The Queensland Police Service 2006-2007 Ministerial Portfolio Statement attributes around 69 of the 329 road crash fatalities on Queensland roads during 2005 to speed and states that 1,208 of all reportable crashes were put down to speed. A Monash University Accident Research Centre Report notes that speed cameras (both fixed and mobile) are an example of speed enforcement technologies that are common throughout the world but appear to be most prevalent in Australia and Great Britain. In January 2006, a Gold Coast businessman established a service – Road Spy – which sends SMS text message alerts to motorists’ mobile phones warning about mobile speed cameras and mobile radars 24 hours a day. It also provides traffic information such as delays, oil spills, accidents, and traffic light outages. Acting on its belief that Road Spy’s SMS text message alerts about traffic enforcement sites undermine road safety initiatives and the safety of other road users, the Queensland Government has introduced the Summary Offences and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2006 (Qld) to amend the Summary Offences Act 2005 (Qld) to ban commercial services from sending SMS, Internet and similar messages warning of traffic enforcement sites. (Author/publisher).
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