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Don't Get Caught Members > WOOR: WA Set For Australia-First Speed Cam Trial!

WOOR: WA Set For Australia-First Speed Cam Trial!

Feb 2, 2021

WA Set To Trial Australia's First Mobile Average-Speed Police Cameras To Improve Road Safety

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In a first for Australia, a pair of mobile point-to-point average-speed cameras are expected to be deployed on WA roads from September at speeding hotspots.

Starting as a trial to gauge how effective and reliable the new technology is, it could lead to a broader roll-out of the cameras in the coming years.

The news came as WA recorded its worst January road toll in more than a decade, with 23 deaths — most of which were on regional roads.

WA Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said the RSC would primarily test the technology on regional roads.

"We know regional roads are a problem in terms of people dying," he said. "[We] need to keep looking at different ways of doing things to try and get the message across about road safety."

Point-to-point speed camera technology is already in place across Australia, but systems that can easily be deployed in different areas are not.

WA's only fixed point-to-point speed camera system is along a 28-kilometre stretch of the Forrest Highway in the state's South West.

It was installed in 2017.

The new mobile version of that technology is attached to a trailer, meaning it can be deployed in any region of the state.

While the cameras calculate average speed over a distance, they also function as "standard" speed cameras and will snap pictures of cars if they are speeding when they pass by.

The trial is expected to last up to four months and will determine how effective the cameras are in reducing speeding.

"None of [the other states] are moving into the mobile point-to-point space," Mr Warner said.

"We'll be able to position the [camera] at different points on different roads, and they'll have the same capacity to monitor your speed as you go past them.

"But they'll also have the capacity to average your speed between the two cameras."

No infringements will be handed out during the trial.

Mr Warner said he was confident cameras had proved effective in reducing speeding.

He claimed the number of speeding drivers had halved on the Forrest Highway since its fixed point-to-point systems were installed.

Road Safety Commission (RSC) statistics said on average speed was a factor in about a quarter of serious crashes on regional roads.

"What we've seen [on the Forrest Highway] is the percentage of drivers speeding has dropped from 40 per cent to 20 per cent … and those who are speeding are not speeding by as much," Mr Warner said.

"Anything that gets people to drop their speed by a bit is going to be good for road safety."

Albany Highway and Indian Ocean Drive are expected to be high on the list of trial sites.

An RAC road fatalities map shows 17 people have died on Albany Highway on the 380 kilometres between Armadale and Albany since 2014.

Eight people have died on the 305km Indian Ocean Drive since 2016.

Mr Warner said the RSC would consult with police, Main Roads WA and local governments to determine the most effective trial zones.

He said the cameras would be "moved around as much as possible" to major metro and regional roads.

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Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-03/wa-point-to-point-speed-cameras-road-safety/13112574?