38 NSW Speed Cameras to be switched off & removed

[Dave_au]

SKYNEWS: Ineffective NSW speed cameras turned off

Updated: 18:48, Wednesday July 27, 2011


More than a quarter of NSW's speed cameras have been switched off and will be removed after they were found to be ineffective.
The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) was ordered to immediately shut down 38 of the state's 141 speed cameras on Wednesday morning after Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat released a report into their effectiveness.

He found that while the overall impact of speed cameras had been positive and in many cases helped reduce crashes, some had little benefit.

'While the overall impact of speed cameras has been positive, 38 of the 141 fixed cameras need to be closely examined as they appear to have no significant road safety benefit,' Mr Achterstraat wrote.

He supported an RTA plan to review the future of the 38 cameras and potentially relocate some.

But NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay branded the cameras 'revenue raisers' and ordered their immediate shutdown, honouring a coalition election pledge.

The 38 cameras, which have raked in an average of $10 million per year during their lifetime, would be physically removed within weeks, he added.

'The premier (Barry O'Farrell) indicated, with my support, that if we found that cameras in the state were not fulfilling a definitive road safety role, and were just seen as a revenue raiser, they would be removed,' Mr Gay told reporters.

'The report indicates that 38 of the 141 cameras in NSW are not fulfilling that role.
'Their primary role is revenue raising.'

Mr Achterstraat found no evidence that revenue was a factor in the actual positioning of speed cameras.
But he said there was a public perception they were cash cows and called for greater RTA transparency, including the provision of information to support camera positioning, trends in crashes, revenue generated and speeding data.

'Members of the public will continue to think that speed cameras are purely revenue raising unless more information is made available to show the speed and the safety benefits from these cameras,' Mr Achterstraat said.

Opposition roads spokesman Robert Furolo warned the government would have to wear the blame for any increase in accidents.

'Any increase in road accidents following the removal of these 38 speed cameras from NSW roads will lay squarely with Barry O'Farrell,' Mr Furolo said.

'The NSW opposition recognises this is an O'Farrell government election commitment and they must deliver on their election promises but safety must remain the government's top priority.'

NSW Police Association president, Scott Weber, called for increased numbers of highway patrol cars to replace removed cameras.

'In cases where a camera is having little to no effect on crash data, other road safety measures need to be explored,' he said in a statement.

'And the best way to reduce crashes and the road toll is through the use of highway patrol cars.'

NRMA motoring and services president Wendy Machin backed a report recommendation there now be an annual review of their positioning.

'We believe the government has to act in good faith,' she told reporters.

'They said that any cameras that weren't contributing to safety should not be used.

'They're going to do that and I think that's the right thing to do and I think the public would agree with that.'

The NSW Auditor-General has provided a public list of all 38 cameras that are to be removed.

[DJM83]

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