Today’s report by the Road Safety Camera Commissioner into the failure of speed cameras shows that Daniel Andrews and Labor have dropped the ball on road safety.
The Road Safety Camera Program – Downtime Review report, prepared by Road Safety Camera Commissioner, Stephen Leane, found that the fixed road safety cameras were offline for 18.5 per cent of days between 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2020. 80 per cent this downtime was classified as “long-term”, meaning some cameras were off for 90 days or more. This has resulted in the failure to proceed approximately 700,000 infringements.
In 2019, Victoria’s road toll was up a shocking 25 per cent and now the Road Safety Camera Commissioner, Stephen Leane, has confirmed that lives were lost on Victorian roads because far too many red light and speed cameras were offline during this period.
This is a major stuff up by the Andrews Labor Government and has put the safety of Victorians in jeopardy.
266 people died on our roads in 2019, and that means hundreds of families have an empty seat at the dinner table every night. While the Andrews Labor Government was spending millions on promoting the TAC ‘Towards Zero’ program, its actions were failing to deliver outcomes and put lives on the road at risk.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Brad Battin:
“Families who have lost a loved one due to a speed or a red light incident will be devastated by today’s report. We know it will not bring someone back, but the evidence is clear that speed cameras save lives.
“Worryingly, some cameras at high-risk locations were out of action for up to 2-and-a-half years after road works. This will rightly raise concerns about road safety in Victoria.
“The Andrews Labor Government needs to urgently explain why it spent millions of dollars advertising ‘Towards Zero’, but failed to deliver the most basic actions to reduce accidents and save lives.”
