A sneaky social media campaign is taking Australian motorists by storm. With over 40,000 followers on Facebook and counting, Block Their Shot is a campaign urging Aussie drivers to fake roadside accidents and breakdowns in front of mobile speed cameras to obscure their view. And then take a selfie, of course.
The movement started in New South Wales as motorists took action against the 45 mobile speed cameras placed at 640 well-known danger zones in the state.
The campaign instigators are of the opinion that speed cameras are nothing more than revenue raisers and that it should be the police dealing with speeding crimes.
Aussie motorists taking part in the campaign are not protesting against the use of mobile speed cameras, but rather the drastic increase in their use toward the end of 2014.
Figures from the NSW Office of State Revenue reveal an increase in the amount collected in speeding fines per month from $310 000 to $1.35 million between January and October 2014, reported The Daily Telegraph.
The number of fines issued over this same period increased from 1590 to 5200.
In 2013 the cameras operated for a total of 930 hours per month. From July 2014 they were operating for a total of 7000 hours each month.
NSW’s Roads Minister Duncan Gray has threatened to introduce penalties in order to put an end to the campaign.
Gray was reported saying: “I hope these idiots grow up so I don’t have to put draconian fines in place. If they don’t stop this stupidity I will take action.”
The Roads and Maritime Service claim that NSW’s 45 mobile cameras are essential safety measures as they are placed in zones with high numbers of deaths or serious injuries, reported The Daily Telegraph.
Block Their Shot in fact encourages drivers to deliberately break the law by speeding, Professor of Road Safety at the University of NSW, Raphael Grzebieta was reported as saying.
“Do they want to have the deaths and injury of other motorists on their conscience?”
Images: www.facebook.com/blocktheirshot
