NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay has ordered that 38 speed cameras across the state be switched off

http://www.bellingencourier.com.au/news/local/news/general/speed-cameras-to-be-switched-off/2245334.aspx

Speed cameras to be switched off
02 Aug, 2011 10:11 AM
NSW Roads Minister Duncan Gay has ordered that 38 speed cameras across the state be switched off immediately, including two in Bellingen Shire, after an audit found that they were not improving road safety. But not everyone is happy with the decision.
Mr Gay instructed the Roads and Traffic Authority to turn off the cameras, including one on the Pacific Highway in Urunga and another on the old highway at Bundagen, after receiving a report from the State's Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat, that identified the most hated cameras in NSW.

Mr Achterstraat's report found that: "overall, speed cameras change driver behaviour and improve road safety" but concluded there was no evidence that they were simply cash cows for the government.

The report said that despite some increases in the cost of fines, revenue from speed cameras last year was "basically the same" as in 2003 and the average number of speeding fines per camera fell after cameras were installed.

But Mr Gay said he had vowed before the election to rip out any cameras that were not effective.

"While this is encouraging, the audit also found that 38 of the existing 141 fixed speed camera locations had not reduced crashes," Mr Gay said.

"There has been community concern that some cameras are purely revenue raisers and this audit has allowed us to identify them and ensure they are removed."

But Urunga resident John May fears that switching off the Urunga speed camera will see a return to the days when trucks and cars sped through the town, particularly at night.

Mr May, who lives adjacent to the Pacific Highway near the Newry Island Bridge, monitored truck speeds through Urunga ten years ago.

“The average truck speed during the day then was 97km/hour in the 80km speed zone near the bridge and at night the average was 107km/hour,” he said. “They were going through here (at the speed camera) at 90km/hour.”

Mr May rang the Auditor-General (Peter Achterstraat) and told him he had the data on the traffic speed of trucks and cars at the Urunga speed camera. “He did not ask for the data.”