NSW Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford, released a report yesterday recommending that the warning signs displayed before speed cameras be pulled down in the state in order to catch more speeding driver.
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Currently, warning signs are displayed 250 metres before any speed or safety cameras in NSW, giving drivers a chance to slow down before reaching them. According to Crawford, this isn’t teaching drivers to slow down in the long term.
“The use of multiple warning signs provides drivers with general reassurance that they will receive an obvious warning to slow down before potentially being caught speeding,” she wrote in the report. “This limits the opportunity to moderate driver behaviour through causing drivers to be worried they could be caught anywhere, anytime.”
She argues that in states like Victoria, where covert mobile speed cameras are used, more motorists are being fined, which in turn, is bringing road safety levels up. “The number of infringements issued by MSCs in these jurisdictions (such as Victoria) is many times higher,” the report says.
Crawford also says that while the “best-performing” mobile speed camera sites in NSW have reduced serious and fatal crashes, she reckons there’s little evidence to suggest a change in overall driver behaviour. In other words, she thinks the warnings are not teaching us to be safer drivers.
Don’t stress just yet, though, NSW Roads Minister Melinda Pavey’s office says the recommended changes – tearing down warning signs and putting up more cameras – will not be going ahead.
“It’s not going to happen. It’s not our policy,” a spokesman for her office told The Daily Telegraph. “We’re not going to start pulling down signs like they do in Victoria.”
While it’s nice to know we’ll still get speed camera warning signs moving forward, it’s a timely reminder to take it easy on the roads, folks, particularly in the lead-up to the holiday season. Stay safe.
