| Speed cameras fill government coffers with $12.5 million in one year |
The ACT Government received $12.5 million in revenue from nearly 50,000 speeding tickets in 2014 after outdated and faulty speed cameras were replaced.
The ACT Road Safety Report Card, which will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, revealed 13 fixed and eight mobile cameras issued an average of 136 infringements a day.
In May, the government announced a series of policy changes that allowed speed cameras to be used on any ACT road that met safety requirements with increased operational hours.
A $163,000 evaluation of the speed camera program, conducted by University of NSW academics and commissioned in March 2013, found serious crashes increased after 2006 when the use mobile speed cameras decreased by 30 per cent.
"This was mostly due to ageing camera equipment which became prone to breaking down – an issue which was resolved last year with the replacement of all mobile cameras," the report said.
The UNSW evaluation contrasts with a March report by the ACT Auditor-General, which found camera reliability was poor and would not reduce speeding unless they were placed one every four kilometres.
The ACT Government allocated $1.5 million to the replacement of all fixed red-light and mobile speed cameras in the 2013-14 budget, all of which are now operational.
Minister for Justice Shane Rattenbury said the $12.5 million figure was consistent with previous years and was part of deliberate strategy to improve safety on Canberra roads.
"I reject out of hand the suggestion that this is revenue-raising and I would be happy if no one had to pay a single speeding ticket," he said.
"We continue to see a high level of speeding in the ACT and there is a real link between speed and road trauma – it's a key factor associated with casualty and fatal crashes."
Mr Rattenbury said historical data showed the mobile cameras were one of the most effective ways to reduce speeding on Canberra roads.
He said the report card revealed the ACT was performing well compared to other states although more work needed to be done.
"Road trauma is not inevitable," Mr Rattenbury said. "In fact, most of the deaths on our roads are preventable and we need to share the responsibility for road safety as a community."
The territory continues to have fewer road fatalities than the national average with 2.6 deaths per 100,000 people, compared to 4.2 percent nationally.
Speeding was listed as a contributing factor in three of the 10 fatal crashes recorded on ACT roads in 2014.
Inexperienced drivers continued to be disproportionately represented in crashes.
"Road crash statistics show that ACT provisional drivers represented over 14 per cent of drivers involved in casualty crashes, and 20 per cent of fatal crashes despite representing approximately 6 per cent of all ACT licence holders," the report said.
The government is currently considering changes to restrictions on provisional licences, including minimum supervised driving hours, mobile phone restrictions and night-time driving bans.
Once a review of changes is finalised, the restrictions will be judged by a citizens jury of young people, parents and the community.
Mr Rattenbury said the measures needed to be considered as the casualty and fatality rate for provisional drivers was unacceptable.
'I am keen to do this through a process that engages our younger drivers so we find out from them what would make a difference, rather than older drivers," he said.
According to the report, close to 51,000 on-road vehicle inspections were completed during 2014 with 2,016 defect notices issued, or 3.92 percent of total inspections.
"The most common faults identified as part of these inspections related to wheels and tyres," the report said.
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