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Shutter comes down on
poor speed cameras
Speed cameras found to be ineffective in reducing car crashes and injuries are to be removed.
Based on the findings of the Auditor-General’s performance audit report Improving Road safety: Speed Cameras, Minister for Roads, Duncan Gay said the Government would stand by its promise and remove the non-performing speed traps.
Mr Gay said the results of the audit would be used to make sure speed cameras were contributing to road safety and not merely revenue.
“For some camera locations, the number of crashes did not drop, so we need to be looking at other measures for these sites,” Mr Gay said.
| Ineffective traps to be removed |
“This could include alternative treatments such as road safety upgrades.”
He said the audit found the majority of fixed speed cameras had a proven safety benefit and contributed to a decrease in the number of fatalities and injuries on NSW roads.
“The audit found that at fixed speed camera locations, total crashes and injuries reduced by 26 per cent and fatalities by 67 per cent, in the three years after installation,” he said.
“While this is encouraging, the audit also found that 38 of the existing 141 fixed speed camera locations had not reduced crashes.”
As for mobile and safety cameras, Mr Gay said the report found it was “too early” to measure their effectiveness.
“The Auditor General’s report found the safety and mobile speed camera programs were too new to conclude if they had reduced crashes,” he said, “although early results are encouraging and indicate drivers might be speeding less.”
Mr Gay said speeding was a factor in around 40 per cent of fatal crashes and speed cameras helped to curb such dangerous behaviour.
He said to improve transparency, the RTA would introduce an overarching strategy for speed cameras; document the reasons for locating future cameras; review speed cameras annually; and publish trends in crashes, revenue and infringement data for each speed camera.
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