Six more red light cameras sites are being installed at high-risk intersections in Auckland to reduce dangerous driving and help save lives.
The new camera sites, funded by the regional fuel tax, will be in operation by October 2018. This brings the total red light cameras operating in the region to 12.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says, "Red light running places lives in danger. Last year there were four fatalities and 19 serious injuries at intersections due to red light running.
"With a 75 per cent increase in deaths and serious injuries on roads in Auckland we need to do everything we can to reduce unnecessary injuries and deaths.
"The scale of red light running in Auckland is demonstrated by the new cameras installed in June catching 660 people running red lights in just three weeks.
"We are not interested in red light cameras as a revenue-raising measure. We are publicising where the cameras will be to change behaviour and prevent people being hurt and killed, not to catch people out.
"Red light cameras are proven technology that reduces deaths and serious injury. A trial of red light cameras in Auckland between 2008-2010 produced a 43 per cent reduction in red light running and an average 69 per cent decrease in crashes attributable to red light running.
"Aucklanders have the right to feel safe when they have the right of way to drive or cross a road at a lighted intersection. Over the next ten years, we will bring the total number of red light cameras in Auckland to 42. They will be placed around our city to improve safety at intersections across our region," says Phil Goff.
The new camera sites will add to the six existing camera sites that began enforcing in June. Police's enforcement of six Auckland Transport cameras will continue. When the new cameras are ready to go live, Auckland Transport will choose which six sites will be enforced, with enforcement rotating between the 12 sites. This means cameras could be active at any site at any time.
The six new site locations were chosen based on safety risk. They will be at:
- Great South Road and Cavendish Drive - two sites
- Te Irirangi Drive and Accent Drive - two sites
- Great North Road and Rata Street
- Great South Road and Reagan Road
Following physical installation, the cameras will be calibrated and tested before enforcement begins.
Enforcement is undertaken by NZ Police and money from infringements goes to the Crown's National Consolidated Fund.
AT Chief Executive Shane Ellison says road safety is the organisation's top priority.
"We are investing a significant amount to make our roads safer for people driving, walking and riding bikes.
"Installing red light safety cameras is just one tool that we are implementing to make intersections safer, and we have an ongoing programme to install even more in the next 10 years.
"Auckland Council and Government are prioritising road safety initiatives as part of the $28 billion investment in Auckland's transport network over the next ten years," says Shane Ellison.
Inspector Peter McKennie, Operations Manager Road Policing, says people running red lights is just not worth it.
"You've got to ask yourself; is it worth crashing and risking injury - or worse - killing yourself or someone else?"
As well as the installation of the new cameras, AT is removing old camera housing from a number of sites around the city centre. These sites operate on old technology that can no longer be used for enforcement, and the red-light-running risk at these locations has reduced.
