NSW will remain the only state not to use point-to-point speed cameras to monitor cars after the proposal was omitted from the NSW government’s Road Safety Plan, released on Tuesday.
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There have been growing calls for the technology to be used to police speeding for all vehicles with medical experts, road-safety academics and the state's pedestrian council all endorsing the use of the technology.
The Sydney Morning Herald had reported there were discussions within cabinet to include point-to-point monitoring for cars but a number of Nationals MPs were opposed to the move because of a pre-election promise in 2016.
Member for Dubbo and Police Minister Troy Grant said the use of the cameras was discussed but it was decided the positioning of existing cameras wasn’t appropriate for usage with cars.
“The reason they aren’t being switched on is because the accidents aren’t happening in those locations,” Mr Grant said.
“There are 25 point-to-point camera locations in NSW and there are about to be 11 more but they are positioned on fairly straight sections of road to monitor heavy trucks.
“Accidents involving cars are occurring on sections of major roads that aren’t suitable for the point-to-point because they are on bends, and on country roads and back roads.
“We are implementing other measures that will meet an actual need rather than an perceived need.”
Speaking before the plan was announced, Bathurst MP Paul Toole said “the policy of the Nationals is clear and that should be respected”, indicating he didn’t support using point-to-point cameras for cars.
Barwon MP Kevin Humphries said cars would remain unaffected by point-to-point cameras under the new plan but didn’t give any indication of whether he supported the plan, while 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,” he said.
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.
Mr Grant said other states may have seen fit to use the point-to-point cameras for cars because they were locations where car accidents happened.
He said if circumstances change, NSW may look at switching the cameras on for cars, a message reinforced by Gladys Berejiklian when she announced the Road Safety Plan on Tuesday
"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."
