Saving Lives or Revenue Creating
NSW: The decision to remove the warning signs for mobile speed cameras in NSW has been met with a slew of controversy, being called both a “disgrace” and “absurd”.
Previously warning signs had to be placed 250m ahead of a mobile speed camera and 50m after. The number of hours the cameras operate has also tripled and the cars containing the cameras have also been made to look like regular cars parked along the side of the road. Now NSW drivers speed past these cameras unwittingly far more often.
While there is a large group of the community disappointed with the change, the laws have been implemented with the intention to save lives. The Monash University Accident Research Centre estimated that by instating the changes between 34 and 43 lives could be saved per year as well as approximately 600 serious motor vehicle related injuries.
Wagga Wagga-based Nationals MLC Wes Fang has been an intolerant critic, arguing the new rules wrongly target regional motorists and are about increasing State revenue.
Monthly fines have increased by a factor of six (6), with a record high of almost $2.5 Million in December of 2020, compared to the under $400,000 for the same month in 2019. The money from the fines is reinvested directly back into the Community Road Safety Fund.
Should the other States and Territories follow suit and remove speed camera warnings in order to save lives?
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