Fixed speed cameras for Northland

A fixed speed camera will soon be operating on State Highway 1, south of Kaiwaka.

A fixed camera is being tested to snap speeding motorists with a second speed camera confirmed for another killer stretch of Northland highway.

The location of 33 additional speed cameras being installed around the country has been revealed, including the Northland sites.

The $10 million project, signalled in July 2013, will put up to 56 digital cameras in areas across the country with the highest risk of speed-related crashes, based on detailed independent analysis as part of the Government's Safer Journeys road safety strategy.

Fifteen cameras have already been installed but the tender for another 33 was awarded to Downer this week.

One fixed camera is located just south of Kaiwaka and is currently in a testing phase. It will soon become operational and enable police to dish out speeding tickets to heavy-footed motorists.

Inspector Wayne Ewers said a second camera was to be located somewhere along the stretch of road between Springs Flat and the Fonterra dairy factory at Kauri.

New Zealand Transport Agency reduced the speed to 80km/h from Kauri to Springs Flat in April 2015 to reduce the number of high severity speed-related crashes.

Between 2008 and 2012 there were 40 crashes of which 24 per cent involved excess speed, which compared with a national average for the type of state highway of 13 per cent.

Mr Ewers said the section of State Highway had been the scene of many fatal and serious crashes over the last few years.

"There have been far too many unnecessary speed-related deaths on that section of road. Anything that makes motorists slow down and saves life is a good thing."

He said the exact site had not been decided on and there would be public consultation before the location would be finalised.

Also on the list are cameras for Wellsford and Domes Valley, with the exact sites yet to be confirmed.

Police statistics for 2016 show of the 2,726,322 vehicles that were registered going past speed camera vans on duty across Northland, there were 16,669 tickets handed out to speeding drivers.

In addition Northland police officers handed out a further 10,906 speeding tickets for a grand total of 27,575 infringements in the region for the year. In addition there were 196 incidents involving fleeing drivers across the region during the year.

National manager of road policing, Superintendent Steve Greally, said each site was carefully selected after detailed analysis by independent experts and consultation with territorial authorities and local communities.

"Each camera will then be subject to a comprehensive testing programme to ensure it is working accurately before going live, and we will give the public notice of when this will happen," Mr Greally said.

"As with the placement of other fixed cameras, details of each camera's location are being made publicly available, as we want people to know where they are and encourage them to drive at safe speeds, so that we don't have to issue notices."

The money from speeding fines did not go to police, but to the government's consolidated fund.