In short, they are an easy target, one the state Coalition was only too happy to cynically exploit in opposition in a classic example of hip-pocket politics. In 2009, the then shadow and now Minister for Roads, Terry Mulder, said speed cameras represented a ''treasured pot of gold for John Brumby''.
During last year's election campaign, Ted Baillieu promised a government led by him would regularly publish details of mobile speed camera locations, while hinting there were serious questions about their placement being linked to raising revenue.
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In December, after the Coalition's election win, Police Minister Peter Ryan ordered the Justice Department to shelve plans to switch on 32 new cameras, saying he did not want any more activated until ''we deal with the actual use of the cameras and their place in things''.
Then in January the government announced it would publish online a weekly roster of potential mobile camera sites.
In August the Coalition introduced legislation to establish a new public office: Road Safety Camera Commissioner. As pointed out by Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire, the purpose was not to boost road safety, or to change driver behaviour or to save lives. ''The commissioner is a part-time officer who will conduct reviews and assessments, undertake investigations and receive complaints,'' McGuire told Parliament. ''This is the Baillieu-Ryan regime's grand plan on road safety.''
All of this seemed to create a sense that the Coalition was firmly on the side of motorists when it came to cameras. Then, quite suddenly, its attitude changed. Late last week Ryan announced that the 32 cameras placed in limbo would be switched on, and did not rule out the possibility of more cameras. ''As to whether we ultimately get more, that's something that I will receive material from the police about from time to time, and I will consider that on its merits,'' he said.
What changed? The problem - something Ryan is no doubt now coming to grips with - is that speed cameras might be unpopular, but all the evidence suggests they work. As a report last week by Auditor-General Des Pearson makes clear, there is no evidence Victoria's 328 camera sites are primarily used to raise revenue, and strong evidence to suggest they prevent death and serious injury, saving Victoria billions of dollars in the process. A study of 77 camera sites by the Monash University Accident Research Centre concluded that cameras led to an average 47 per cent drop in the number of casualty crashes. That translates to 17 fewer crashes causing death or serious injury and 36 fewer minor injury crashes per year.
