Skip to main content

Canberra's speed cameras to be reviewed

Road safety researchers from the University of New South Wales Transport and Road Safety Research are to review Canberra's speed cameras to determine how effective they are at preventing accidents. The capital's fixed-speed cameras have come under fire since it was revealed there has been an increase in accidents at intersections where the cameras are installed. The location of point-to-point cameras has also been criticised. The territory has 33 safety cameras, made up of fixed-speed cameras, red lig
March 11, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Road safety researchers from the University of New South Wales Transport and Road Safety Research are to review Canberra's speed cameras to determine how effective they are at preventing accidents.

The capital's fixed-speed cameras have come under fire since it was revealed there has been an increase in accidents at intersections where the cameras are installed. The location of point-to-point cameras has also been criticised.

The territory has 33 safety cameras, made up of fixed-speed cameras, red light/speed cameras, mobile camera vans and two point-to-point units.

The researchers will undertake a broad evaluation of the program including its impact on crashes and speeding, as well as how it is governed. Professor Ann Williamson says the study will consider how the system can be improved.

"Our brief is to look at the effectiveness of it. Obviously the most direct effect is to slow people down and the secondary effect therefore as a result of that, is reducing crashes and injury, which of course is the ultimate aim," she said.

"We will look at where they're deployed and whether the ACT is getting the most effective use out of the technology."

Attorney-General Simon Corbell says the cameras have been in use for more than ten years and this is the first large-scale review of the system.  "As part of the evaluation, the University of New South Wales will review existing Australian and international research as well as evaluations of other road safety camera programs to assist in identifying opportunities for improved strategic and operational management of the ACT program," he said.

Related Content

  • Putting a stop to intersection indecision
    March 9, 2015
    David Crawford takes a look at innovations to reduce crashes at rural intersections. Intersection crashes continue to represent a worryingly large share of deaths and serious injuries across US highway networks. Statistics from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration show that an average of 21% of road traffic accident deaths occur at crossings. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) calculates that intersection crashes account for 48% of all injury-related i
  • RAC survey shows big safety gains with average speed enforcement
    January 11, 2017
    Cheaper and easier communications are providing authorities with new options for influencing driver behaviour. Colin Sowman reports. It’s official; Average speed cameras (ASCs) cut the number of fatal or serious injury crashes by more than a third.
  • Hayden AI’s Renee Autumn Ray: ‘It’s about problem solving’
    December 6, 2022
    Renee Autumn Ray is senior director of global strategy for Hayden AI. She has also admitted to impostor syndrome, has no time for people who scorn the public sector and offers one simple rule about social media. Adam Hill meets her to find out what that is, among other things
  • German authorities use CB-radio message to reduce accidents in roadworks
    April 8, 2014
    Citizen Band radio is proving useful to prevent accidents in Germany’s roadworks. In common with other German Länder (federal regions) with large volumes of commercial vehicles using their trunk road networks, Bavaria had been experiencing high levels of road traffic accidents (RTAs) involving heavy trucks in the vicinity of minor motorway maintenance sites. This was despite the extensive visual warning regulations published in the German federal road safety audit (RSA) guidelines for the protection of site