It is just as well the ACT has introduced speed cameras. This week the fifth annual crash index was published by the insurance group AAMI. Speeding seems to be the one black spot for Canberra drivers. They are the least likely to break minor road rules; the least likely to engage in road rage; had the highest support for police and was among the highest for support for drink-driving punishment. But Canberrans were more likely to speed than drivers from everywhere but Sydney.
The popular perception is that the speed cameras are just revenue raisers. However, the experience in other states where they have been introduced is that they result in motorists slowing down. That means fewer accidents and therefore fewer deaths, injuries and property damage and lower insurance premiums, both for property and third-party insurance. Speed cameras cut the crash rate by up to 20 per cent.
The crash index showed an alarming national trend. It found increased family and work stress which in turn made drivers more selfish.
The ACT Government quite rightly makes no apology for introducing speed cameras. Those who do not speed have nothing to fear. Those who regard them a mere revenue-raisers have a very simple way to get around that. Do not speed and you will not have to contribute to the revenue raising.
The increasing use of technology for safety and enforcement has resulted in reductions in road accidents. The monetary costs have been well worthwhile. If everyone kept to the speed limits all the time, road accidents would be a rarity. There may come a time when the diminishing returns from enforcement become too marginal to justify extra measures, but with an annual death toll of 1700 nationally and 20 to 30 locally, that time has not yet come.