Reintroducing mobile speed camera warnings will lead to more deaths on the road, surgeon warns

A leading trauma surgeon has blasted the state government’s intentions to reintroduce warning signs for mobile speed cameras, saying it has the potential to cause more road deaths.

Mobile speed cameras that are not marked or easy to identify by next March should be pulled off the road, Deputy Premier Paul Toole has declared.

Mr Toole said The NSW Government was committed to delivering on its promise made in December last year to ensure all mobile speed cameras would be marked with retractable, double-sided blue and white warning signs.

“I’ve made it clear I want this fixed, and I want it fixed fast,” he said.

“I committed to the rollout of these signs late last year and I expect them to be delivered. If any cars aren’t marked by the end of March, they should come off the road.

“We know the vast majority of people are trying to do the right thing – and they shouldn’t be penalised for a momentary lapse in concentration without a warning to adjust their behaviour.”

The backflip decision came after immense pressure from the public and Labor who slammed the state government’s decision to remove warning signs in November 2020.

Secret mobile speed cameras raked in more than $46 million in fines for drivers going less than 10km over the limit last year, an extraordinary 750 per cent increase on fines issued in 2020.

The total amount of money raised by mobile speed cameras last year can now be revealed, with the cameras’ fine revenue topping $73.6 million.

Now, one of the nation’s leading trauma surgeons has blasted the state government’s intentions to reintroduce warning signs, saying it was a deadly move that will kill 32 people just in the first year of their return.

Dr John Crozier, chair of the National Trauma Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, called the move “populist politics” and warned it would lead to a series of deaths almost instantly after it came into play.

The Liverpool-based surgeon has seen all too frequently the damage and devastation left behind from a car crash and warned NSW was “going backwards” if warning signs were reinstated.

The warning signs are in addition to 1000 fixed signs also being rolled out.

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