Transport Agency to take over speed cameras from police

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Transport Agency to take over speed cameras from police

tehgerbil

1110 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 884

ID Verified

Subscriber

#261561 3-Dec-2019 21:19

RNZ reported in May that police no longer wanted to manage the camera network because of rising costs and the belief it did not align with core police work.

The government yesterday announced the transfer of the operations as part of a suite of changes.

These include dropping speed limits around schools, boosting the number of speed cameras and introducing speed camera warning signs.

The government said it expected the changes to become law by the middle of next year.

Didn't see too much about it on the usual news sites, just RNZ. Not sure how to feel about it, other than hopefully not a step towards privatization?

What are your guys thoughts?

1 | 2

1670 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 657

ID Verified

#2367814 3-Dec-2019 21:35

I know someone who is a camera operator and I will see him tomorrow night.

He has told me they have police radios in the car and can call comm's on the radio if they see something stupid ( which apparently is quite regularly )

If they move to LTSA I think they will remove the radios, calling *555 takes time and often they dont answer.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

shanes

270 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 84

Lifetime subscriber

#2367816 3-Dec-2019 21:44

SATTV:

I know someone who is a camera operator and I will see him tomorrow night.

He has told me they have police radios in the car and can call comm's on the radio if they see something stupid ( which apparently is quite regularly )

If they move to LTSA I think they will remove the radios, calling *555 takes time and often they dont answer.

John

They won't get an answer from LTSA either, they haven't existed since 2008 :)

scuwp

3927 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2510

#2367820 3-Dec-2019 22:05

SATTV:
I know someone who is a camera operator and I will see him tomorrow night.

He has told me they have police radios in the car and can call comm's on the radio if they see something stupid ( which apparently is quite regularly )

If they move to LTSA I think they will remove the radios, calling *555 takes time and often they dont answer.

John

I suspect that will be the least of the concerns for the transfer. A camera operator can still record and report things. I doubt police patrols drop what they are doing unless by some stroke of luck they happen to be nearby, so any reports would be followed up later anyway.

BTW the LTSA became Land Transport NZ in the early 2000's. That was then merged with Transit NZ to form the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) in 2009 or there abouts. They fund the cameras and part of the Infringement Bureau anyway.

It makes sense to me that as the national road controlling authority with a responsibility for safety including speed management, deliver the speed camera programme as part of that function. NZTA already regulate large parts of the land transport system.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#2367821 3-Dec-2019 22:07

SATTV:

I know someone who is a camera operator and I will see him tomorrow night.

He has told me they have police radios in the car and can call comm's on the radio if they see something stupid ( which apparently is quite regularly )

If they move to LTSA I think they will remove the radios, calling *555 takes time and often they dont answer.

John

Took me over 20 minutes to get through Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

Geektastic

18009 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 8465

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2367848 3-Dec-2019 22:45

Let's hope it leads to many more fixed cameras, based on some of the insanity I've seen in the South island this week.

About 1000 cameras on each island should do it.

jarledb

Webhead
3319 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1983

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2367850 3-Dec-2019 22:51

Geektastic: Let's hope it leads to many more fixed cameras, based on some of the insanity I've seen in the South island this week.

About 1000 cameras on each island should do it.

What I think they should do is add camera systems that track average speed between cameras. Especially in areas where they have a lot of accidents.

It's really effective to get people to keep to the speed limit between cameras.

Jarle Dahl Bergersen | Referral Links: Want $50 off when you join Octopus Energy? Use this referral code
Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by making a donation or subscribing.

Geekzone

Want to support Geekzone and browse the site without the ads? Subscribe to Geekzone now (monthly, annual and lifetime options).

PolicyGuy

1820 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1769

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2367877 4-Dec-2019 07:53

jarledb:

Geektastic: Let's hope it leads to many more fixed cameras, based on some of the insanity I've seen in the South island this week.

About 1000 cameras on each island should do it.

What I think they should do is add camera systems that track average speed between cameras. Especially in areas where they have a lot of accidents.

It's really effective to get people to keep to the speed limit between cameras.

The NZ Police seem to have a bit of an issue with introducing APNR (Automatic Plate Number Recognition) technology, which is fundamental for average speed measurement.
IIRC their concerns relate to the privacy impacts of such wide-scale surveillance, and the expectation that Police having a database of identifiable vehicle movement data - including of course both speeding and non-speeding vehicles - would be so irresistibly interesting to all manner of agencies and people that abuse would be inevitable. I think there is an issue there.

