Speed cameras save lives

The number of crashes dropped by half. Photo / Chris Skelton

Speed cameras, long dismissed as nothing more than revenue-gathering devices, cut crashes according to new figures.

The number of smashes around the 10 busiest camera sites in the country dropped by half after they were installed.

Figures released under the Official Information Act compared the number of injury crashes in the five years before the cameras were put up and the five years after.

Police said the figures proved that speed cameras were aimed at saving lives, rather than revenue gathering.

"Speed cameras work," said national road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose. "They're an easy thing to hate because a lot of people have had a camera ticket," she said.

"We would rather not have to issue tickets, but we want people to travel safely and get home at the end of their journey."

Rose said fixed cameras were used alongside officer enforcement and mobile cameras to target areas where speed was a factor in crashes.

They were also aimed at changing driver behaviour and reducing average speeds.

An Australian study had shown that a 1km/h drop in average speed would see a fall the number of crashes of 4-5 per cent.

"We're looking at a road toll of 380 to 400 deaths this year," said Rose. "If everyone went 1km/h slower, we'd probably save 16 to 20 lives."

The country's most lucrative speed camera, on East Coast Rd on Auckland's North Shore, last year caught more than 10,000 speeding drivers.

Injury crashes at the site dropped from 11 in the five years before the camera was installed in 1996, to seven in the following five years.

On Waipuna Rd in Mt Wellington, 14 crashes over five years were reduced to just one. A camera on State Highway 1 in Cambridge was less effective, with crashes dropping from 10 to eight.

Rose said the impact varied because every site was different, and in some cases the severity of the crashes was reduced.

Last year police collected almost $27.3 million from tickets issued by speed cameras, alongside $26.5m from tickets issued by officers.

AA spokesman Mike Noon said the association supported the use of speed cameras.

"We think they do a valuable job but we do like them to be visible, we think that adds to the deterrent."

Cameras should also be placed where there was a high risk of crashes and should not be a substitute for police presence on the roads, Noon said.

"That's also very important for modifying and calming behaviour."