Well, I was wrong

I just made another contribution to South Australia's coffers today, thanks to the nice policeman waiting for me with his laser gun at the bottom of the hill. For a long time, I've complained that the majority of speed enforcement is carried out in rush hour - morning and afternoon - and that this is because there's more targets to scalp rather than more accidents to prevent. However, looking at the Motor Accident Commission's website, I came across this report, which clearly shows that casualty accidents occur most frequently during rush hour. (See Table 7 and Figure 7.) Crashes drop off markedly after 6pm.

So it would appear that rush hour really is the most dangerous time to drive in South Australia, and therefore, that speed enforcement should be concentrated around that time.

There's lots of other interesting data in that report. Like how crashes rise steadily from Monday to Friday; presumably as we get tired and stressed during the week. Even more interesting, Table 18 shows that:

• 30 fatalaties were caused by excessive speed,
• 37 by inattention,
• 40 by DUI,
• 1 by dying sick or asleep at wheel,
• 3 by a vehicle fault,
• 36 by "disobeying road rules",
• 3 drunken pedestrians, and
• 4 "other",

for a total of 154 fatalities.

Do you get breathalysed as often as you pass a speed camera?
Do you get checked obeying the road rules as often as you pass a speed camera?
Do you get checked specifically for inattention as often as you pass a speed camera?

No, saying that if you slowed down you wouldn't have got a fine and thus proved you were paying attention doesn't count. You should be looking at the road, not searching for police hidden behind bushes, building and bus stops, or scanning every recent model Falcon/Commodore/Magna for a little black box as you pass it.