Sydney’s worst speed camera hotspot revealed

Sydney’s worst red camera hotspot has been revealed. See the worst spots for speeding and red light fines across NSW.

The worst spots across Sydney for red light and speeding fines have been revealed.

Motorists speeding through Sydney’s “spaghetti junction” at Rozelle are being pinged at a rate of more than 400 a week, contributing to almost half a billion dollars of fine revenue collected statewide last financial year.

Analysis of the most active cameras across NSW undertaken by the state opposition show the Minns government raked in more than $414 million in fine revenue from speed, red light, seatbelt and mobile phone cameras last financial year.

And despite ongoing warnings to motorists, many drivers are continuing to speed through the Rozelle Interchange.

The cameras on the westbound lanes of the so-called spaghetti junction topped the list of most active across the state with more than 21,000 speeding motorists pinged, generating more than $4.6 million in fines.

The government has switched three of the four cameras in the Interchange tunnels from warning mode to enforcement mode with one only generating fines when motorists are caught speeding over 30km/h.

That camera has recently had the 30km/h fine-free threshold changed to an undisclosed speed as the government slowly moves to full enforcement mode.

The Rozelle Interchange is the worst spot for speed camera fines.

Transport officials are baffled as to why motorists are continuing to speed through the tunnels although are buoyed by signs of more compliant behaviour.

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said one in every 40 vehicles were being caught not obeying the speed limit, an improvement from one in every 25.

“The speed limit where the southbound camera is located is 60km/h and this is advertised well in the tunnel, with signs every 120 metres.” she said.

“Nevertheless, the fact that it is 60 km/h may come as a surprise to some drivers, given that other tunnels, including connecting tunnels, have higher limits.

The 60 km/h southbound was “an engineering necessity” due to the tightness of one of the corners in part of the tunnel, as well as “regular lane-changing” by drivers in that section, she said.

The speed cameras on the southbound lanes of the NorthConnex Tunnel Normanhurst were the second most active with more than 18,000 fines issued, followed by the southbound lanes of the Gold Coast Highway at Tweed Heads West where over 14,500 motorists were pinged.

Across the red light cameras, the most active were on the eastbound lanes of Victoria Road at Rozelle followed by the northbound lanes of Stacey Street in Bankstown and the northbound lanes of Elizabeth Street in Sydney.

The government made $414 million from speed, red light, seatbelt and mobile phone cameras last financial year.

The most lucrative cameras were those detecting speed offences with the NorthConnex Tunnel Normanhurst with more than $4.7 million generated in fine revenue.

The next most lucrative cameras were at the Rozelle Interchange where speeding motorists generated more than $4.6 million in fine revenue followed by the southbound lanes of the WestConnex M8 Tunnel in Newtown where speed cameras netted more than $4 million for the government.

The opposition calculated the Minns government raked in more than $414 million last financial year in fine revenue from speed, red light, seatbelt and mobile phone cameras catching motorists breaking the law.

State opposition roads spokeswoman Natalie Ward called on the government to increase its investment in road safety “to match the revenue coming in from speed and red light offences”.

“The statistics show road fatalities are up, but the government appears to be happy to take the revenue without investing in the behaviour change required for motorists and the community,” she said.

Originally published as Sydney’s worst speed camera hotspot revealed