Evaluation of the ACT Road Safety Camera Program

The key aim of this study was to investigate the performance of the ACT Road Safety Camera Program as a whole, including its impact on speeding and road crashes, and identify opportunities for improvement. Whilst the above aim has been addressed in this report, emphasis in terms of evaluation of the camera program’s effectiveness has been placed on whether the program has reduced serious and fatal injury crashes. Speed surveys and road crash data were assessed for the period from 1994 to 2012 (inclusive). A sample of 95 ACT streets and 26 ACT intersections were assessed, including 48 case streets (with mobile cameras), 47 control streets (without mobile cameras), 13 case intersections (with fixed cameras) and 13 control intersections (without fixed cameras). It should be noted that the control streets do not represent a true ‘control area’, since an area similar to the ACT where speed cameras were not being operated could not be identified. The results strongly suggest that the cameras had a positive effect on reducing speeds and thus serious injury crashes when first introduced, but that this effect began to dissipate starting around the mid-2000’s. The reasons for the increases in speeding and in crashing are not clear, but factors that may have played a role were a distinct reduction in the number and consistency of mobile camera operations in approximately late 2006, and avoidance mechanisms by drivers. A review is recommended of the information sources available for avoidance and improved management of camera operations to create true unpredictability (along with strong publicity warning that these changes are occurring).

• Record URL:
  http://cdn.justice.act.gov.au/resources/uploads/JACS/Road_Safety/PDFs/UNSW_Camera_Evaluation_Report.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  ACT Government. Justice and Community Safety Directorate

  GPO Box 1020, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
  Canberra, ACT   

  University of New South Wales. Transport and Road Safety (TARS

  ,    
• Publication Date: 2014-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 146p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automated enforcement; Behavior; Cameras; Drivers; Evaluation; Red light running; Speed control; Speeding; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Safe systems (road users)
• Geographic Terms: Australia; Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
• ATRI Terms: Crash countermeasure; Driver behaviour; Evaluation; Injury prevention; Red light camera; Speed camera; Speed control
• ITRD Terms: 1661: Accident prevention; 9020: Evaluation (assessment); 539: Red light
• Subject Areas: Security and Emergencies; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01566644
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Jun 18 2015 11:04AM