Lower trend not evident in Busselton

More than 550 motorists were caught speeding in Busselton during the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, despite figures showing speeding offences are on the decrease in the South West.

Busselton Senior Sergeant Steve Principe said two speed cameras in Vasse and Abbey monitored 9271 vehicles at the weekend and caught 552 motorists speeding.

He said this proportion of offending drivers was “average”, while noting an overall decrease in speeding offences in the South West this year.

Speed cameras have detected 42,302 motorists speeding in the South West to date in 2012, compared with 44,470 in the same period in 2011, a decrease of almost 5 per cent.

This follows a State-wide trend, with the percentage of motorists caught speeding in WA decreasing from more than 26 per cent in the 2010-11 financial year to 18.5 per cent in 2011-12.

Sen. Sgt Principe said people seemed to be getting the message that speeding was not worth the expensive fine.

“It’s good to see,” he said.

“People are probably using their cruise control and controlling their speed. If we can keep that going, I’ll be happy.”

Sen. Sgt Principe said he believed an increase in traffic volume may also have contributed to the decrease because it made it harder for motorists to offend.