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Take care near schools - RTA installs another four speed camerasThe Daily TelegraphFriday 17 January 2003 |
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By VIVA GOLDNER GO SLOW zones outside Central Coast schools will be enforced with four new speed cameras installed as part of a statewide trial. The fixed cameras, at Woy Woy Public in Blackwall Rd, Our Lady of the Rosary Primary Wyoming in Henry Parry Drive, Ourimbah Public on the Pacific Highway, and Woy Woy South Public in Ocean Beach Rd, have been put in place to catch drivers breaking 40km/h limits. All are expected to be operational when the new school year starts at the end of this month. Police will also step up speed-zone enforcement outside Tuggerah Public School. A Roads and Traffic Authority spokesman said fixed speed cameras would be trialled outside at least 20 NSW schools for six months, as well as flashing lights at 11 schools, to warn motorists to slow down. The Pedestrian Council of Australia demanded fixed speed cameras be installed outside schools last year. PCA chairman Harold Scruby said cameras were needed because enforcement of 40km/h zones outside schools was “virtually non-existent”. A study by the NRMA last year found almost 70 per cent of motorists break the sign-posted limit in school zones. RTA statistics show speed was the major killer on NSW roads last year, accounting for 46 per cent of road deaths. The schools campaign brings the Central Coast's speed camera tally to 10, with local motorists paying more than $10,000 each week in speeding fines. The NSW Government's Staysafe committee ordered 40km/h zones be installed outside all schools by the start of last year. Operational cameras on the Coast are located at Woy Woy Rd, Kariong; The Entrance Rd, Bateau Bay; F3 Freeway, Ourimbah; Manns Rd, West Gosford; Terrigal Drive, Terrigal; and Pacific Highway Nords Wharf. The most recent camera at Nords Wharf was installed this month. The RTA's Central Coast assault began with the Kariong camera, one of the first in NSW, installed in December 1999. It amassed $67,000 in fines from 562 infringements in its first eight weeks of operation. Fines for exceeding the speed limit by more than 14km/h are $123 and two demerit points. Added Extra The NSW road toll last year included: * More deaths of drivers (up 66) * More deaths of pedestrians (up 10), with 2001 the lowest number of pedestrian deaths since the 1920s * Fewer motorcyclist deaths (down 13) * Fewer passenger deaths (down eight), -- their lowest level since World War II * More deaths involving heavy vehicles (up around 35 per cent) * Speed remains the major killer, being involved in 46 per cent of all road deaths Source: Roads and Traffic Authority |
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