Road safety benefits will be evaluated when a trial of average speed cameras for light vehicles is conducted next year.

Previously, average speed cameras have only been used in NSW to monitor the speed of heavy vehicles.

Legislation passed by the NSW Parliament has enabled their use for all vehicles, bringing the state into line with all other Australian mainland states and the ACT, where the technology is an integral part of their speed enforcement programs.

The NSW Government will now trial the lifesaving benefits of average speed cameras as part of efforts to combat the rising road toll, which yesterday stood at 271 – two more than at the same date in 2023.

The average speed camera trial will build on road safety initiatives introduced by the Minns Labor Government, including:

• Seatbelt enforcement by the existing mobile phone camera detection network
• Removing a loophole to force all motorists driving on a foreign licence to convert to a NSW licence within six months
• The demerit return trial that rewarded more than 1.2 million drivers for maintaining a demerit-offence-free driving record during the initial 12-month period up to 16 January 2024
• Doubling roadside enforcement sites used for mobile speed cameras, with the addition of 2,700 new locations where a camera can be deployed. Enforcement hours will remain the same
• Hosting the state’s first Road Safety Forum of international and local experts
• Signed National Road Safety Data Agreement with the Commonwealth

Speeding is the biggest killer on NSW roads, contributing to 41 per cent of all fatalities over the past decade.

Regional NSW is home to a third of the population but is where two-thirds of all road deaths happen.

Two trials will be conducted on limited stretches of highway in regional NSW to assess whether these measures reduce speeding at these locations, improving safety and preventing injuries and fatalities. The trial areas are:

• Pacific Highway between Kew and Lake Innes (Port Macquarie) – 15kms between cameras
• Hume Highway between Coolac and Gundagai – 16kms between cameras

There were a combined total of six fatalities and 33 serious injuries between 2018 and 2022 at these locations.

Road safety experts have backed the use of average speed cameras and the NRMA will be part of the assessment process to ensure drivers have a voice in the review of the trial. 

Transport for NSW will now work on the technical elements and deliver a communications campaign to inform motorists about the trial to begin mid-2025.

Trials are proposed to begin with a 60-day period in which speeding drivers will receive a warning letter rather than a fine before normal enforcement, including fines and demerit points, begin.

Minister for Roads John Graham said, “This is the right time to investigate whether lives can be saved by the use of average speed cameras for all vehicles, not only trucks.

“This technology has been found to be effective in other states and in the UK, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands.

“It is our responsibility to properly evaluate whether they are effective in preventing another family and another friendship circle from being devastated – which is the sad result every time someone dies on NSW roads.

“Before trials begin next year, the NSW Government will conduct a comprehensive awareness campaign so the public is aware of average speed cameras and a 60-day warning letter period will give motorists time to adjust to their use in these limited locations.”

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said, “In 2023, over two-thirds of the deaths on our roads were in regional NSW. Our goal is to assess how effective the cameras can be in changing speeding habits and reducing needless deaths.

“The NSW Government will continue to inform all drivers but particularly the regional communities around these trial sites about how it will work.

“Unfortunately, on Tuesday night we saw Nationals in the Legislative Council cynically voting against the average speed camera trial, putting politics above the safety of the people they purport to represent.

“There have been a few times in this Parliament that the Leader of the Nationals has torched the Coalition agreement allegedly on a matter of principle – but saving lives on our roads in the bush? The Nationals are clearly confused about what is important.”