Hidden speed cameras in get-tough traffic plan

By STUART DYE

Hidden speed cameras are likely to make a comeback on New Zealand roads.

And drivers snapped exceeding speed limits could get demerit points as well as a fine.

The two moves are part of a plan to get tough on speedsters and reduce the road toll.

Hidden cameras were tested in the Waikato in a trial that ended three years ago. A review of them could not establish conclusively that they were effective.

Now the cameras are back as part of a move to reduce road deaths. Full details of the plan will be issued by the end of the year.

Transport chiefs want to reach a target of no more than 300 deaths on the roads each year by 2010.

The number of lives lost has dropped significantly over the past 10 years, but Transport Minister Paul Swain says the reduction has reached a plateau.

"Unless we take concerted steps we cannot get out of this plateau," he told the Local Authority Traffic Institute's annual conference in Auckland.

"We won't make any significant progress unless we are prepared to bite the bullet and try something new."

The Government's transport committee is looking at several options.

They include lowering the legal blood alcohol limit from 0.08 per cent to 0.05 per cent.

Hidden speed cameras could work in tandem with the signposted ones already in use.

Offenders might also be given demerit points if caught on camera. Points are now given only when a traffic offender is caught by police.

A Police Association survey of 750 people this year found the majority supported the increased use of hidden speed cameras, and reducing the blood-alcohol limit for driving.

Under the proposals, officers may also be given powers to lower the tolerance limit for speeding drivers from 10km/h to 5km/h.

And demerit points could be doubled for driving dangerously at peak times and on public holidays.

In a separate move, the Government is investigating a ban on drivers using cellphones.

The Government's goal is to have fewer than 300 fatalities and 4500 hospital admissions a year as a result of road crashes by 2010.

An interim step is to reduce fatalities to 400 and hospital admissions to 5870 by next year.

Last year's road toll of 404 was the lowest since 1963.

Mr Swain said this was despite New Zealand's vehicle fleet almost trebling in size and a huge increase in distances travelled since 1963.

This year's road toll was slightly higher than at the same time last year.

Alcohol and excessive speed were the two most significant factors in road deaths and injuries.

"Together, they are the most significant factor in over half of all fatal crashes," Mr Swain said.

The traffic institute conference ended yesterday. Earlier in the three-day meeting, pupils from Gladstone Primary School in Mt Albert performed songs in memory of the 84 children killed on the roads in the past five years.

Institute president Andy Foster said the performance brought home the reality of the tragic deaths.

He would continue lobbying the Government to introduce all the changes outlined to improve road safety.

The toll

* 404 people died on New Zealand roads last year.

* 84 children have died on New Zealand roads in the past five years.

* 276 people have been killed so far this year.

The latest plan

Road safety proposals to bring the numbers down include:

* lowering legal blood alcohol limit

* covert speed cameras

* lowering 10km/h police tolerance level to speeding

* reducing speed limits outside schools

* double de-merit points for infringements at busy times

Herald Feature: Cutting the road toll