First new generation speed cameras go live

A new generation of fixed speed cameras arrives in Auckland today with two new cameras going live in Totara Park.

The cameras, which use dual radars and digital technology, are in Mill Road and Murphy's Road.

A third camera is scheduled to go live on 12 December at an existing site on Great South Road, Otahuhu.

Infrastructure at two other sites, Candia Road in Henderson's Valley and Great North Road in Kelston, is to be upgraded before the cameras go live.

A sixth site in Tamaki Drive is still under discussion and will be announced once consultation with local road controlling authorities is complete.

The Totara Park cameras' go-live date coincides with Police's summer road safety campaign, so will be set to photograph vehicles travelling 4km/h over the speed limit.

"These cameras are being installed to protect the people who live and work in the vicinity, or simply travel through," says Superintendent Carey Griffiths, National Manager of Road Policing.

"Every site has been selected because it has a history of speed-related crashes, and analysis shows a static speed camera will help to save lives and reduce serious injuries.
International research clearly supports this."

In an extensive site selection process, robust independent analysis based on 10 years of crash data was followed with extensive consultation with local experts, including those from Auckland Transport.

"We've worked closely with Police in the site selection process," says Karen Hay, Auckland Transport's Community & Road Safety Manager.

"We know these roads back to front, including how they're used and what the local safety issues are.

We've been able to feed all of that expertise into the decision-making process, so I'm sure the vast majority of people in these communities will find their roads feel safer and calmer once the cameras are operational."

Road policing staff also visited residents and businesses near each location to discuss any concerns.

"No issues were raised - in fact, we're consistently finding that people who live and work near these locations are delighted that something is being done about speeding traffic," says Mr Griffiths.

Other stakeholders who took part in the site selection process include local representatives from the Auckland Motorway Alliance, the New Zealand Transport Agency, Road Transport Forum and the AA.

Police announced in June that Auckland was to receive six of the first 12 next-generation digital fixed speed cameras being rolled out nationally.

The $10m road safety project will see 56 new digital cameras placed across the country in sites assessed as having a high risk of speed-related crashes.

The network will be fully operational by April 2016.

The new cameras use a dual radar system to monitor up to six lanes of traffic flowing in both directions.

The first camera became operational in Ngauranga Gorge, Wellington, in July 2014.

Twelve cameras are being installed in the first phase of the rollout, which sees six digital cameras in Wellington and six in Auckland.

Locations of the 44 second phase cameras will be announced when Police has finished consultation with stakeholders.

Assistant Commissioner Road Policing, Dave Cliff, says the cameras are being introduced as part of the government's Safer Journey's strategy, which aims to make New Zealand roads increasingly free of death and serious injury.

"International research is clear: speed cameras reduce traffic speed and road crashes, and help to reduce injury severity.

Small reductions in speed greatly reduce the likelihood of a crash and increase the chances of surviving crashes that do occur."