Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison says the average speed cameras are having the desired impact. Photo: Facebook/Jenny Aitchison MP.
NSW Minister for Roads Jenny Aitchison says controversial point-to-point cameras installed on two major regional NSW highways have almost halved the number of people found to be breaching the limit.
However, her department says the government does not yet have data on whether the cameras have reduced the number of accidents on the relevant stretches of roads.
In May 2025, the NSW Government installed a pair of cameras at two points on the Hume Highway on a 16 km stretch of road between Coolac and Gundagai; and also at two points on a 15 km stretch of the Pacific Highway between Kew and Lake Innes.
The cameras track the average speed of drivers between these points. After a two month trial period, motorists were issued with fines if their average speed exceeded the limit.
The NSW Government said in the first month of the trial, one in every 143 light vehicles checked across both trial locations were found to be speeding and were issued with a warning letter. In July that figure dropped to one in every 276 light vehicles.
That equates to a 48 per cent reduction in the number of drivers speeding.
“The trial is having the desired effect, with speeding offences almost halving across both locations,” Minister Aitchison said.
“It’s pleasing to see an improvement in driver behaviour as we continue to monitor the effectiveness of this trial.”
Region asked her department, Transport for NSW, if there was any evidence that the cameras had made the stretches of highways safer by reducing the number of accidents since 1 July. A spokesman said authorities had not yet collated the data for 2025.
In the five years from 2020 to 2024, there were 18 crashes on the Hume Highway between Coolac and Gundagai involving a light vehicle and 32 crashes on the Pacific Highway between Kew and Lake Innes.
“Camera enforcement is one of the most effective, evidence-based measures to increase safer driving. It saves lives and prevents injuries,” a spokesman said.
At the time the cameras were introduced, NSW National leader Dugald Saunders described them as “revenue raising”.
The Dubbo-based MP argued that regional drivers might sometimes need to speed to “safely” overtake other vehicles on the road (though this is not allowed under current NSW road laws).
Former Griffith councillor Simon Croce has also criticised the initiative, calling it “big brother”.
“It won’t be long before you go to visit someone on the coast and you’ll get a letter in the mail saying, ‘we know when you left home, we know when you got there, here is your fine’. It’s not speed that kills, it’s inappropriate speed that kills.”
He said the NSW Government should instead prioritise fixing potholes and ensuring regional roads were safe.
A poll of almost 4000 Region readers found 79 per cent of respondents agreed with Mr Croce and Mr Saunders, with only 16 per cent seeing it as a good initiative to improve road safety.
The number of drivers exceeding the limit on the Hume Highway, between Coolac and Gundagai, has gone down, says the Roads Minister. Photo: NSW Government.
Since the trial began, the cameras have checked the speeds of more than 1.8 million light vehicles. Average cameras were already in place to monitor trucks and other heavy vehicles.
In July, when enforcement mode commenced for light vehicles, there were 2310 infringements issued to light vehicles across both trial locations, with 1398 on the Pacific Highway and 912 on the Hume Highway.
On the Pacific Highway, one in every 146 light vehicles checked were found to be speeding, compared to July when the figure dropped to one in every 317 light vehicles.
On the Hume Highway, one in every 138 light vehicles checked were found to be speeding, compared to July when the figure dropped to one in every 214 light vehicles.
The NSW Government said fine revenue from camera-detected speeding, red-light, mobile phone use and seatbelt offences goes into the Community Road Safety Fund, which is used to fund priority road safety programs and initiatives.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
