AU - Twice as many speeders caught with in car cams
Police have caught almost twice as many speeding motorists this Easter compared to last year, prompting fears that public safety messages are being ignored.
And senior police this morning said they would consider doubling penalties over holiday periods in a new approach to reducing Queensland's road toll.
So far this Easter, police have nabbed 14,731 drivers for speeding - almost twice as many drivers caught over Easter in 2007.
Cameras in police cars have nabbed 6679 speeders, while police using hand-held speed cameras have captured a further 8052 drivers.
Police are concerned the figure will skyrocket with the busy "return home" drive yet to be completed by the vast majority of Easter holiday makers.
Last year, 3956 speeding drivers were caught by speed cameras in police vehicles, while 6240 were caught by police using cameras beside the road.
In one incident this morning, a 27-year-old man horrified police when he was caught driving at 103kmh in a 60kmh zone in suburban Ashgrove.
Acting Superintendent Rob McCall, from Queensland's State Traffic Support Branch, said the blame rested squarely on the shoulders of individual motorists.
Seven people have died on Queensland roads so far this Easter - three more than in 2007.
"Despite this tragic time over the Easter period there are still people driving on our roads who endanger other motorists - and themselves," Supt McCall said.
"493 people were processed for drink driving, including a 27-year-old man who allegedly drove at 103kmh through Ashgrove this morning. He was also under the influence of alcohol.
"It was the good work of police - and good luck - that prevented another tragedy happening."
Supt McCall said while the results were not encouraging, it reflected the work of an extra 700 traffic police on duty over Easter.
"(But) I think there is an element within the community that are ignoring them (road safety messages) no matter what we do," Supt McCall said.
"We can't have police on every corner and there is only so much that the government can do, there is only so much the Queensland Police can do.
"It is up to the individual motorist to change his, or her, attitude and realise that by committing an offence it is possible that they will endanger not only their own life, but someone else's."
Supt McCall said other states did employ double demerit points over holiday periods.
"We have double demerit points, for example, for seatbelt (offences), but we don't have double demerit points over specific periods as they do in other states," he said.
"But Queensland Police Service in conjunction with Queensland Transport will look at other ways of reducing the road toll. But again, I think there is only so much we can do."