Maybe if NZTA held the database and access to it from outside was by warrant / court order only, this might reduce risk of abuse

On the other hand, companies like airports and parking companies are entirely happy to deploy APNR to control access to car parks. I sometimes wonder how long they retain the data and whether they use it for other purposes

FineWine

3111 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2440

Trusted

Nurse (R)

Lifetime subscriber

#2367878 4-Dec-2019 07:55

As I previously posted in another Topic:

Would also like to see introduced, widely, "Fixed dual speed and red light cameras" and way more "average speed cameras" than the two they have in Auckland, with stiff penalties. Both these systems are a deterrent but as always it all boils down to EVERYONE (drivers & passengers) taking responsibility for their actions and this starts from the cradle and ends in the grave.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

Handsomedan

7769 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 7402

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2367879 4-Dec-2019 08:07

I like the idea of average speed cameras or whatever they're called, but they also need to ping those that are driving X% below the speed limit too...they are just as dangerous (if not more so in some circumstances) than those that are tracking at a few km over...

the resultant road rage and temper flares are enough to cause carnage on the roads...they also need to be brought to task.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.
Handsome Dan needs to stop adding three dots to every sentence...

Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

*Gladly accepting donations...

Behodar

11089 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6069

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2367904 4-Dec-2019 08:49

You have to be careful with averages though. Imagine that you're going at 100, then you pull over for a phone call, then you take off at 100 again. The two cameras may then show an average of 70.

BlueShift

1692 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 969

#2367907 4-Dec-2019 08:54

Handsomedan:

I like the idea of average speed cameras or whatever they're called, but they also need to ping those that are driving X% below the speed limit too...they are just as dangerous (if not more so in some circumstances) than those that are tracking at a few km over...

the resultant road rage and temper flares are enough to cause carnage on the roads...they also need to be brought to task.

That's a lot harder to automate though - If point A & point B are 1km apart, and I get from A to B in 45 seconds, I'm obviously travelling at over 50km/h.

If it takes me 2 minutes to get from A to B, maybe I paused on the side of the road to answer a phone call, or stopped to post a letter or something. I wasn't necessarily driving at 20km/h the whole way.

Geekzone

Want to support Geekzone and browse the site without the ads? Subscribe to Geekzone now (monthly, annual and lifetime options).

nzkc

1634 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1041

#2367915 4-Dec-2019 09:15

Warning: Some pet peeves ahead!

I fear, and will happy to be wrong, too much emphasis will be placed on speed cameras and nowhere else. Even more than today.

Speed is just one form of poor driving. And even then there are some scenarios where travelling faster than the limit is still safe.

I wish there was also more focus on other aspects of driving too:

Failing to keep left. And related: pulling straight into the middle lane when joining the motorway - even though the left lane is clear! The amount these two actions clog up Auckland's motorways is huge.
Holding up traffic by doing 80 until there's a passing lane and hitting 100 through it and not letting the traffic behind you pass (this leads to some horrendous overtaking manoeuvrers through frustration)
Failing to use your mirrors to realise there's a queue behind you and letting them pass
Turning left, from a left lane into the right lane (you should be turning into the left lane) when there are 2 (or more) lanes
Failing to indicate

If the transport agencies really did put a focus on safety I think we would have more multi lane highways and more overtaking lanes. Physical separations in direction of traffic. Improved road surfaces. And road works that are completed a lot more quickly. If you travel SH1 from Auckland you'll appreciate this last one!

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1678

Lifetime subscriber

#2368006 4-Dec-2019 11:07

NZ have this elevated opinion of their driving ability.
Have you ever been at a BBQ or another social situation when anyone has admitted at being anything below "better than average" driver.

Moaning about being caught speeding and how it's only a revenue gathering exercise and there are all sorts of other things that should be monitored instead all of which are coincidentaly very difficult to actually catch people doing.

How about making people driving badly and caught on car cams liable.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2638
Inactive user

#2368007 4-Dec-2019 11:12

Speed is low hanging fruit.

As others have said, there are far worse issues with driving in NZ. Speed is just the one they can easily penalise.

Keep left, pay attention, go a speed appropriate for the road.

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1678

Lifetime subscriber

#2368008 4-Dec-2019 11:17

On never going to buy an ev until I can drive from auckland to wellington without stopping arguement.

What reasonable driver thinks driving that distance without a break as reasonable but I heard it said many times.

After all they are better than average drivers....

1 | 2