Page 1260 - Week 05 - Thursday, 25 June 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
junctions has resulted in a rapid increase in their construction in recent years. However, the Act does not set out the traffic priorities which apply as between vehicles exiting a slip lane and vehicles travelling on the street into which the slip lane traffic is merging. The resulting uncertainty as to who has right of way has the potential to lead to motor vehicle collisions. In addition, it could present problems when it comes to determining which driver involved in such an accident is culpable.
The Bill amends the Act to require traffic exiting a slip lane to give way to traffic travelling on or entering the street into which the slip lane traffic is merging. This approach is consistent with the practice of the majority of drivers in the ACT who, when using a slip lane, give way to vehicles approaching from the right. The amendments will provide motorists with a clear statement of the traffic priorities of slip lanes, which are consistent with the practices of other jurisdictions.
The amendments contained in clauses 10 and 11, enabling the use of evidentiary certificates in respect of radar speed measuring devices, are consistent with existing provisions of the Motor Traffic Act dealing with amphometers. The Act has, for more than two decades, included provisions enabling the police to use amphometers to measure the speed of vehicles. The Act has also provided that, in court proceedings where the police rely upon an amphometer measurement of a vehicle's speed as evidence of the commission of an offence, an evidentiary certificate relating to a range of technical and formal matters going to the use of the amphometer may be presented to the court. However, the Act does not similarly provide for the use of evidentiary certificates in respect of radar speed measuring devices, even though radar equipment has been used by the police to measure vehicle speed since the early 1980s.
The lack of evidentiary certificate provisions in respect of radar speed measuring devices means that, in proceedings where a driver defends a charge on the ground that such a device was not functioning or was improperly operated, it is necessary for the police to adduce expert evidence, usually by a radar expert from New South Wales, to verify the reliability of the device and the method of its use by the police. As such witnesses are not always available, the potential exists for cases to become unduly prolonged or ultimately to be dismissed by the court. In order to ensure that radar speed measuring devices may be effectively used by the police in detecting and prosecuting speeding motorists, the Bill amends the Act to provide for the use of an evidentiary certificate in respect of an approved radar speed measuring device. The Bill also provides for the Minister to approve such devices.
The amendments will enable the police to present in court proceedings a certificate attesting to the manner in which a radar speed measuring device has been periodically tested to ensure its accuracy and the manner of its use to measure the speed at which a particular vehicle was travelling. This certificate will be prima facie evidence of the matters stated within it. However, the amendment will not impede the right of an alleged offender to contest the accuracy or manner of use of the device. It will merely dispense with the need for oral evidence as to the accuracy or reliability of the device or its method of use to be given, unless evidence to the contrary has been adduced by the defence. Both the ACT Bar Association and the Law Society of the ACT have been consulted concerning the development of the amendments and have agreed, in principle, with the use of evidentiary certificates in respect of radar speed measuring devices.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .