Pacific Highway speed camera debate

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-22/pacific-highway-speed-camera-debate/3906676/?site=sydney

Point-to-point speed cameras will be installed near the site of a fatal crash on the Pacific Highway.
The cameras will measure a 13 kilometre stretch of highway from Urunga to Valla.
At this stage, they'll only focus on heavy vehicles and calculate their average speed over a set distance.
The cameras ensure a vehicle's average speed between the two points doesn't exceed the speed limit.
The Premier Barry O'Farrell and Roads Minister Duncan Gay announced the move was announced earlier this week.
The Premier has promised that the cameras will be installed and operational later in the year.
"The best way of controlling speed is with any form of camera.
"They will be in by September this year," he said.
Coffs Harbour MP Andrew Fraser has welcomed the announcement.
Mr Fraser called for upgrading of the highway black spot to be fast-tracked after a fatal accident involving a truck earlier this year.
The Nationals member says the new speed cameras are an important added safety measure.
"I think what we have in place will ensure that the truck speed limits around here which concern a lot of people are kept to the legal limit.
"It sends a strong message that we as a government are looking to get this highway upgraded as soon as possible," he said.
Unhappy locals
But locals are upset the cameras will only target heavy vehicles.
Urunga resident John May heckled the roads minister during Tuesday's announcement.
Mr May says he's unhappy that existing speed cameras recently switched back on, but they won't be used to issue fines to speeding drivers.
The stationary speed camera operates in a warning mode.
But Duncan Gay has defended the move.
He says the device wasn't working from a road safety point of view.
"We turned it back on as a monitor not because we thought it was working in the past, it hadn't been performing an effective safety role and it wasn't going to in the future.
"But it's an important adjunct to our road safety monitoring to see if the changes that we're putting in place are working," said Mr Gay.
Government reverses
The minister has since back tracked on the issue of point -to-point speed cameras.
He told the ABC that cars hadn't originally been considered because of community opposition.
But locals have accused him of being out of touch.
Mr Gay has since said he's open to the idea of the new speed cameras being focussed on cars as well as trucks.
He says the technology can be used to check car speeds as well, if that's what the public decides.
"Whether they want cars included in point-to-point, the understanding we have at the moment and the current understanding in the roll out of these is it's just trucks.
"We're willing to listen to what the community wants.
"Our feeling is that they don't want cars included in this," he said.
But Urunga resident John May, says he's not sure who the minister has consulted, because locals would welcome any measures that improve road safety.
He says the government's initial decision to only target trucks is based on misinformation from lobby groups.
"I'd be interested in knowing what particular processes the minister goes about in judging what the people want.
"It's very important that his processes be pretty tight.
"If he puts in a system over this narrow, winding stretch of road in which trucks are going to have their speed monitored and cars aren't, I would like to know that the minister was relying on what the public really want here," he said.
Mr May says there's broad community support for all vehicles to be targeted.
"The community's tolerance for people to be driving illegally around here is pretty low.
"I think that the community would be supportive of the idea of a speed camera which measured cars as well as trucks," he said.

NSW school zones could operate 24/7 with increased fines for speeding drivers

http://www.news.com.au/national/report-calls-for-24-7-school-zone-fines/story-e6frfkvr-1226309359465

Call for increase in hours of school zone operation
South Australia already has 24-hour, 7-day-a-week regime
NRMA says motorists sick of being used as "cash cows"


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/report-calls-for-24-7-school-zone-fines/story-e6frfkvr-1226309359465#ixzz1qMvUeszK

SCHOOL zones should be enforced up to 24 hours a day with even higher penalties for speeding, the NSW government has been urged by its own road-safety inquiry.
In a report commissioned by Roads Minister Duncan Gay, the NSW Parliament's Staysafe Committee will this week recommend sweeping changes following a six-month inquiry into the 40km/h school zones.
The joint standing committee, which is run by Liberal MP Greg Aplin and Nationals upper house MP Rick Colless, says the government should consider increasing the number of hours school zones are in operation across the state.
Any move to add more hours of operation of school zones as well as fines will be met with fierce opposition by motorists because one of the government's most popular election pledges was to reduce the number of revenue-raising speed cameras.
School zones with a 40km/h speed limit operate from 8.30am to 9.30am in the morning and 2.30pm to 4pm in the afternoon outside more than 3000 schools.
But the Staysafe report cites examples from the ACT - where school zones are enforced for eight hours a day - and South Australia, which has a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week regime.
Raphael Grzebieta, professor of road safety at UNSW's Transport and Road Safety Research unit, said the government should make school zones 24 hours and look at reducing speeds in school zones from 40km to 30km/h.
"Even at 40km we are travelling at 10km faster than Europe," he said. "It's a matter of saving lives or allowing people to travel at speeds which are dangerous to our children."
The report also recommends increasing fines for school zones - which are already at least $60 more than normal speeding fines - to pay for a rollout of flashing lights in all school zones.
It also calls on the government to increase enforcement in school zones, with many still not having fixed cameras.
Mr Gay said he could not comment on the 19 recommendations because he was yet to receive the report.
But he said he would "closely examine" all of them.
Harold Scruby, chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia, said the recommendations were "wonderful" but said motorists would reject 24-hour zones.
"You have to balance safety with mobility, so 12-hour speed zones, seven days a week, would be more acceptable," Mr Scruby said.
NRMA president Wendy Machin said the state's motorists were sick of being used as "cash cows" for state government projects.
"Motorists already feel a strong sense of entrapment about school zones," she said. "We would be disappointed should Duncan Gay move to introduce any of these recommendations."
The government earns about $60 million each year in fines for school zone speeding.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/report-calls-for-24-7-school-zone-fines/story-e6frfkvr-1226309359465#ixzz1qMvYVA2A

Point-to-Point speed camera at Urunga confirmed

http://www.bellingencourier.com.au/news/local/news/general/pointtopoint-camera-at-urunga-confirmed/2501987.aspx

Point-to-point cameras for heavy vehicles travelling between Urunga and Valla will be installed by September.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and Minister for Roads Duncan Gay made the announcement during their stop-over in Urunga last week during an inspection of the Pacific Highway from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour.

“After the recent tragic crash in Urunga the NSW Government has fast tracked a number of safety improvements for the Pacific Highway through Urunga which include the installation of point-to-point cameras,” Mr O’Farrell said.

“We are determined to do everything we can to increase safety on our roads and minimise the number of accidents,” he said.

“A detailed assessment was carried out by Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) to determine the suitability of point-to-point enforcement along this stretch.

“The assessment looked at the crash history and speed compliance in the area and the results showed point-to-point enforcement would be beneficial between Valla (Oyster Creek) and north of Urunga on the Pacific Highway.

“We are also implementing other safety improvements including speed limit reviews, a town entry feature to highlight the transition from rural to urban speeds and switching the existing decommissioned speed camera into warning mode.”

Mr Gay said once the new point-to-point enforcement length was installed it would bring the total number of point-to-point enforcement lengths to be rolled out across NSW to 22, with six of those on the Pacific Highway.

“Point-to-point enforcement lengths are selected based on crash history and are located on major freight routes throughout NSW,” Mr Gay said.

“Heavy vehicles are often involved in serious crashes. They make up only three per cent of vehicle registrations and five per cent of crashes however they are involved in almost 20 per cent of road fatalities.

“Observations show there has been a very high level of compliance with speed limits in the point to point lengths, demonstrating how effective the program is in improving road safety where they are installed.”

“There are 16 point-to-point enforcement lengths currently operating across the State, with 13 issuing fines and three issuing warning letters to speeding heavy vehicle drivers. Six more are planned.”