Motorcyclists could be getting away with speeding because half of all mobile speed cameras point in the wrong direction to pick up their rear-mounted number plates Radio New Zealand reports.
But assistant police commissioner Dave Cliff says while motorcyclists might be missed by the cameras aimed at the front of vehicles, there are non-sworn staff in the front of camera vans who have various methods to pick up speeding bikers.
“We ask them to record the registration number manually and then they associate it back with that photograph and then a notice is issued,” he says. “So a lot of them will have things like binoculars. So not in all cases for obvious reasons, but that's what we ask them to do."
The exact number of offending motorcyclists is unknown but official figures show 48,000 motorists in the year to October escaped a speeding fine, because their number plate could not be read.
Cliff warns that speed cameras are only one method used to catch offending motorists but that should be the main reason to slow down.
“We want the fact that if you're travelling at over the speed limit on your motorcycle, you're very vulnerable, there's an awful lot of motorcyclists that are very sadly killed and injured each year."
