NSW Red Light/Speeding Cameras or "Safety" Cameras in NSW

[anthony_VWJET]

Quote taken from Mike from ozaudi.com and thought I share it here.

I was flashed a month ago, luckily they were still on trial, but now they're in play.....

This just annnoyed the ***** out of me reading this...

Hope no one loses their license over the holidays! God bless, have a good one, safe driving and not to forget Merry Christmas!

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Sydney Locations



New safety cameras are being introduced to make intersections safer by enforcing both speeding and red-light offences.

Safety cameras use digital technology that is capable of detecting both red-light and speeding offences and will be replacing the current outdated wet-film red-light cameras that began operating in 1988. Safety cameras will be installed at 200 locations over four years.

The purpose of safety cameras is to reduce the number of crashes at traffic lights.

Crashes that result from drivers running red-lights can be particularly severe because they often involve the front of a vehicle impacting with the side doors of another vehicle. Passengers and drivers are not as well protected from side impacts as frontal impacts.

Evaluations of camera enforcement of red-light offences conducted in Australia and overseas have shown this type of enforcement is clearly effective in reducing casualty crashes at intersections. When the evaluations were considered together it is estimated that camera enforcement of red-light offences reduces the number of casualty crashes at intersections by around 30 per cent.

Speeding increases the risk of a crash and the severity of the crash outcome, the risk of causing death or injury in an urban 60km/h speed zone increases rapidly even with relatively small increases in speed. Speeding through an intersection is an extremely risky behaviour and puts other road users at risk.

The use of cameras to enforce speeding has proven road safety benefits. An independent evaluation of the NSW fixed speed camera program found that at sites where speed cameras have been installed there has been a 70 per cent reduction in speeding resulting in a 90 per cent decline in fatalities and a 23 per cent reduction in injuries.

Safety cameras will be installed at sites which meet specific criteria. These criteria are based on the number of crashes and cost to the community of crashes at a location. This ensures safety cameras are installed at intersections that need them most. The addition of speed enforcement will provide an additional road safety benefit at the camera location.

There will be no new offences or penalties for speeding, running a red-light or speeding through a red-light. Drivers who commit a red-light or red arrow offence will receive the current penalties for these offences. Drivers who commit a speeding offence will receive the relevant speeding penalty.

All intersections with safety cameras installed will be signposted with the new safety camera sign.

[Rocket36]

Why would that annoy you? ACT only has safety cameras at traffic lights for both speed and red light offences. And they only adversely affect people who speed or run a red light. Obey the law and there's no issues.

[team_v]

I don't see the problem.
If the light is yellow and you have enough room , then slow down and stop.

I have lost count of the number of idiots I have seen who blindly go through on red and have almost run into other cars at intersections.

They really need to step up the red light camera's.
The speed camera's are a bit of a double up but people do tend to speed through intersections.

[anthony_VWJET]

I don't see the problem.
If the light is yellow and you have enough room , then slow down and stop.

I have lost count of the number of idiots I have seen who blindly go through on red and have almost run into other cars at intersections.

They really need to step up the red light camera's.
The speed camera's are a bit of a double up but people do tend to speed through intersections.

I have no issue with the cameras stopping idiots that do run reds, it just annoys me the justification of cameras to "save" lives and money could be better spent in other areas that really do save lives.

By the way Rocket, ACT has a population of less the half a mil, NSW has a population of 4+mil the last time i checked. Do the maths and then theory, driving conditions arent the same, so please dont compare the 2, they arent the same; for one you dont have as many idiots driving on your roads as we do here.

[Rocket36]

No we have MORE! ACT drivers are so vague. At least when I drive to Sydney people seem more alert to what's going on around them.

I wasn NOT comparing the locations, just commenting that the cameras aren't a new thing. They've been around for years and they're a GOOD idea. The most significant point I was making is that they won't bother anyone who doesn't break the law.

As for doing maths and theory, WTF???

[rayray086]

I think it makes sense; it'll make people drive slower through intersections which should be common sense. There are some silly drivers out there who just pull off a right-turn without looking and some that just don't seem to be aware of traffic lights.

Will they be putting 3 warning signs before the cameras, since they're speed cameras now and we're in NSW?

[NickZ]

Say you are in a situation where a heavily laden truck is behind you, and the light ahead is yellow. Arguably it may be safer to go through and speed up a little bit, rather than slam on the brakes and have your car crushed by a semi.

Instead with these cameras you will get fined.

I think it could actually cause more problems than its worth, particularly where they are being installed on major roads where there are a lot of trucks (such as the Cumberland Highway which is where they were trialling one).

Otherwise, if they save a few lives, then I am all for it. Intersections are probably the most dangerous part of driving from A to B, and should be more of a focus than booking someone doing 10ks over downhill.

[team_v]

Number of times a heavily loaded truck with a zoned out driver is behind you and unable to slow down in time

vs.

Number of stupid morons who run red lights and speed through intersections endangering people's lives.


I don't really see the truck problem being an issue in this case.
Maybe would happen 1/200 times whereas the morons running a red light will happen 10 times in my 15 minute drive to work.

[The_Hawk]

Funnily enough I don't have an issue with fixed speed camera's or red lights camera (other than the idiots who feel the need to slow down to 15k's UNDER the limit "just to be sure" and don't get me started on people who go 20 k's under ALL THE TIME during double demerits...)

Anyway, these things are stupidly well sign posted and it's something you shouldn't be doing anyway if not from a black and white legal perspective but from a out and out safety aspect.

(I hate bus lane camera's mind you after getting pinged by one after making a single wrong turn in an area I didn't know (into a 100% empty road) and getting out of there at the *very* first chance realising I was in the wrong only to get done for $248 and three points... I should have taken it to court but didn't , oh well live and learn).

[Yevvy]

Number of times a heavily loaded truck with a zoned out driver is behind you and unable to slow down in time

vs.

Number of stupid morons who run red lights and speed through intersections endangering people's lives.


I don't really see the truck problem being an issue in this case.
Maybe would happen 1/200 times whereas the morons running a red light will happen 10 times in my 15 minute drive to work.

i'm sorry but nickz has a point. maybe a truck would be quiet rare, but 25 year old corrolas and pulsars with drum brakes drived by old ladies will be kissing your ass very often.

team_v your point is about running a red light. red light cameras are fine but a speeding camera as well means you'll be slamming your brakes every time you see yellow and hope a guy behind you has good brakes.

[team_v]

i'm sorry but nickz has a point. maybe a truck would be quiet rare, but 25 year old corrolas and pulsars with drum brakes drived by old ladies will be kissing your ass very often.

team_v your point is about running a red light. red light cameras are fine but a speeding camera as well means you'll be slamming your brakes every time you see yellow and hope a guy behind you has good brakes.

How often do you have to run a yellow/red light in day to day driving in order to sto the person behind running up your arse?
I have never had to do it in my 7 years of driving.

If you need to slam on the brakes every time you see a yellow light then you are obviously not paying enough attention to the road or you are speeding, both being illegal actions.

If the light goes yellow and you are too close to the intersection to stop then go through it at the proper speed.