A tale of two speeding incidents

The 2010 sign on the Pacific Highway at Clarenza warning drivers of mobile speed cameras.
From The Daily Examiner

As the mainstream media continues its coverage of the antics of disgraced former O’Farrell Government Nationals MP for Clarence, Steve 'do as I say not as I do' Cansdell, we are reminded that he appears to have been a serial offender when it comes to speeding on Clarence electorate roads.

However, only on two occasions did his driving at speed make it into print. These indicate that Mr. Cansdell did not have an opportunity to utter an untruth in the second instance. They also highlight the curious case of a parliamentarian rising to his feet in the NSW Legislative Assembly to create the very conditions which would see himself caught out and, of a politician who refused to see himself as one of those Pacific Highway hazards he railed against. 

Here is a chronological word picture over time supplying a little context……

NSW Hansard Legislative Assembly, 26 September 2006:

I {Cansdell} have been imploring the Government to cut the speed limit on the Pacific Highway at Clarenza from 100 to 80 kilometres an hour. This would only be along a 1,500-metre stretch of the highway and would only increase travel times by 13.5 seconds.

CarKB, 3 October 2008:

You would have to be almost asleep at the wheel to miss the Woodburn speed camera. Like all fixed speed cameras in NSW there are large signs  posted to warn you that you are approaching them. If you didn't see the signs you have serious situational awareness problems.

The Daily Examiner, Page 4, 14 October 2009:

LESS than a week after his letter on the issue was published in The Daily Examiner, Member for Clarence Steve Cansdell has been booked for speeding in an 80kmh zone on the Pacific Highway at Clarenza.

The MP was seen copping the ticket on the edge of the highway's southbound lane on Monday afternoon about 5.30pm.

Ironically, Mr Cansdell had successfully campaigned for an 80kmh section of highway to be introduced in the vicinity of McAuley Catholic College several years ago.

But, as the MP explained in his letter last week, it was never the intention for the 80kmh zone to be extended 4km north of the school - the area where he was caught.

Witnesses said Mr Cansdell was pulled over no more than 200 metres from the school and Mr Cansdell yesterday explained the actual speeding offence had occurred more than a kilometre further north of the point where he was stopped.

"I had my cruise control set to 100 so I wouldn't get booked and before I knew it I was in the 80kmh zone," he said.

Mr Cansdell admitted he was in the wrong and while there were mitigating circumstances involving him providing urgent help to a young constituent, he would not dispute the offence.

In his letter last week, Mr Cansdell hailed the 80kmh zone as 'a win for the school ... and the community'.

Mr Cansdell admitted he had been fined several times since becoming an MP because of the many kilometres he covered in the job.

Grafton Police declined to comment on the matter.

The Daily Examiner, 5 July 2010:

Reader’s comment on the introduction of mobile speed cameras on the NSW North Coast - Nothing wrong with mobile speed cameras, makes more sense than stupid signed stationary ones, at least those that break the law might now get caught and pay the consequence!

The Clarence Valley Review, 15 September 2010:

He {Cansdell} said the speed camera located north of Woodburn, “a village similar in size to Ulmarra with around 500 residents … has done exactly what is needed at Ulmarra. “It has slowed down traffic and is a good revenue raiser for the government. That speed camera has had positive results in that there has not been an accident in Woodburn since it was installed, and the lives of children have not been endangered….

The Northern Star, 2 October 2010:

Coming in at number 11 is the Woodburn speed camera on the Pacific Highway, northbound, which issued $1.14 million in speeding fines over the same period.

For the past three financial year periods, the Ewingsdale and Woodburn speed cameras have been strong contenders on the top 20 list.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 September 2011:

Northern NSW MP Steve Cansdell quit state politics last Friday after admitting to signing a false statutory declaration in 2005 when a camera on the Pacific Highway at Woodburn caught him speeding.

The Clarence Valley Review, Page 1, 21 September 2011:

Ironically in October 2009 Mr. Cansdell did lose his license for six months for speeding, after he was pulled over doing 100km/h in an 80km/h zone at Clarenza – a speed zone he had successfully lobbied to have reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h.

In 2003, the year he was elected to represent the Clarence electorate and before his penchant for being a potential danger on local roads came to light, he said this in the NSW Parliament on 14 November:

Mr STEVE CANSDELL (Clarence) [10.23 a.m.], by leave: Last Thursday I was asked if I would go to our local ambulance station at Grafton as an officer was in some distress and wanted to talk to me. I will refer to him as John. When I arrived he was decidedly upset, and we made a coffee and went outside to discuss his issues. Two days earlier there had been a major accident on the Pacific Highway 17 kilometres south of Grafton. A semi-trailer and a four-wheel-drive vehicle had had a head-on collision, resulting in one deceased and two injured. This accident has brought the total loss of life on the Pacific Highway in 2003 to 44—almost one a week. John said he wanted me to relay his story to Parliament. He said he wanted the politicians to fully understand the tragic reality of what is happening daily on our roads and highways. He stressed repeatedly the urgency of fast-tracking the Pacific Highway divided highway project.

John told me that on arrival at the accident scene there was a semi-trailer on fire, a section of the vegetation on the roadside was flattened and there were the crushed remains of what looked like a Pajero four-wheel-drive vehicle. Near the car were four people, John said with tears welling in his eyes as he described the scene. One female with serious spinal injuries was lying on the ground, with an injured male sitting over her holding her hand. Although injured himself and very traumatised, he was comforting her and talking to her. John paused for a minute as he wiped tears from his eyes before going on. There were two more adults, one female and one male. The female was deceased, with horrific injuries and covered in blood. Her partner was kneeling next to her and cradling her in his arms. Her blood was all over him and he was crying. He held her in his arms and kept repeating, "She's the love of my life, she's the love of my life."

The ambulance office put his arms around the man and hugged him, consoled him as best he could until the ambulance chaplain arrived and took over. John then went on with his job of securing the safety and wellbeing of the other accident victims and then relaying the injured and deceased to hospital. While at the hospital, John told me that the partner of the deceased rang his father-in-law to inform him of the death of his daughter. Halfway through his phone call he broke down and handed the phone to the chaplain, who confirmed the tragedy to the parents of the young lady who lost her life. The father said that he had to hang up the phone as his wife had just run out the door and onto the street screaming. These are the tragic realities of road accidents. As I said earlier, the ambulance officer asked me—no, he begged me—to bring home to our politicians the horror that these unsung heroes, the ambulance officers, have to confront on a regular basis. They want us, the politicians, to get on with the job of fixing the highways, particularly the Pacific Highway, and to stop playing politics with people's lives.