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New speed cameras to be trialled in Auckland


Hon Stuart Nash
Minister for Police
Hon James Shaw
Acting Associate Minister of Transport

5 November 2018 MEDIA STATEMENT

New speed cameras and warning signs to be trialled in Auckland

Acting Associate Transport Minister James Shaw and Police Minister Stuart Nash today announced plans to trial speed camera warning signs and average (point-to-point) speed cameras in Auckland.

The NZ Transport Agency will trial two different warning signs that alert drivers before they enter high-risk zones where safe speed cameras are operating. The trial will start in December at eight sites around Auckland and will test whether the signs are effective at encouraging drivers to stay within the speed limit.

“These warning signs are about giving people a fair chance to slow down on high-risk roads and avoid a ticket. Ultimately, we’d like to see more people slowing down and fewer tickets issued,” says Acting Associate Transport Minister James Shaw.

“Speed is the single biggest factor that determines if someone in a crash dies, is injured, or walks away unharmed. Safer speeds mean fewer crashes, fewer serious injuries, and fewer people dying,” says Police Minister Stuart Nash.

A separate trial of average speed cameras is planned to get underway in 2019 in the Waterview Tunnel and on the Southern Motorway between the SH20/SH1 connection (at Manukau) and Papakura.

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Mr Nash says the cameras measure a vehicle's average speed between two points and will provide an incentive to drivers to travel at safe speeds. “The intention is to stop people who are unnecessarily putting other people at risk by driving at an unsafe speed over a sustained distance,” he says.

“Overseas evidence has shown that average speed cameras are highly effective at reducing speeds, and generally result in fewer tickets being issued compared with single location speed cameras.”

Both ministers assure the public they will not be ticketed for exceeding the speed limit for just a few seconds. “Tickets are only issued to drivers if their average speed, over the entire distance between the two cameras, exceeds the legal limit,” says Mr Nash.

“The average speed cameras will be trialled in locations where the consequences of a high speed crash could be deadly,” says Mr Shaw.

Examples include the constrained environment of the Waterview Tunnel where a crash at high speed would be potentially catastrophic, as would a crash on the Southern Motorway at the 80 km/h worksite where speeding drivers are currently putting road workers doing their jobs at risk.

“Drivers will have plenty of warning about the location of the average speed cameras and signs will alert drivers when they enter the average speed enforcement area,” says Mr Nash. “This will give people plenty of opportunity to slow down to a safe speed within the limit and help keep all road users safe.”


Notes to editors:

• Images of the two warning signs that are being trialled are attached.

• The NZ Transport Agency will not be releasing the locations of the eight sites of the speed camera warning signs prior to installation, or providing the exact dates the signs will be installed, in order to avoid compromising the integrity of the trial evaluation. Vehicle speeds are being measured at the camera sites before the installation of the signs, and this data will be compared with speeds measured during the trial to assess the effectiveness of the different signs. The trial is expected to run for six months.

• Average speed cameras have a track record of saving lives in Australia, the UK and Europe. A UK study found fatal crashes on targeted roads reduced by 46% in the three years after implementation.

• Infringements for point to point cameras will be processed on a standalone system, not the current system for infringements.

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1811/Warning_sign_V2.pdf

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1811/Warning_sigh_V1.pdf
ends

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