New mobile point-to-point speed camera technology to be tested in WA as road death toll soars

Mobile point-to-point speed cameras will be tested in WA for the first time in an effort to arrest an alarming rise in road fatalities. Police Minister Michelle Roberts said an horrific start to the New Year, with 23 people killed on WA roads — the most road deaths in January in more than a decade — prompted her to bring forward plans for more state-of-the-art speed camera technology on roads. A pair of mobile point-to-point cameras, which would initially target country roads, is being investigated by the Road Safety Commission and police. “We will be talking about those major regional roads that carry high volumes of traffic,” Mrs Roberts said. “Between police and the Road Safety Commission, they will look at the areas that are most problematic — roads like Indian Ocean Drive and Albany Highway. “They will look at key spots — places where we have fatalities and serious crashes will be the priority for the deployment.” Point-to-point cameras automatically record the time a particular vehicle has taken to travel over a set distance. Fixed point-to-point cameras are already active on Forrest Highway. The $1.5 million technology was first installed to monitor the average speed of drivers using the 26km stretch in 2017. Mrs Roberts said mobile point-to-point cameras also had technology that enabled police to nab motorists who used phones while driving. “I do understand from research that I have been advised about that many of these newer point-to-point cameras have got enhanced capabilities that can for example detect mobile phone use and record that,” she said. “Things like that will be part of the trial.” Mrs Roberts said that she hoped the cameras would be in operation in the second half of this year. She said she had also instigated an overhaul of the traffic infringement system, which would result in fines being issued electronically and offenders offered the option of paying in instalments. Currently, speeding tickets are issued by police on the spot in hard copy and sent in the mail and must be paid in full by the due date or further costs are incurred. Under the new system, offenders nabbed by police could also pay their fines instantly when stopped on the side of the road. The electronic system would also give offenders more options to pay their fines.