Cameras to make a speedy return

Speeding drivers beware: police laser guns and fixed speed cameras should be back on the job before Christmas, and catching up on lost time.

New Zealand's 13 fixed cameras - which rotate around 56 sites - and handheld laser guns were withdrawn from service on October 4 after a High Court judge found an error in the Transport Act.

Police national road safety manager Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald said remedial legislation was being fast-tracked and should enable the speed traps to be running before Christmas.

The next issue for police will be making up for the time they have lost.

Mr Fitzgerald said that although each camera was programmed to work during the peak danger time for each location, the entire network was contracted by the Government to run for 22,000 hours each year.

He estimated the cameras would have to run an extra 4500 hours before June 30 next year to recover the shortfall.

Normally, each of the 13 fixed cameras is in operation for 4.5 hours a day on average and those based in Greater Auckland take about 6000 photographs a month.

The moratorium began after Justice Robert Chambers found that the section of the Transport Act which automatically protected the accuracy of speed enforcement devices used in areas governed by speed limits of under 100 km/h had been deleted when the old 1962 act was repealed.

This meant judges could no longer assume the devices used were accurate.

A spokesperson for Transport Minister Mark Gosche said new legislation allowing the cameras and lasers to return to service would be introduced next week.