Those Canberrans who believed the introduction of traffic speed cameras was nothing more than a cynical revenue-raising exercise by the ACT Government have been supping on humble pie, with the news that the cameras have brought about a significant reduction in speeding on Canberra roads.

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True, the number of drivers detected speeding has risen since the first review was carried out, a few weeks after the cameras were introduced. That was only to be expected, as the novelty wore off. But the sustained reduction in speeding half a year later is evidence of a fundamental shift in driver thinking and the fact that the results have carried over into areas not covered by cameras confirms the change of attitude.

These are significant results which vindicate the ACT Government's decision to introduce speed cameras in the face of considerable opposition.

In fact, the "revenue-raising" argument has never carried much weight with thinking people. How can the introduction of speed cameras raise revenue unless people are doing what they should not be doing-speeding? If no-one broke the law, there would be no revenue to raise.

Speed limits do not exist for the fun of it. They exist because speed is one of the major contributors to injury, death and property damage on the roads. Critics of the cameras seem to think they know better than the traffic experts when it comes to deciding the speed at which they can safely travel on a particular stretch of road. It doesn't matter what they think. When they speed, they break the law.