Q1. There is more than one vehicle in the photograph. How do you know it is my vehicle that was speeding?

There will often be more than one vehicle travelling in the same direction in the photograph. However, this does not mean that your vehicle cannot be accurately identified as being involved in an alleged offence.

If the photograph was taken by a mobile speed camera, a template is used to mark the detection zone of the camera so that the infringing vehicle can be pinpointed and identified.

If the photograph was taken by a fixed speed camera, the infringing vehicle is identified by its position on the road and its lane of travel. A detection area, or “loop”, has been installed in each traffic lane and a photograph is taken as the vehicle crosses that loop.

Q2. What if I was overtaking at the time?

You cannot exceed the speed limit under any circumstances. This includes overtaking another vehicle.

Q3. I have never been booked before. Can you show some leniency because of this?

No. Speeding and disobeying a red traffic light are considered to be offences that endanger life.

Q4. Can I be issued with an expiation notice if I am speeding through a green or yellow (amber) traffic light, or only through a red traffic light?

At intersections or junctions where the operation of combined red light and speed cameras has been approved, you can be detected speeding through all phases of the traffic lights (green, yellow or red). If you are speeding through a red light, a single expiation listing both the speeding and red light offences will be issued to you.

Q5. If I pay the expiation fee, will I also incur demerit points?

Yes. Demerit points will be incurred for speeding and red light offences detected by a camera. If you hold an unrestricted licence and you accumulate 12 or more demerit points, you will face a period of disqualification from driving. Provisional licence holders will face a period of disqualification if they breach their licence conditions or accumulate four or more demerit points. If a provisional licence holder incurs one or more demerit points before reaching the age of 19, they will remain on provisional conditions until they turn 20 or for two years whichever is longer.

Q6. If the offence is minor or there are extenuating circumstances, can demerit points be reduced or not imposed?

Only a court can reduce the number of demerit points. You are advised to seek independent legal advice to consider your options.

Q7. What if I did not see the speed limit sign?

It is your responsibility as a driver to be aware of and obey the speed limit at all times. Failure to see or be aware of the default speed limit is not a ground for the withdrawal of an expiation notice.

Q8. If I want to see the photographic evidence, what do I need to do?

You are entitled to see the photographic evidence. A copy of the photographic evidence on which the allegation is based:

(a) will, if you complete the Request for Photographic Evidence form at the foot of this page and forward it by post to Commissioner of Police Expiation Notice Branch GPO Box 2029 Adelaide SA 5001 (or by fax to (08) 8463 4361 ), be sent by post to you at the address nominated by you on the form (or in the absence of a nominated address, to your last known address); and

(b) may be viewed by appointment with the Expiation Notice Branch by telephoning (08) 8463 4388 .

Q9. What if I was not driving the vehicle at the time?

If the vehicle is registered in your name, an expiation notice or summons will automatically be sent to you. If you were not driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence, you can nominate the driver by completing a Statutory Declaration (as the registered owner of the vehicle) and forwarding it to the Commissioner of Police. The Statutory Declaration must state that you were not driving the vehicle and provide the name and address of the person who was driving.

Depending on the information you have provided, the notice or summons may be withdrawn and an expiation notice or summons issued to the driver you have named.

Q10. What if I don't know who was driving my vehicle at the time?

If you do not know who the driver was at the time of the alleged offence and can show that you have tried to find out his or her identity “by the exercise of reasonable diligence”, you can send a Statutory Declaration to the Commissioner of Police, stating the reasons why the driver's identity is unknown to you and what inquiries (if any) you have made to find out who was driving the vehicle.

The Commissioner may ask you for further evidence in support of your claim and, in relation to the question of withdrawal of the expiation notice or summons, will give due consideration to the evidence you have provided.

However, owners who lend their vehicle or allow it to be taken for a test drive should record the driver's details. Failure to identify the driver in these circumstances will not be considered as grounds for withdrawal of an expiation notice or summons.

Q11. What if I have sold the vehicle to someone else and I receive an expiation notice or summons?

You can send a completed Statutory Declaration to the Commissioner of Police, stating the name and address of the person or company to whom you sold the vehicle.

Q12. What if the vehicle is registered to a company?

If an expiation notice or summons is issued to a company, the expiation fee or the fine that may be imposed by a court is higher than that payable by a natural person.

Where the registered owner of the vehicle is a company, an officer of the company acting with the authority of the company must forward a Statutory Declaration to the Commissioner of Police stating the name and address of the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the alleged speeding or red light offence.

If the vehicle was not being driven at the time by any officer or employee of the company acting in the ordinary course of his or duties as such, and the company does not know and could not, “by the exercise of reasonable diligence”, have known who was driving the vehicle at the time, the officer of the company must send a Statutory Declaration stating the reasons why the identity of the driver is not known to the company and what inquiries (if any) the company has made to find out who was driving the vehicle.

The Commissioner may ask for further evidence in support of the claim and, in relation to the question of withdrawal of the expiation notice or summons, will give due consideration to the evidence.

However , a company is expected to keep records of people who use company vehicles. Failure to nominate the driver in this circumstance will not be considered.

Q13. If I will be sending a Statutory Declaration should I also pay the expiation notice?

No. If you nominate another person as the driver of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence, do not forward any payment on behalf of that person.

An expiation notice or summons will be sent to the nominated person.

If you are unable to send a completed Statutory Declaration, you must pay the expiation fee unless you choose to defend the allegation in court.

Q14. What if my vehicle appears to have been involved in the alleged speeding or red light offence, but no such offence was in fact committed?

You will have a defence if you can prove that your vehicle was not used in the commission of the alleged offence.

Q15. How common are intersection casualty crashes?

Casualty crashes result in injuries or fatalities. Over the past five years, there have been 13,000 cross traffic accidents at intersections across the 25 red light camera sites in metropolitan Adelaide. At these red light camera intersections 83 people were transported to hospital for emergency treatment and the remainder all sought medical help, but not necessary at hospitals.

Q16. How were the intersections selected?

The intersections were selected based on the number of cross traffic injury crashes (resulting in a fatality or injury) that occurred there. Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure selected the sites from the road crash data base statistics.

Q17. How will they work?

The simple principle is that if drivers cross the white line to enter the intersection after the light has turned red, they will be fined. Similarly, if a driver passes through the intersection at a speed greater than the sign posted limit, they will also receive a fine.

Q18. Are emergency vehicles exempt?

Yes. If emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, police vehicles and fire trucks, are caught speeding through a red light, the relevant emergency service will receive a corporate notice, requesting that they nominate the driver and justify why they sped through a red light. This is called a vehicle exemption file. If they can prove why they are exempt vehicles under the road rules, the infringement is not generated.

Q19. If a driver is in one of several vehicles waiting to turn right at an intersection, and is in the middle of the intersection and the light changes to red, will that driver be fined if they turn on the red light?

No. Drivers will only be fined if their car enters the intersection (passes the stop line) once the light has turned red. If a driver has already entered the intersection on a green light, that driver can complete the turn without receiving a fine. If a driver enters the intersection on an amber light, that driver is also permitted to complete that turn.

Q20. If a driver enters an intersection once a light has turned amber and the light turns red before the driver passes through the intersection, is that considered running a red light?

No.

Q21. If a driver speeds through an intersection on a green light, will that driver receive a speeding fine?

Yes. Any vehicle that passes through the intersection at speeds exceeding the sign posted limit will be fined.

Q22. Do speed camers really save lives?

Yes. There are numerous independent research studies that provide evidence speed cameras have reduced speeds and crashes with subsequent reductions in fatal and severe injury crashes and injuries (particulary serious injuries). Speed camera evaluations have demonstrated that a large amount of human suffering in the form of death and injury has been prevented following the installation of speed and safety cameras.