WIDESPREAD claims the controversial EastLink speed cameras are faulty have been debunked by Victoria's independent watchdog.
A comprehensive probe by speed camera commissioner Gordon Lewis has found no Victorian motorists were unfairly penalised by the fixed cameras.
"I have no doubt the EastLink cameras are accurate and that those caught speeding have indeed been speeding,'' Mr Lewis said.
"It may be many drivers have been lulled into speeding inadvertently because EastLink is in such good condition.
"It's an incredibly seductive piece of road.''
Mr Lewis will today publish the findings of his 12-month investigation into the accuracy of the EastLink cameras on his website. CLICK HERE TO VIEW
"This investigation compared more than 60 million speed measurements as part of the data recorded by the EastLink camera system in 2011-12,'' he said.
"On EastLink there are two completely separate mechanisms for detecting a vehicle's speed.
"The six banks of cameras are the primary speed detection devices, but each camera also has an independent secondary speed detection device.
"Each vehicle has its speed measured twice and if the measurements do not correlate they are automatically rejected by the road safety camera system.
"The chances of both the primary and secondary devices failing at the same time are just about non-existent.
"I am satisfied that all vehicles detected speeding were processed by the camera systems correctly and that only those vehicles where the primary speed measurement was corroborated by the secondary device were sent to Victoria Police for further processing.''
Mr Lewis giving the green light to the EastLink system comes as new Department of Justice figures reveal they came second and third on the latest top ten list of the most prolific speed cameras in Victoria.
Almost 27,400 motorists paid more than $5.5 million in EastLink speed camera fines in just the first three months of this year.
There are fixed speed cameras on EastLink north and southbound at the Wellington Rd bridge in Rowville,north and southbound at the Dandenong Bypass bridge in Keysborough and in the Mullum Mullum and Melba tunnels in Donvale.
Mr Lewis said his probe was sparked by receiving more than 50 separate complaints about the EastLink cameras.
"Most of the complaints were directed towards the cameras installed on the northbound carriageway at Wellington Rd bridge and the southbound carriageway at the Dandenong bypass bridge,'' Mr Lewis said.
"I have not received any complaints regarding the cameras in the two tunnels, despite those cameras being the same type of system with identical hardware and software components as the other cameras installed on EastLink.''
Mr Lewis said 717 EastLink camera fines had to be scrapped last year after it was discovered the wrong camera was deactivated for testing.
"Other than the above issue caused by human error, there is no evidence that any speeding infringements issued by the EastLink cameras were incorrect,'' he said.
Tests carried out by Mr Lewis revealed more than 99.5 per cent of vehicles which passed the EastLink cameras in 2011-12 were not speeding.
He also decided to test the popular theory that many motorists mistakenly believe the speed cameras are located in the tolling gantries, located 700 metres prior to the Wellington Rd bridge, rather than on the bridge itself.
Speed monitoring devices were temporarily placed near the tolling gantry for a month, resulting in the urban myth being busted.
The experiment showed 8885 vehicles were speeding by 10km/h or more as they went under the tolling gantry, but only 706 of them were still speeding when they reached the actual operating cameras on the bridge 700 metres later.
HOW MUCH THE TOP TEN MOST PROLIFIC SPEED CAMERAS RAISED IN FINE REVENUE IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR
1. Western Ring Rd, Keilor East, Keilor Park Drive bridge - $5.1 million.
2. EastLink, Rowville, Wellington Rd bridge - $2.53 million.
3. Eastlink, Keysborough, Dandenong Bypass bridge - $2.49 million.
4. Western Ring Rd, Laverton North/Sunshine West, Boundary Rd - $2.19 million.
5. Princes Fwy, Hoppers Crossing, Forsyth Rd bridge - $1.67 million.
6. West Gate Fwy, Altona North/Brooklyn - $1.43 million.
7. Princes Freeway, Lara, Avalon Rd bridge, $1.35 million.
8. Intersection of Dandenong-Frankston and Skye Rds, Frankston - $918,884.
9. Princes Fwy, Little River/Point Wilson, Point Wilson Rd bridge - $857, 166.
10. Intersection of Cemetery Rd West and Royal Parade, Parkville - $848, 496.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7zZqroqeelrlwwsicq6iqmZZ8s7HPqKmtZZKuerS8xJ6bZpuRorKzrYycpqalmajAqrvNnqlmnpmjsbR5xJqqraSZo7hur8CmnKuZo2Kus7GMmpqcraKWwaZ5w56qqaGkmnqkuMCipKxnnprEtHnSraarsV9qgKetxZqcnJxgZbN6sMNsmZ6eZWaCen3Dm2pvcWWXgQ%3D%3D