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Renewed calls for mobile speed camera warning signs as a year’s worth of fines are issued in a month 

Mobile speed camera fines in NSW have skyrocketed since portable warning signs disappeared, reflective vehicle markings were removed, and the technology was enabled to catch cars travelling in both directions.


The NSW Opposition has backed growing community anger over an unprecedented surge in fines from mobile speed cameras since warning signs were removed six months ago.

The latest figures show speed camera cars in NSW now earn almost as much in one month as they previously earned in a year.

In the first six months of 2021, mobile speed cameras in NSW issued $28 million in fines versus just $2.9 million for the same period the prior year – an almost tenfold increase.

Above: A plain white Subaru Forester mobile speed camera car in NSW. Source: Nine News.

Of particular concern is the even sharper increase in the number of motorists issued speeding tickets for travelling at less than 10km/h over the posted limit.

The spike in speeding offences less than 10km/h over the posted limit has been driven by numerous factors, say experts, most of which escaped mainstream media attention due to the initial focus on the removal of mobile speed camera warning signs. 

Since the initial announcement, speed camera vehicles have been stripped of their reflective markings, the camera technology was upgraded to snap speeders in both directions, and the threshold that triggers a speeding fine was lowered by authorities.

Above: An example of earlier speed camera car in NSW with reflective markings, which had portable warning signs before and after its roadside set-up. The warning signs are gone, and the cars have been stripped of their reflective markings.

Furthermore, the NSW Government has put more camera cars on the road for longer hours and in more locations, roughly tripling their hours of operation.

The NSW Government announced in November 2020 it would take 12 months to phase out the small reflective warning signs before each mobile speed camera set-up. However, the portable signs disappeared almost overnight.

In addition, the highly reflective checkers on speed camera cars were removed; the rear of each vehicle is now blank and the doors have only subtle markings.

Above: This anonymous-looking Subaru Forester is a NSW mobile speed camera car. Source: Channel Nine. 

The NSW Opposition has repeatedly accused the NSW Government of making a “blatant cash grab” by fining a record number of motorists for speeding offences less than 10km/h over the limit, and has called for an inquiry into decision to remove mobile speed camera warning signs.

Figures show mobile speed camera cars in NSW issued $28,273,598 worth of fines in first six months of 2021, versus $2,993,593 in fines in the first six months of 2020.

A spokesman for the NRMA said removing the warning signs for mobile speed cameras was “the wrong policy”.

“We think warning signs are important, they help to address people’s behaviour behind the wheel,” said NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury. 

“Unfortunately what we have now seen as the result of removing the warning signs is that … public support for this approach is collapsing.”

Above: How Nine News reported the latest statistics. The images show the now obsolete portable warning signs and reflective vehicle markings.

Furthermore, the NRMA said, authorities are now “fining more people in a month (than) they were in a whole year” for certain speeding offences.

Government data shows in the five months to May 2021, mobile speed cameras fined more than 110,000 drivers for travelling at less than 10km/h over the speed limit, versus about 7000 tickets issued for the same offence over the same period the prior year.

This worked out to be an average of 22,272 fines each month for the first five months of 2021, versus an average of 1397 fines each month for the first five months of 2020.

According to government data, mobile speed cameras raised $15.9 million from speeding fines less than 10km/h over the limit in the first five months of 2021, versus $872,000 for the same speeding range in the same period in 2020.

Above: Camera cars in NSW can now detect speeding motorists in both directions. Source: Nine News.

Opposition leader Chris Minns, who was previously the Shadow Roads Minister, has repeatedly called for mobile speed camera warning signs to be reinstated – as well as calling for an increase in highway patrol activity – to help reduce the road toll, rather than simply hitting drivers with a fine in the mail for low-speed offences.

“We need to do everything we can to save lives on our roads,” Mr Minns told media earlier this year. “Warning signs change behaviour and get drivers to ease off the pedal and slow down.”

Shadow Roads Minister, John Graham, said the latest mobile speed camera revenue statistics were “simply astonishing figures,” and removal of warning signs has unfairly hit people in the hip pocket rather than making any tangible impact on the road toll.

Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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