Police forced to defend 'cheeky' location of speed camera van
A police speed camera van parked on a bike path behind a fence has angered social media users who have labelled it revenue raising and dangerous.
The three images were taken on Boxing Day and show a police speed camera van parked on a Bracken Ridge bicycle path in Queensland in Deagon Deviation.
Posted on a local Facebook page the moderator said the van was “blocking an entire bike path, requiring him to have driven half a kilometre along bike tracks to get to this position”.
At the time of publication the post had attracted more than 1100 comments.
“This is just plain cheeky,” one person wrote.
The position of the van allowed police to target speeding motorists travelling along a highway heading to Redcliffe.
“Revenue grabbing at its best,” another person responded to the photos.
One person disagreed, supporting the right of police to conceal their position in order to nab drivers.
“Don't speed and you don't have to worry, It is not revenue raising, it's trying to save lives,” they wrote.
Another person felt blocking the cycleway was a danger in itself.
“Driving on and blocking a bike path. Creating a dangerous situation for all path users.
What's the fine for that?” one person asked.
Queensland police confirmed to Yahoo News Australia the speed camera van was a police vehicle and was parked in an approved mobile speed camera site on December 26.
Police defended the position of the of the van as part of the ‘Anywhere, Anytime’ road safety strategy which “ensures that enforcement action can occur on roads throughout the road network”.
Despite some commenters questioning if police were allowed to block a footpath, Queensland police responded there was an exception to the rule.
“Police officers who are in the performance of duty are exempt under legislation to park a speed camera vehicle on a footpath,” they said.
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