Evaluations in Victoria and other jurisdictions
Road safety cameras have been extensively evaluated in Victoria and other Australian
and international jurisdictions. These evaluations have consistently found that the use
of road safety cameras is associated with:
•
reductions in crash frequency and severity
•
reductions in excessive speeding
•
increases in compliance with speed limits.
Evaluation of Victoria’s road safety camera program has primarily been conducted by
MUARC. The most recent Victorian road safety camera initiative to be evaluated was
the new fixed intersection cameras, which both measure speed, and detect red-light
running. It is the first major evaluation of combined speed and red-light camera
technology—previous evaluations have only assessed either red-light or fixed speed
cameras.
The evaluation, completed in 2011, examined the impact of the introduction of
77 speed/red-light cameras installed across Victoria. This relatively large number of
sites allowed the evaluation to come to a more robust conclusion. Examining the
before and after effects of a single site cannot give as robust a result, because it might
be affected by chance. By having a larger sample size, there can be greater
confidence that any differences observed are due to the cameras.
Rationale for the road safety camera program
Victorian Auditor-General’s Report
Road Safety Camera Program 19
The evaluation found that, on average, after cameras were installed at these sites,
there was a statistically significant reduction in casualty crashes of 47 per cent on the
leg of the intersection where cameras were situated. The evaluation also examined the
rate of crashes for all roads leading to the intersection, not just the road where the
camera is. It found there was a 26 per cent fall in casualty crashes for these roads.
This demonstrates that the cameras are having a positive effect on road safety even
on drivers who are not directly exposed to the camera. Additionally, there was a
44 per cent fall in right-turn crashes, where two vehicles hit at a right angle, which is a
particularly serious type of crash as the vehicle occupants have less protection.
The evaluation estimated that, across the 77 intersections, the cameras had led to
reductions of 17 fatal or serious injury crashes and 36 minor injury crashes per year.
Based on these outcomes, the evaluation recommended that the use of
speed/red-light cameras at intersections should be continued and expanded in Victoria.
VAGO examined the MUARC evaluation to determine the level of reliance that could
be placed on its results and found that:
•
The methodology was sound, with a large number of camera sites appropriately
compared to a larger sample of control sites, over extended pre- and
post-camera periods.
•
The design assessed all crashes at the intersections, as well as those most likely
to be affected by the initiative such as right-angle, right-turn and rear-end
crashes. It has been common for evaluations of this type to only assess crashes
that occur on the leg of the intersection where the camera is situated and only
consider specific crash types.
•
Findings are consistent with findings of evaluations of independent red-light
cameras and fixed speed camera programs in other jurisdictions.
•
Conclusions drawn based on the findings and results were appropriate.
As such, there can be a high level of confidence in the results of the evaluation.
These results, supporting the use of cameras to reduce road trauma, are consistent
with the findings of other published evaluations of other aspects of the Victorian
camera program. Examples include evaluations of:
•
fixed cameras—fixed speed cameras were first used in Victoria in 2000, in the
Domain Tunnel on the Monash Freeway. MUARC found that, in the tunnel, the
cameras contributed to a fall in average speeds from 75.1 km/h to 72.5 km/h. It
also found that the proportion of vehicles travelling over the speed limit fell from
17.5 per cent to 6 per cent.
Rationale for the road safety camera program
20
Road Safety Camera Program Victorian Auditor-General’s Report
•
mobile cameras—in December 2001, a package of road safety initiatives that
focused on the intensification of mobile camera operations was introduced.
Initiatives included a 50 per cent increase in the number of mobile camera hours,
a lower speed detection threshold, reduction of the default speed limit in
residential areas to 50 km/h, and the ‘Wipe Off 5’ campaign. MUARC found a
clear reduction in the number of casualty crashes attributable to the package,
particularly in 40, 50 and 60 km/h zones. The strongest results were in the last
six months of the evaluation, when all of the initiatives had been implemented.
Between July and December 2004, there was a highly statistically significant fall
of 26.7 per cent in fatal crashes and a 10 per cent fall in casualty crashes.
Examples of findings from studies in other jurisdictions are shown in Figure 2D. These
findings are consistent with the Victorian evaluations.
Figure 2D
Evaluations of road safety cameras in other jurisdictions
New South Wales
In 2005, an evaluation of New South Wales’ fixed speed cameras was conducted by ARRB
Transport Research. The evaluation examined changes in crashes and speeding at
28 camera sites on metropolitan and rural freeways and highways. Along the stretches of
road where the cameras were located, there was an 89.8 per cent fall in fatal crashes. The
percentage of vehicles exceeding the speed limit fell by 71.8 per cent and the percentage of
vehicles speeding by more than 10 km/h fell by 87.9 per cent. Effects on speed and road
trauma lasted up to 4 km from the camera sites.
Queensland
In 2009, MUARC evaluated the performance of Queensland’s mobile speed camera
program. The evaluation found a 40.4 per cent fall in fatal and serious injury crashes,
50.7 per cent fall in crashes requiring medical treatment and a 31.2 per cent fall in all
crashes.
United Kingdom
In 2005, a national evaluation of 502 fixed camera sites and 1 448 mobile camera sites was
completed. The evaluation found that fatal and serious injury crashes fell by 42.1 per cent.
There was an overall fall in free speeds and a 31 per cent fall in the number of vehicles
exceeding the speed limit.
France
In 2003, France introduced road safety cameras to combat a high road toll and by 2007 it
had 2 000 cameras. Between 2002 and 2005, fatalities on French roads fell by over
30 per cent. Fatal and serious injury crashes fell by between 40 and 65 per cent within 6 km
of camera sites. Average speeds fell by 5 km/h and the number of drivers speeding by more
than 30 km/h fell by 80 per cent.
Source:
Victorian Auditor-General's Office based on reports by ARRB Transport Research,
Monash University Accident Research Centre, Department for Transport (United Kingdom), and
World Health Organisation.
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