Speed cameras ripped from the road
Not all speed cameras save lives, it appears, with the NSW Government removing ten of them after an audit revealed they were not making roads any safer.
Critics have suggested the role of speed cameras are to raise money but the government insists it is to save lives.
However, the evidence suggests not all speed cameras in the state are saving lives, such as the one at Macquarie Park.
Roads Minister Duncan Gay said: “So far we've switched off 34 cameras, and ten will be removed within the next week.
“These speed cameras no longer fulfil a speed camera role and they will be removed.”
After Macquarie Park this week, cameras will also be taken down at General Holmes Drive, Botany, the Hume Highway at Burwood, the M4 at Wentworthville and Sherwood Road in Merrylands West, as well as other locations on the Central Coast, Hunter Region and New England.
Marg Prendergast, from the Centre for Road Safety, said: “What we've found with this year's review is a 90 per cent reduction in fatalities and a 40 per cent reduction in injuries at fixed speed camera locations."
The government also reported fewer car and pedestrian casualties at red light and speed camera locations, last year.
But while safety figures are improving, the revenue is racing ahead.
Since 2011, the yearly take has risen from $107 million to $155 million, up nearly 45 per cent.
But the NRMA says it is satisfied and spokesman Peter Khoury said: “This sends a very clear message to the community that the cameras are about safety and not about revenue raising.”
