Editorial: Care on road is money in bank

The number of speed camera fines increased 500 per cent from last year.

The other day I was driving back from Hamilton and as I came down the Kaimai Range I was forced to hit my brakes so I didn't go over 100km/h.

And the car behind me? Well, it was right on my tail and then its driver pulled out and surged ahead.

This driver in his big SUV played Russian roulette because we all know police pay special attention to SH29 over the Kaimais.

I thought of this and plenty of other instances I have witnessed on our roads when I read the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend article about speed camera fines.

New figures show the number of speed-camera tickets issued to drivers in the Bay soared nearly 500 per cent last year compared with the year before.

Police issued 2843 tickets in 2013, costing motorists $202,250, but handed out a whopping 16,717 last year - costing drivers more than $1 million.

This is a significant jump that Bay police say reflects them putting more focus on safety through speed enforcement and more mobile speed camera operators. Police say they would rather people obey the law than have to give out tickets.

The issue of speeding can be a thorny one.

Some might argue that cops giving tickets is nothing but revenue gathering and that they should be targeting real criminals.

What's the harm in going a few kilometres over on a good road in fine weather? And is targeting speeders actually going to save lives?

Anyone speeding is a danger. Just like anyone overtaking dangerously or not paying attention poses a risk.

Even otherwise law-abiding people who sometimes nudge the needle over without even realising are a danger. These infractions are momentary and do not represent any deliberate action but they are still the actions of a driver not fully concentrating.

I'm with the police on this. I would rather have safe drivers around me than dangerous ones.

The law is the law. What is the point of having a speed limit if police don't enforce it?

If you speed then you run the risk of getting caught and giving hard-earned money to the Government. There are better ways to spend money.