Most support speed cameras

By JO-MARIE BROWN

Most New Zealanders support the use of speed cameras on the roads and believe they are being operated fairly, research shows.

The Land Transport Safety Authority's annual survey of public attitudes to road safety shows that nearly two-thirds of people believe speed cameras are helping to lower the road toll.

LTSA director David Wright said the survey confirmed that the silent majority of people did support police efforts to enforce speed limits.

"Every day we hear a litany of complaints about speed enforcement and charges of 'revenue gathering' levelled against speed cameras," Mr Wright said.

"And we're told that the goodwill between motorists and the police has disappeared.

"What is abundantly clear from this survey is that these complaints are coming from a very vocal minority, and they in no way represent the views of the majority of New Zealand drivers."

Transport Minister Paul Swain is working on proposals designed to help cut the annual road toll to 300 deaths and 4500 hospital admissions by 2010.

The package, which is due to be announced next month, is believed to include hidden speed cameras, demerit points for those caught on camera, lowering the blood-alcohol limit and lowering police tolerance to speed.

The LTSA's survey, released yesterday, showed just over half the population would support a mixture of hidden and visible cameras while 17 per cent of people believed they should be hidden entirely.

The survey of 1640 people concluded that good progress was being made on improving road-users' behaviour and attitudes.

The number of people not wearing safety-belts while driving or travelling as a passenger was up slightly on the previous year, and a third of respondents said those who were caught without safety belts were just unlucky.

Herald Feature: Road safety