Law-breaking motorists driving through two traffic cameras in Mosman deposit nearly $1M into State Govt coffers

TWO speeding and red light cameras in one suburb added almost $1 million to state government coffers this year alone with 4789 fines issued to law-breaking motorists.

The Macpherson St, Mosman, red light and speed camera earned nearly $500,000 in 2015/16.

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THE NRMAA has said the government needs to do in ensuring drivers in Mosman slow down, it comes in response to the fact two speed cameras in the suburb brought in almost $1 million in fines last financial year.

The cameras sit at Military Rd, Mosman, westbound and Macpherson St northbound and it is clear they are money-making machines, with the Military Rd snapper raising $434,955 and Macpherson St injecting $491,856 into government funds during the 2015-2016 financial year.

The Military Rd camera was erected in 2011 and for the first year was simply a red light camera but still brought in revenue of $102,017 and saw 289 fines issued.

The following year revenue tripled to $385,067 as a speeding camera was added, and this year almost half a million dollars was raised and 1946 fines sent out.

Peter Khoury, spokesman at NRMA, said what the figures showed is that the government needed to do more work on the roads where the cameras were sited to ensure drivers did drive safely and stick to speed limits and have more of an appreciation of their speed.

The NRMA’s Peter Khoury says there should be more police cars on the road.

“If people are consistently getting booked, rather than just collecting fines the government need to look at making the roads safer,” he said.

Mr Khoury pointed out that all moneys raised through speeding fines did go into a safety fund and the fund was used to inject money into road safety initiatives, which was a positive.

But he added the NRMA’s consistent position was there should be more police cars on the roads.

“A speed camera can catch a driver speeding and check for up-to-date insurance and do breath tests and check for drug use, and on and on,” Mr Khoury said.

“The experience of being stopped, and you could be with your family in the car, is going to stay with you a lot longer and make you think more than a fine that arrives in the post three weeks after you’ve passed a speed camera.”

But Centre for Road Safety executive director Bernard Carlton defended the cameras as essential lifesaving devices.

A NSW police highway patrol car.

“Crashes on our roads involving speed led to 146 deaths last year and 100 deaths so far this year,” he said. “We know that deaths and injuries are down by up to 90 per cent at fixed camera locations.

“Speed cameras complement the NSW Police’s enforcement work and while additional Highway Patrol hours are funded by the road safety budget, the police cannot be everywhere.

“When I hear people say to me there is link between revenue and road safety I say one thing: If you want to avoid being fined — the message is simple — don’t speed.

“If you don’t do it for your hip pocket do it for you, your family and other innocent road users — speeding kills.”

In total, the NSW government reaped more than $183 million in fines from red-light and speed cameras in 2015-16, up 8 per cent on the previous year.

THE CAMERAS

Military Rd, Mosman westbound:

2011-2012 — Fines $102,017, number of fines 289 (during this period there was just a red light camera and not a speeding camera).

2012-2013 — Fines $385,067, number of fines 2042

2014-2015 — Fines $227,116, number of fines 1081

2015-2016 — Fines $434,955, number of fines 1946

Macpherson St, Mosman, northbound

2013-2014 — Fines $514,603, number of fines 3607

2014-1015 — Fines $348,044, number of fines 2218

2015-2016 — Fines $491,856, number of fines 2843

Total number of fines in 2015-16 by both cameras, 4789