The government is under pressure to dump the unpopular decision following warnings it was being used for entrapment.
The NSW government is reconsidering the decision to remove signs warning drivers about mobile speed cameras.
Roads Minister Rob Stokes says Premier Dominic Perrottet asked him to look into the controversial decision.
“We’re looking at what options we have,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Wednesday.
“We have no plans at this stage (to change the policy). The premier is anxious to make sure that we take the community with us in any road safety issue.”
The issue came to a head earlier this week when former coalition roads minister Duncan Gay told a parliamentary inquiry that removing the signs was wrong, saying speed cameras were important but shouldn’t be used for entrapment.
Former NSW roads minister Duncan Gay told a NSW parliamentary committee on road safety inquiry “one of the best safety (incentives) is a marked police car with a copper in it” and signposting cameras had a similar effect.
Mr Stokes hinted the government was poised to dump the strategy.
“Someone like Duncan Gay has a huge amount of experience and so we are listening very much to what the community is saying,” he said.
The government had advice that mobile speed cameras reduced the road toll “but equally in any road safety message if we’re not taking the community with us it’s not going to work”, Mr Stokes added.
Former transport and roads minister Andrew Constance announced in November last year warning signs for mobile speed cameras would be removed but in August said fixed warning signs would be rolled out as a reminder to drivers they can be caught anywhere at any time.
The partial backtrack came after a surge in the number of people being fined for going less than 10km/h over the limit, increasing from $2.3 million in 2019-20 to $23.3 million in 2020-21.
The NRMA is opposed to the policy and Labor has been calling for the return of the warning signs for a year, saying record speeding fines were being issued but drivers continued to speed.
Source – https://7news.com.au/travel/driving/nsw-reconsiders-speed-camera-sign-policy-c-4767397