RAC is calling on the State Government to install point-to-point speed cameras in the Wheatbelt, after a Monash University Accident Research Centre report estimated the technology could reduce fatal and serious car crashes in some Western Australian areas by a third.
RAC General Manager Corporate Affairs, Will Golsby, said the Development of Strategies for Best Practice in Speed Enforcement in WA –Supplementary Report, which was commissioned by the Road Safety Commission in 2008, showed that a number of Wheatbelt roads would benefit from a point-to-point average speed camera system being installed.
“Great Eastern Highway, Brand Highway, Great Northern Highway, Albany Highway and Northam-Cranbrook Road have been identified as Wheatbelt roads which would benefit from these cameras,” he said.
The cameras calculate the amount of time it takes a vehicle to travel between two points, and compare the average speed with the speed limit. Their success is proven, having been implemented overseas for about 20 years and in other Australian States for quite some time. Victoria was the first to implement the technology in 2005, followed by New South Wales (2010), Queensland (2011), the Australian Capital Territory (2012) and South Australia (2014).
The State Government recently announced a trial of WA’s first point-to-point speed camera technology along Forrest Highway – eight years after the strategy was presented to Government.
“Eight years on, there are still no point-to-point cameras on our roads. The question is; why has it taken so long for WA to trial them, and why only one?” Mr Golsby said.
With $72 million forecast to be unspent in the Road Trauma Trust Account at the end of this financial year, RAC is calling on the State Government to allocate funding towards point-to-point cameras in the Wheatbelt.
“We already know through our Community Attitudes Survey that 40 per cent of the community said not enough was being done by the authorities to actually deter people from these dangerous behaviours. These cameras would be a powerful deterrent to speeding in the Wheatbelt region,” Mr Golsby said.
This year the Wheatbelt has lost 18 loved ones on the roads. Last year, a total of 14 fatalities occurred.
In April, RAC launched the next stage of its five year campaign – #ItsMyElephant – encouraging the community to change the Wheatbelt’s unacceptable road safety record by sharing, supporting and implementing their own road safety initiatives.
Media contact: RAC Media Office 0401 703 719
