The New South Wales Government will soon double the number of locations in which its mobile speed cameras can be deployed, and will finally turn on its seatbelt detection cameras as the state’s road death toll continues to rise.
In the near future, an additional 2700 mobile speed camera sites will be made available for operators to set up at and detect speeding drivers – approximately double the current number of locations available to them.
From July 1, 2024, the state’s seatbelt detection cameras will also finally go online, with the ability to nab motorists without their restraints on. These cameras have already been in operation to detect mobile phone usage.
Queensland was the first jurisdiction to launch seatbelt detection cameras from August 2021, followed by Victoria in April 2023 and Tasmania in August 2023.
The rollout of the safety systems comes as the New South Wales road toll continues to rise.
Throughout 2023, 351 people died on New South Wales roads, the highest figure since the 353 fatalities in 2019 and a 24.9 per cent increase over the 2022 road toll.
Across the past 12 months (April 2023 to April 2024), 366 road users have died in New South Wales, representing an increase of 31.2 per cent compared to the 12 months prior.
This is despite the state wiping one demerit point from the records of 1.2 million motorists, following a trial which ran from January 2023 to 2024 and provided the incentive to road users who avoided further infringements across the period.
The state’s rising road toll also comes after the New South Wales Government underwent multiple policy changes regarding its mobile speed cameras in the past three years.
In late 2020, the NSW Government announced it was removing warning signs placed 250 metres ahead of cameras, and reducing the visible livery on its camera vehicles.
Its fleet of 45 mobile speed cameras also had their active time tripled from 7000 hours per month to 21,000 hours.
The warning sign removal was reversed in April 2022, and mobile speed camera operators were banned from hiding their vehicles behind objects from February 2023, following complaints from the public.
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