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Driver beats dodgy speed cameras
Keith Moor From: Herald Sun February 25, 2011 12:00AM

Gerard Gowans went to court and got off two speed camera fines. Picture: Ellen Smith Source: Herald Sun

VICTORIA's controversial speed camera system has got itself into another mess.

It told motorist Gerard Gowans he took four minutes and 34 seconds to travel 220m along Alexandra Pde - and that he was speeding.

He knew that couldn't be right because it takes about 11 seconds to get from George St to Smith St along Alexandra Pde in North Fitzroy and the speed camera photographs showed he didn't stop between the intersections.

Mr Gowans last week contested his two speeding fines in court and was able to prove at least one of Victoria's 435 traffic cameras is inaccurate.

But what he proved wasn't that the two cameras that snapped him were faulty, just that the clock inside one of them was wrong.

Proving the time discrepancy was enough to persuade the magistrate not to record a conviction against Mr Gowans, quash his speeding fines and ensure he didn't cop any demerit points.

His successful challenge was on February 17, the day the Herald Sun revealed so many motorists are contesting speeding fines from EastLink cameras that a special court is being set up to hear them.

Dandenong Magistrates' Court will have two sessions a week from April just to hear cases involving motorists who want to question the accuracy of the EastLink cameras.

Mr Gowans received a fixed-speed camera fine after allegedly doing 70km/h in the 60km/h zone at the intersection of Alexandra Pde and George St on December 31, 2009.

He got a second fine at the intersection of Smith St 4 1/2 minutes later.

Mr Gowans argued in Melbourne Magistrates' Court that it only takes about 11 seconds to travel between the two intersections and that meant the clock in at least one of the speed cameras was wrong.

moork@heraldsun.com.au