Push for more fines from speed cameras

By CATHY ARONSON transport reporter

More drivers would face speed camera fines under a plan that police will "seriously consider".

Only 58 per cent of drivers are fined when caught on camera. Police do not issue tickets if the photos can be disputed because of clarity, obstruction or if more than one vehicle is in the picture.

But Auditor-General David Macdonald wants more people to be fined in line with the practice in Victoria, Australia, where 85 per cent of drivers caught by speed cameras are given tickets.

The national road safety manager of the New Zealand police, Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, said police would seriously consider changing the enforcement level.

"It is a serious report that we will seriously consider with other roading partners."

The speed cameras raise about $38.4 million a year from 523,000 fines.

Mr Fitzgerald said police could prove who was speeding and collect fines for nearly all of the photos, even those showing more than one car.

But to enforce more tickets police needed greater public acceptance so that costly and time-consuming legal challenges would be avoided.

"Our technical men can prove it nearly 100 per cent of the time but without public acceptance every photo with another car in it would be challenged," Mr Fitzgerald said.

The Auditor-General's report acknowledges that public acceptance is important but says the speed camera risks losing credibility if it is not enforced.

"A large proportion of drivers will realise that they have been detected speeding but will receive no punishment for doing so," it says.

A survey of public attitudes in 2000 found that, of 1645 respondents, 60 per cent thought speed cameras operated fairly. Forty-one per cent thought the risk of being caught speeding was small.

Staff from the Auditor-General's office visited Victoria to study its speed camera programme, which has operated for 13 years.

The cameras are run by a private company contracted to police, who have a target to prosecute 80 per cent of those caught.

Unlike in New Zealand, speed cameras are not signposted and do not flash during the day.

They also add to demerit points.

The report says research shows that increasing the prosecution rate reduces the social cost of speed-related accidents.

Speeding accounts for 30 per cent of the road toll and 20 per cent of the 6000 serious injuries in NZ each year.

The report is the first overview of the speed-camera programme since it was introduced in 1993.

Mr Macdonald said he did the review because speed cameras had the potential to save lives and financial costs.

It acknowledges the common view that revenue collection is an objective of the cameras but says "there is no evidence to support this view".

Mr Fitzgerald said the fines were paid directly to the Crown and police would want to increase enforcement levels only to reduce speed.

Speed cameras acted as a deterrent at accident black spots and reduced the incidence of reoffending if drivers were sent a notice.

"We just want to calm people down and avoid accidents. It's not about money for us," he said.

A police review of speed cameras in early 1995, two years after they were introduced, showed a reduction of speeds at 42 per cent of sites where they were used.

Mr Fitzgerald said a transport working group would make a recommendation to the national road safety committee and the Police Commissioner within four months.

During the next 18 months police would also consider replacing old cameras with digital cameras which automatically sent out fines. The present photos have to be processed and fines can take up to 14 days to be sent.

Land Transport Safety Authority director David Wright said it would consider the proposals "and support the implementation if it is sensible and helps reduce the road toll".

He said it was the first independent report into speed cameras and showed they were successful.

The report also asked the authority to reconsider its proposal to remove speed cameras from areas that do not have a bad history of crashes.

It said a reduction of speed cameras should be avoided.

Mr Wright said the police and the authority had begun a review of the sites but this would not involve reducing camera numbers.

National Party transport spokeswoman Belinda Vernon said the report showed the Government had made a mistake in rejecting covert speed cameras.

The report highlighted that "New Zealand's experience with speed cameras is not as good as some other countries and that changes in the way speed cameras are deployed could improve their effectiveness".

Ms Vernon said it was estimated that hidden cameras, while not popular, could save up to 30 lives a year and cost those who obeyed speed limits nothing.