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INDUSTRY NEWS Road safety legislation passes - Beehive Release 5 May 2011 Transport legislation designed to improve the safety of young drivers and crack down on high-risk drivers has today passed in Parliament. Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the legislation is a major step forward in the government's efforts to improve road safety and, ultimately, bring down the road toll. The Land Transport (Road Safety and other Matters) Amendment Bill which includes the following provisions should be fully implemented by mid-2012. Raising the minimum driving age from 15 to 16 on 1 August this year. Providing for the NZ Transport Agency to strengthen the restricted licence test. Allowing police to take alcohol readings for research purposes from all drivers involved in fatal or serious injury crashes who have a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) between .05 and .08 (50 milligramsand 80milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or 250 and 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. Lowering the youth drink drive limit for drivers under 20 years of age from BAC 0.03 (30 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or 150 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath) to BAC zero. Repeat drink drive offenders will be subject to a BAC zero limit for 3 years after they receive their licence back. Provide for infringement offences and the associated infringement penalties for the breach of the zero drink drive limits. Allowing Courts the option to require repeat or serious drink drive offenders to use alcohol interlocks, after a mandated 90-day disqualification. Interlocks must be used for at least 12 months, and can only be removed where the offender shows a violation-free period of 6 months (reducing to 3 months if an approved alcohol assessment is also completed) and offenders will be subject to a zero BAC limit for the 3 years after the removal of their interlock. Doubling the maximum sentence for dangerous driving causing death from five years to ten years. Mr Joyce says the legislation targets the core of problem drivers which cause one in three deaths on our roads. “The Government is sending a serious warning to high-risk drivers by giving judges the power to impose a maximum sentence of ten years for dangerous driving causing death, double the previous penalty.” “This legislation means that the courts can require repeat alcohol offenders to complete an interlock programme – this technology physically prevents them from driving their cars. “Offenders will also be subject to a zero BAC limit licence for three years following a period of disqualification.” “Raising the licence age from 15 to 16, and measures to enable the restricted driving test to be strengthened reflect the disproportionate number of fatal and serious crashes involving young people.” The Bill will also allow Police to take alcohol readings for research purposes from drivers involved in fatal or serious injury crashes who have a blood alcohol concentration between 50 and 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. Following Royal Assent, the driving age change will come into force on 1 August this year. Transitional arrangements will be in place for drivers aged under 16 when the driving age increases. Other provisions will come into force over the next 12 months. Spike in speed camera tickets KATIE CHAPMAN Last updated 05:00 11/05/2011 More drivers are being caught speeding, but police are pulling over fewer people. The increase is due mostly to the rise in the number of speed cameras, figures obtained under the Official Information Act show. Last year almost twice as many drivers were caught by speed cameras as in 2009, and the number of speeding tickets issued has risen 25 per cent in the past five years. But though more cars were going past cameras, the percentage caught speeding was dropping, police road policing operations manager Rob Morgan said. That was evident in Wellington's Ngauranga Gorge, where the downhill speed camera – for years one of the top spots for being caught speeding – had fallen off the top five worst speed camera sites. The worst camera sites are now in Auckland, and most of the extra tickets are being issued in the top of the North Island, because that is where most of the new digital cameras have been installed. The latest figures reflected the use of 12 more cameras, Mr Morgan said. A drop in speed camera tickets in 2009 reflected the switch to digital technology, but that had since recovered, with a 90 per cent increase in the number of tickets from 2009 to 2010. The 919,639 tickets handed out last year compared with 735,799 in 2006. In the same period, there was a 46 per cent rise in the number of drivers caught by speed cameras. Revenue from cameras rose by about $12 million to $50m last year, while revenue from officer-issued tickets dropped about $4m to $36m. The mean speed on the open road last year was 96.2kmh, the lowest since a Transport Ministry survey began in 1995. But though drivers may be slowing down, police would continue to push for more cameras, Mr Morgan said. "We would be trying to make a case to say that we should be deploying more cameras on the basis that it's been proven to drive down speed, and driving down speed saves lives." AA motoring affairs general manager Mike Noon said it was important that extra cameras were in high-risk areas where speeding drivers were most likely to put other road users at risk. Many drivers were getting caught out in areas where they may not have noticed a change in the speed limit. "Since we miss most of the speed signs on the side of the road, it's becoming far easier to be caught out." Speed cameras 'cause erratic driving' Peter Woodman, AAP  August 6, 2010, 2:24 pm  Speed cameras can cause erratic driving by motorists, according to a survey released on Friday. As many as 81 per cent of drivers said they looked at their speedometers rather than the road when a camera came into view, the poll by insurance company LV= revealed. And five per cent admitted to braking suddenly when in sight of speed cameras, risking rear-end shunts. The poll of 1532 drivers also showed that 31 per cent had witnessed an accident, or a near-miss, as a result of drivers' erratic behaviour when faced with a camera. Almost half (46 per cent) of those surveyed reckoned cameras diverted attention away from other areas of their driving, while 11 per cent believed cameras actually increased the risk of an accident. Also, 46 per cent reckoned they existed only as a revenue raiser for the government. As many as 91 per cent of those polled confessed to speeding, with 15 per cent exceeding limits on a regular basis and 69 per cent travelling at an average speed of 81 miles an hour on motorways. Only nine per cent said they never went over the speed limit. LV= insurance managing director John O'Roarke said speed cameras had been a feature on UK roads for almost 20 years. "Yet the feedback from drivers is that