Road safety is receiving a boost from the Western Australian Government. Photo: Main Roads, WA Government.
In an effort to crack down on dangerous drivers, the Cook Government in Western Australia is investing $80 million in road safety reforms.
The funding package includes $2.5 million to support a review of penalties and flexible infringement policies that will identify reward strategies for good drivers as well as tougher penalties for bad ones.
Western Australia’s Government will also invest $20 million to expand the safety camera program, including six new safety camera trailers, 32 near-miss cameras, four pairs of fixed point-to-point cameras and 100 ”smiley face cameras” with a focus on school zones.
The package will also include:
- $25 million to continue road safety upgrade programs to protect road users. This includes the Regional Road Safety Program and the Safer Roads and Bridges Program.
- $27 million for extra road safety advertising, public awareness campaigns and community education.
- $5 million to increase capabilities for infringement processing, targeting high-frequency offenders who put the public at risk.
“This significant investment is part of our government’s commitment to saving lives on WA roads by delivering improvements across our road network,” Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said.
“We’re investing a further $25 million into key road safety upgrade programs, building on the more than one billion dollars invested through the Regional Road Safety Program for roadworks including resurfacing, widening and installing audible edge lines.”
The government will also implement an expansion of safety camera technology, following an eight-month caution notice period for new cameras that detect mobile phone use, seatbelt violations and speeding.
In addition, with the additional cameras on the roads, dangerous drivers who disobey the law on a consistent basis will receive more fines and demerit points.
Four new pairs of fixed point-to-point average speed zone cameras will be placed on major roads and highways between urban and rural areas, with the Great Eastern Highway and Indian Ocean Drive being investigated as potential locations.
More funding will also be allocated to the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure to hire additional staff to support the expected increase in infringement issuing.
The community will also see a significant boost to road safety advertising, education and awareness campaigns, and more partnerships with organisations to improve safety at the grassroots level.
All revenue from the new safety cameras will go to the Road Trauma Trust Account, to be spent on road safety initiatives.
Over the past decade, more than $1 billion from the account has been invested to improve safety on WA roads.
