News
04 Feb 2016
WA's first point-to-point speed cameras to be installed along Forrest Highway
From abc.net.au
Five new speed cameras will be installed across Melbourne as upgrades are done to 12 other cameras in a bid to improve road safety, the State Government says.
The new speed and red light cameras will be installed in Forest Hill, Narre Warren, Ringwood, Kingsbury and Vermont.
Police Minister Wade Noonan said the new cameras would make the roads safer. "Speeding is clearly a leading cause of road accidents but when you combine that with running red lights we can have absolutely catastrophic outcomes, people being killed," he said. Mr Noonan said the cameras would be installed in the coming months. He said the new camera locations had been selected by a committee made up of VicRoads, Victoria Police and the Department of Justice.
Twelve cameras in Melbourne, as well as Geelong and Bendigo, will also be upgraded from wet film red light cameras to digital speed and red light cameras.
One camera in Yarraville will be upgraded and moved from Francis Street and Williamstown Road to Francis Street and Wembley Avenue to cover a main crossing for children at nearby Wembley Primary School.
Mr Noonan said the digital upgrade had been recommended by Victoria's road safety camera commissioner Gordon Lewis.
"It's absolutely dicing with death to run red lights, to be speeding. It's not just innocent motorists, it's pedestrians as well," Mr Noonan said.
Opposition roads spokesman Ryan Smith said the new cameras needed to be added for the right reasons. "I think we all acknowledge speed cameras and red light cameras are a very important part of making sure that people are aware they need to be responsible when they are one the roads," he said. "People also need to have confidence that those speed cameras are there to improve safety rather than to increase revenue for the Government's coffers."
On Friday, Victoria's Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said he was "embarrassed" after he was caught speeding on the Peninsula Link freeway in Melbourne's south-east last month.
He was caught going 108 kilometres per hour in a 100kph zone. Assistant Police Commissioner Doug Fryer last week said that speeding was one of several high risk behaviours that had contributed to Victoria's 2015 road toll.