Speed Cameras & Speeding Fines Blog

More NSW people are dying on the roads as a result of the economic downturn, according to a leading safety group.

The director of the NSW Centre for Road Safety, Soames Job, said an extra 64 people had been killed to date on the state’s roads compared with the same period last year.

Dr Job said yesterday speeding had increased as a factor in crashes this year. ”The pattern of crashes suggests that in response to the economic downturn, drivers are working harder, starting earlier and driving faster between appointments to try to maintain their income.

WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT
Where do you people come up with these ludicrous theories? Given the unemployment rate has RISEN then that means LESS people driving to and from work!

Another “wipe our hands clean – quick find something we can balme the increased road toll on” – rather than just admitting your road safety “initiatives” (yes I use that word losely) are flawed?

”This is causing more speeding-related serious crashes. We are 64 deaths up on the same date last year, so it’s a very significant turnaround in that time, a very tragic turnaround.”

YES it is tragic, but not one caused by people speeding between appointments. You really must think the public are mindless idots to believe that.

Figures from the Department of September still has eight days to run but provisional figures from the Roads and Traffic Authority to midnight on Monday show 337 people had been killed on NSW roads this year – a 23.4 per cent increase. Dr Job said while the road toll had decreased by 30 per cent between 2002 and last year, NSW was the only state to record a decrease for six consecutive years.

BOOM – and there is the smoking gun. Your speed camera system is NOT saving lives.

He said the number of deaths related to speed had increased over the past two years. Point-to-point speed cameras, special lane markings on curves and safety ropes are just a few of the latest initiatives the RTA is implementing to help curb the toll.

According to RTA research, a fixed speed camera only slows a driver for short distances, but point-to-point cameras work on longer stretches of road.

”Our surveys say that for the average fixed speed camera, people slow down for about 600 metres. So, while one camera is giving you about 600 metres of effective speed management, two cameras will actually give us 30 to 40 kilometres of speed management,” Dr Job said.

The RTA is also re-engineering roads and focusing on installing more wire rope medians – the wire ropes acting as a barrier to stop cars crossing on to the wrong side.

Dr Job was speaking yesterday at the launch of a website that has been established to tackle the problem of the high number of young drivers killed on our roads each year.

The young-driver database was set up by the George Institute and provides information on driver safety and recommendations based on research. The site says young drivers (aged 17 to 25) represent one-quarter of all Australian road deaths, but are only 10-15 per cent of the licensed driver population.

Dr Job says figures show the new P-plate and learner driver restrictions are working. ”From the two years before the new legislation and the two years after, there was a 35 per cent reduction in P1 fatal crash involvements, a 7 per cent reduction in the number of speeding P1 driver fatalities and a 15 per cent reduction in the number of P1 speeding drivers involved in fatal crashes.”