Mobile speed cameras now on our roads

DANIELLE CETINSKI

dcetinski@kiamaindependent.com.au

MOBILE speed cameras came into force on Monday and the RTA has advised Kiama residents to watch their speed on the Princes Highway at Gerringong and Foxground and Gerroa Road at Berry to make sure they are not fined.

Cameras will be located in known crash areas. Roads Minister David Borger said in a statement 46 per cent of fatalities on NSW roads in 2009 involved speeding.

“Nobody wants a knock on their door at 3am to hear the news that their son or their daughter has been killed on our roads,” he said.

“These cameras are designed to reduce the number of times this happens.”

According to RTA crash data, there were 51 crashes on the Princes Highway at Gerringong between 2006 and 2008 with one fatality and 33 people injured.

Meanwhile at Foxground, there were six crashes on the Princes Highway during the same period with one fatality and three injuries.

Further south on Gerroa Road at Berry, there were 18 crashes between 2006 and 2008 with one fatality and seven injured.

The mobile cameras will be operated by the RTA – they will be attached to vehicles and RTA technicians will transport and monitor them.

Mobile cameras work the same way as fixed cameras except there will be no signage to warn drivers beforehand – drivers will only know their speed has been checked after they pass the camera.

Member for Kiama Matt Brown said he hoped the new program would dramatically reduce fatalities and did not think it was about raising revenue. “I don’t think anyone takes that claim seriously,” he said.

“If people travel at the right speed, they don’t get fined.”

For the first month drivers caught speeding by a new mobile speed camera will receive a warning rather than a penalty notice.

For more details log onto the website www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety