"Estimated" speeding fines under fire

Queensland's top cop says his officers regularly issue speeding tickets based on estimations but only with the help of accurate speedometers.

The practice became a hot topic on social media this week after a truck driver in NSW posted a video of an officer giving him a speeding ticket based on his "estimation".

About 80,000 motorists are caught driving over the speed limit in Queensland each month, most of them detected by fixed cameras.

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart yesterday said officers "absolutely" issued infringement notices based on estimations.

He said police did not simply conjure up rough figures but used highly calibrated speedometers, comparing the pace as they trailed the driver in question for several hundred metres.

If the magistrate's not satisfied, then they'll throw it out

"Estimation has been at the heart of policing for the last 100 years," Mr Stewart said.

"They will follow a vehicle for a period and they will then lock in their estimation on their speedo." He said police only adopted the method when they were in a vehicle without a fitted radar.

Mr Stewart said motorists dubious of an officer's judgement could dispute the ticket in court.

"If the magistrate's not satisfied, then they'll throw it out," he said. "I've seen it happen. It happened to me."

Estimation in policing had existed effectively for "hundreds of years"

RACQ spokesman Paul Turner said estimation in policing had existed effectively for "hundreds of years".

"We're a motoring organisation and we don't like motorists being stung for speeding but the best way to avoid that is to not speed," he said.

"We don't get a lot of complaints from our members on this."

Chris Smith filmed and posted an encounter with a police officer when he was pulled over for speeding while driving his B-double on the Newell Highway on Saturday.

"You can't show me the radar?" Mr Smith asked. "I don't need to. Everything is based on my estimations," the officer replied.

He uploaded the clip to Facebook. It has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.