COALITION GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES SPEED CAMERA TRIAL

(Background facts on the hidden speed camera trial)

The Minister of Transport, the Hon Jenny Shipley, today announced that she has approved a 12 month trial of hidden speed cameras, beginning on July 1 1997.

Mrs Shipley has consulted closely with the Minister of Police, the Hon Jack Elder, on today's decision, which enacts one of the pledges in the Coalition Agreement.

Mrs Shipley says the Coalition Government is committed to improving road safety and bringing down the road toll.

"I am concerned at signs the road toll is on the rise again. In the first two months of this year 89 people have been killed - 20 more than the same time last year .

"Last year the road toll of 515 deaths was the lowest in 32 years. New Zealanders must be reminded of the need to drive safely and the Coalition Government is prepared to do everything it can to slow people down and prevent avoidable deaths.

"If we want to get the road toll down then we must look at further measures to change driver behaviour. The trial will enable the government to assess the effect of hidden speed cameras on road safety.

"Law abiding people have nothing to fear from this move.

"It appears some New Zealanders regard dodging speed cameras as a game and don't believe the rules of the road should apply to them. This is not a game, it is a matter of life and death, and all drivers must realise there are no exceptions.

The trial will be conducted in Police Region 2 which covers Waikato, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, East Coast and Taupo and will run for 12 months.

At every speed camera site throughout the region there will be signs warning that hidden speed cameras may be in use.

Monitoring and evaluation of the trial will be managed by the National Road Safety Committee which includes representatives from the Land Transport Safety Authority, the Police, Transit NZ, the Ministry of Transport and the ACC.

Mrs Shipley says the Government will then consider the evaluation, in terms of the impact on death and injury rates and on vehicle speeds, and decide whether to introduce hidden cameras nationwide.

Mrs Shipley also expects to bring together a package of further measures aimed at improving road safety by the middle of the year, which will cover other matters foreshadowed in the Coalition Agreement.

Ends

Inquiries: Janice Rodenburg
(04) 4719113
(04) 3859593 (hm)

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BACKGROUND FACTS ON THE HIDDEN SPEED CAMERA TRIAL

In the first two months of this year 89 people have been killed on the roads, averaging about 11 deaths per week.

The figures represent a 29 per cent increase on the same period last year.

Excessive speed is estimated to have been a factor in the death of 170 New Zealanders on the roads in the 12 months to September 1996., and in 2850 road crash injuries. These figures represent 32 per cent of fatal crashes and 17 per cent of injury crashes in that 12 month period.

The risk of being killed in a road crash doubles when speed increases from 100 km/h to 120 km/h.

In 1995 excessive speed alone accounted for approximately $450 million of the total social cost of road crashes in New Zealand.

In the three years since speed cameras were first introduced, Land Transport Safety Authority research indicates a reduction in the number of fatal and serious crashes of approximately 23 per cent at urban speed camera sites and approximately 11 per cent at rural sites.

The National Road Safety Committee believes a number of motorists have learnt where speed cameras are located and slow down only when a camera is visibly operating, but continue to drive at excessive speed elsewhere.

Hidden speed cameras are expected to capture drivers who are currently avoiding the overt cameras.

"Hidden" is defined as meaning the driver being photographed may not necessarily have a prior view of the camera, and may not necessarily be aware that a photo has been taken. In practice that is likely to mean cameras placed on tripods, or mounted in plain cars. The concealment of cameras by unreasonable means, such as in rusty vehicles, is not proposed.

A survey of public attitudes to road safety carried out by the Land Transport Safety Authority in 1995 found that 62 per cent supported cameras being hidden either all the time or part of the time.

Police region 2 has been selected for the trial because it is largely rural, with a high number of 100 km/h speed camera sites.

Only sites in areas with 100 km/h speed limits will be involved in the trial.

In 1995, 286 speed related crashes occurred in Police Region 2, 37 of which were fatal. The total social cost of all speed related crashes in Region 2 in 1995 was 136.1 million dollars.

The cost of the trial and associated publicity and signs will be met from within existing budgets.