Mazda Enters Speed Camera Debate

[csv8]

"THE boss of Mazda Australia has accused road safety authorities of creating a nation of “distracted drivers” by forcing them to watch their car’s speedometer — rather than the traffic ahead — because they’re scared to go “1km/h over the speed limit”.

Figures show four out of five drivers snapped by speed cameras are fined for exceeding the limit by less than 10km/h.

More than one million fines were issued by speed cameras last year in Victoria alone and state governments are increasingly using the devices to boost their budgets.

“I have to say, having spent six years away, I am amazed how bad the driving standards are in Australia, in terms of focus on not going 1km/h over the speed limit, it’s shocking,” said Mazda Australia boss Martin Benders, who was posted in Germany and Japan before returning to take up his current role a year ago.

“You’ve got police standing up and saying we can’t have distracted drivers and (yet) we have got all these distracted drivers focused on not going 1km/h over the speed limit, it’s shocking,” he repeated.


Driver distraction was an “unintended consequence” of the constant focus on speed, he said.

The comments were made at a Mazda media event in Japan after the company was asked if it planned to make digital speedo displays more widely available on future models, because they are more accurate than the vagueness of analog dials and a needle."
http://www.news.com.au/national/mazd...-1226945569700