while they may reduce speed, they also appear to impair driving ability or, at the least, concentration on the road," O'Roarke said. "As this report shows, some drivers behave erratically and, at worst, dangerously, around speed cameras." He said when driving, it was important to maintain a constant speed within the legal limits on the road. "Excessive speed contributes to 12 per cent of all injury collisions, and we'd encourage drivers to stick to all speed limits and not wait for a camera to reduce their speed suddenly." AA president Edmund King said they believed far more crashes were avoided as a result of cameras than the few that might have been caused by sudden braking. "Contrary to some perceptions about an alleged 'war on the motorist', the majority of drivers accept the use of speed cameras," King said. "Our last AA/Populus poll of almost 15,000 drivers showed that 69 per cent accepted the use of cameras." He said they feared widespread scrapping of cameras may lead to more drivers ignoring the 30mph (50km/h) limits and therefore more crashes. Revenue falls from speed cameras after glitches NZPA, NZPA August 12, 2009, 7:34 am   Glitches in new hi-tech speed cameras means police revenue is down at least $4 million in the first half of this year. Police issued 116,052 speed camera tickets in the first six months of this year, down 52,806 on the corresponding period in 2008, when police issued 168,858 tickets from the old wet-film mobile cameras, according to figures obtained by The Dominion Post under the Official Information Act. In December last year police national road policing manager Paula Rose said the new digital cameras would see more, not fewer, tickets issued. Police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said the reduced number of tickets reflected the transition period between old and new cameras. "As with the introduction of any complex new equipment, there have been minor technical issues in this process to deal with and resolve," he said. Thirty-one wet-film cameras have been replaced by 43 new Australian-supplied digital mobile cameras around the country between January and July this year at a cost of about $4 million. Police earlier this year admitted they had to waive 133 speeding tickets because the new cameras had wrongly clocked high-sided vehicles at twice their actual speeds. Based on the lower-end speeding fine of $80, nearly 53,000 fewer tickets would mean fines are down at least $4.2 million this year so far. Both Ms Rose and acting national manager of road policing Inspector Peter McKay were unavailable to discuss the specific reasons behind the reduction in infringement notices being issued. Mr Ogilvie would not comment on how many tickets had been waived because of the faulty equipment. He said there was no pressure on police to increase ticket numbers in other areas. "Police are interested in road safety and we are not driven by revenue." DRIVER INFORMATION NOTICE JANUARY 2009 - NEW POLICE MOBILE RADAR SPEED CAMERAS Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia won the New Zealand contract to upgrade the old film cameras with the latest in digital speed camera technology.   These new radar units started appearing on our roads in January 2009.   Unlike the speed cameras that we have been used to (which operated on the Ka band frequency) these new cameras operate on a low frequency K Band signal around the 24.100GHz range (normally K band radar is 24.150GHz).   Because of this ³off² frequency point and a very low power output, detection is difficult for many radar units. Those without pulse detection systems are unlikely to give any warning. The Radar Detectors with K and K Pulse detection will give some warning range that is variable depending on what side of the road the Camera Van is parked on.   Testing indicates range can be 80-150m.   Since NZ had not used this frequency for over five years most detectors have had K band deactivated.   Proposed action:   Activate K band on your detector to detect the new cameras. If equipped also de activate POP mode.   Activation of the frequency will mean false alarms being detected from the likes of Petrol Station and shopping mall doors.   The benefit in reactivating K Band is that your unit will detect the Safety Warning System transmitters being installed in New Zealand and roadside speed warning signs that are often placed close to road works.   If your detector has GPS, re-read the manual and start using this useful feature to cancel out known false alarms. If your upgrading these GPS enabled units are fast becoming a must have feature. The NEW Toyota and Mitsubishi vans of any colour are also more difficult to identify, so watch your speed and drive safe!   If in doubt on how to programme your detector, give us a call. New speed cameras to nab holiday drivers By TOM FITZSIMONS - The Dominion Post | Saturday, 06 December 2008 Click here for more information on RedFlex which is noted in this article. Motorists face a blitz from 43 new speed cameras - with the first due to be introduced in time for Christmas holiday traffic. Police confirmed the cameras and conceded that more tickets would be issued. They would also be digital, meaning tickets were issued more quickly. Police will pay almost $4 million for the cameras, one of which was being tested in Wellington's Ngauranga Gorge yesterday. They will replace 31 mobile cameras now in use - which catch a motorist every 10 minutes on average. The cameras, either at fixed locations or mobile ones housed in a parked van, have been used to issue more than 4.4 million tickets in the past decade, netting at least $350 million. The new cameras are expected to be introduced between the end of the year and March. Superintendent Paula Rose, the national road policing manager, said speed cameras had been an essential tool in moving on from the "killing fields" on the roads a generation ago. "Today we've got faster cars, we've got young people accessing fast cars ... so what a success rate." The decision to expand the speed camera programme was part of an attempt to lower the road toll to less than 300 by 2010. "Initially we do expect there will be an increase in tickets ... [but] any increase depends on what drivers choose to do." Most people respected the speed limit in camera areas, Ms Rose said. Automobile Association spokesman Simon Lambourne believed motorists supported speed cameras and the organisation would back having more. Police Association president Greg O'Connor said officers would support an initiative to reduce the road toll. They preferred speed-camera use to having frontline staff issue tickets. "It's a good idea because obviously the relationship between police and the public is negatively impacted by the heavy ticketing campaign." The new digital cameras are expected to process tickets about a day faster than existing ones, which take photos on film. Police headquarters will not divulge the cost of the cameras and says the contract, provisionally awarded to Australian firm Redflex, is still being decided.