrol Command said there was no sign people were getting the message.
“Unfortunately we aren’t seeing any great improvement. The number of fatal crashes is high, although the number of injuries from crashes is lower,” he said.
“An increase or drop in numbers over a short term could be because there was a strikeforce targeting speeding or lower police numbers because of people on leave, it really isn’t an indication of a change in trend.”
Acting Inspector Macfarlane said police had determined that high visibility campaigns were the most effective.
“We call it the halo effect, where if you see a police car on the road you slow down, so we want to have that presence,” he said.
Making driver behaviour worse, in 15 per cent of fatal crashes occupants weren’t wearing restraints and in 10 to 15 per cent of crashes alcohol, drugs or both were a factor, Acting Inspector Macfarlane said.