School Zone Santa .Com

Hello fellow motorists,

Well another school year starts tomorrow and in the next few weeks the first of this years school zone speeding infringement notices will be in the mail.

Maybe the NEW roads minister Mr Costa will give the school/variable speed zone problem urgent consideration.He appears to be a no nonsense type of person.

But would he admit that if 49,500 drivers get fined in one year, at one location at Kogarah, even with all the signs and 2 speed cameras,something else needs to be done.

THERE NEEDS TO BE FLASHING LIGHTS TO HELP DRIVERS TO BE AWARE OF WHEN THE NORMALLY POSTED SPEED CHANGES FROM TIME TO TIME AS IN SCHOOL ZONES OR LIKE THE AIRPORT TUNNEL OR THE M5 EAST.

Of course people should know about school zones ,and do, the signs and road marking are there.But by the numbers of good drivers being caught out it's obvious that people just aren't always aware.

People have emailed me that they've had an unblemised license for 30/40 years untill school/variable speed zones.

You can be distracted by something or some idiot driver on the mobile all over the road and miss the signs and bingo there's a letter from the Hunter region 3/4/5/ weeks later with a bill for about $143 or worse and the loss of points.

The Labor member for Kogarah Ms Burton agrees "that motorists were being treated unfairly" at Kogarah and is "Lobbying to have the cameras moved" (See newspaper article)

I heard on 2GB News that Ms Burton is a senior adviser to Mr Carr, and by the date on the news clipping she has been lobbying for over 2 months now and the cameras haven't been "moved" as yet. But as she IS a senior adviser, things are bound to happen soon.

I say LEAVE the cameras there, put ten cameras there if you want, just add flashing lights too.

The NRMA wants flashing lights at Kogarah.

The staysafe committee chairman Mr Paul Gibson (Labor)says that there's "something wrong" with the site.
(This is where there is supposed to be a link to show what Mr Gibson said ,but I can't get this PC to do it.)
In the newspaper article in the shire leader he said "nobody in their right mind is fined or loses points,on purpose.Common sense dictates it is time to look at the road environment in the area"

WE DON'T NEED "AN ENQUIRY" OR "HAVE A PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE TO LOOK AT IT". ACTION IS NEEDED.

I know one thing, that cranky drivers make cranky voters, and how many thousands and thousands of cranky voters will there be by the next election?

All the people that have emailed me agree that if we do need schoolzone at Kogarah, flashing lights are needed too.

With an overhead pedestrian bridge, a fence down the centre of the road and two sets of traffic lights is a school zone really necessary?

If this section of road is such a "black spot" that it needs two speed cameras, who gave permission to have that enormous advertising TV screen above one of the busiest intersections in the south (Cnr Rocky Point Rd and Princes Hwy
A static billboard is one thing, but to allow this gross distraction 100 meters from one of the speed cameras seems a little strange even hypocritical Maybe the RTA doesn't have a say over this sort of sign/TV but they can legally bulldoze a row of houses to widen a road, whether the home owners like it or not, so they do have a bit of clout.

Maybe Mr Costa as roads minister, if he is truly concerned about road safety, should have a chat to the mayor of Kogarah and the RTA staff that gave the OK.

If the land and environment court was involved, that shouldn't be a problem, it wasn't when there was an adverse ruling against the government at a waste trasfer facility..

Since writing the above I've rang the Kogarah council and was told that both the council and the rta had given permisson for ths TV/sign to be erected.