A pre-election commitment from Nationals MPs to not use point-to-point cameras for cars appears to have resulted in the proposal being excluded from the NSW government’s Road Safety Plan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Since their introduction in 2010, the point-to-point average speed cameras have only been used for heavy vehicles but there was growing speculation the government was considering implementing their use for all traffic.
However when NSW Premier Glady Berejiklian announced the plan on Tuesday, the use of point-to-point cameras for cars wasn’t among the raft of changes.
Fairfax Media approached Nationals MPs across Western NSW to see where they stood on the use of point-to-point cameras for cars but most failed to make their position clear.
Member for Bathurst Paul Toole was the only one to answer the question, saying “the policy of the Nationals is clear and that should be respected”, indicating he didn’t support using point-to-point cameras.
Barwon MP Kevin Humphries said cars would remain unaffected by point-to-point cameras under the new plan, while Member for Dubbo Troy Grant and Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke talked about the plan but didn’t mention point-to-point cameras at all.
Orange MP, Phil Donato, a member of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, said he was also opposed to the idea of using the average speed cameras for cars.
Mr Donato said his main concerns were that it didn’t prevent a continuation of the offence and that it didn’t detect drug or alcohol-affected drivers.
“The offending driver who may not be aware that he has been detected speeding, may continue to offend in time and distance greatly increasing the potential for catastrophe.
Mr Donato said the cameras “appeared to be a form of revenue raising” and said he would rather see an increased police presence on all roads.
NSW is the only state not to monitor the speed of cars using the cameras and medical experts, road-safety academics and the state's pedestrian council have all endorsed the use of the technology.
Despite the opposition to point-to-point cameras in country areas, the Premier said they remained an option if the road toll didn’t improve.
"I'm never going to say never. We always have to be on our toes," Ms Berejiklian said. "We've not seen fit to do that [in this package]. But I'm not ruling it out."
But Roads Minister and Nationals MP Melinda Pavey said that extending the use of point-to-point cameras to cars in country areas could undermine road safety campaigns.
"Country NSW ... is one-third of the population yet two-thirds of the road toll," she said. "Having respect of our community is important. We believe we've got the balance right. The worst thing we can do is turn country people off the conversation we're having."
