Mobile speed cameras, fixed cameras and point-to-point speed cameras have all been deployed across the ACT in an attempt to quash speeding and improve road safety in the Territory.
According to ACT Policing, the instances of speeding on Canberra roads have only increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since March this year, they have issued 1,650 infringements for speeding, 44 of those for driving in excess of 45km/h above the speed limit.
Earlier this month, two men were stopped by police on Majura Parkway for driving at dangerous speeds well higher than 45km/h above the limit within two hours of one another.
While instances of speeding are up lately across Canberra, it’s nothing new for Majura Parkway.
Since opening in April 2016, ACT Policing have issued 829 speeding infringement notices along the arterial road; ranking it the fourth highest in that time behind Gungahlin Drive, William Hovell Drive, and Belconnen Way.
ACT Policing has attended 43 collisions on the Majura Parkway between 2016 and 31 May 2020.
The Hindmarsh Drive point-to-point speed camera has proved effective at reducing speed and crash numbers along that stretch of road.
The 2019 Evaluation of the ACT Road Safety Camera Program estimated it saves 13 reported crashes annually. So why haven’t similar systems been rolled out across the ACT?
An ACT Government spokesperson told Canberra Daily that The 2019 Evaluation found mobile speed cameras were “the most beneficial element” of the ACT road safety camera program, having reduced crashes by 22% in a 12-month period.
In the last 12 months to 22 June 2020, a mobile camera van was positioned on Majura Parkway 212 times and monitored traffic for over 280 hours.
In that time, over 241,660 vehicles were checked with 1,526 vehicles detected speeding.
“Mobile speed vans have been used extensively on the Majura Parkway in order to reduce speeds and crashes across the network,” they said.
The deployment of mobile speed camera vans across the ACT is based on crash history, police information, and the “anywhere, anytime” approach.
The 2017 Feasibility Study into the Relocation of a Point-to-point Camera System by ARRB Group ranked Majura Parkway the most suitable new site for a point-to-point camera system in the ACT.
However, The 2019 Evaluation found one additional point-to-point camera system could potentially save 0.8 casualty crashes and 9.6 property damage only crashes per year.
It posited that resources would be better targeted towards a 25% increase in operational hours of the mobile speed camera program, which was found to save 9.0 casualty crashes and 140.5 property damage only crashes per year.
“This strategic analysis supports the Government’s focus on expanding the mobile camera program ahead of additional fixed cameras,” the spokesperson said.
