Average speed safety cameras are set to be installed on a stretch of Auckland road in a bid to curb speeding.
The two cameras, which work in tandem to measure drivers’ average speed as they travel between them, will be installed on Pine Valley Road in Auckland’s Dairy Flat.
New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said a speed survey on the stretch last year found that 74% of drivers exceeded the 80km/h limit.
“The average speed vehicles were travelling was almost 90 km/h,” NZTA Auckland and Northland director of regional relationships, Steve Mutton, said.
Mutton said there had been three crashes on the stretch between 2018 and 2023, which resulted in serious and “potentially life-changing” injuries.
“The types of crashes that happen and are likely to happen on this stretch of road, the volume of traffic, and driver behaviour all tell us that there is a serious risk of people being killed or seriously injured in crashes on Pine Valley Road,” Mutton said.
“We also know that risk can be significantly reduced if more people drive to the speed limit. By installing safety cameras here, we can encourage just that.”
One camera would be installed near the Kahikatea Flat Road intersection and the other near the Pine Valley Road roundabout.
Drivers would only be ticketed if their average travel speed over the entire distance between the two cameras was over the limit.
“They aren’t ‘pinged’ by a single camera or at a single point where they are over the speed limit,” NZTA said.
Mitton said speed safety cameras were more effective at reducing deaths or serious injuries than traditional speed cameras New Zealand has used.
“We expect they will reduce deaths and serious injuries by around 48%.
“Safety cameras will reduce speeding, ensuring that if crashes do happen, the people involved are far more likely to walk away unharmed.”
While construction was set to start next week, the poles and cameras won’t be installed until later this year.
Signage will be put up before the cameras start operating.
NZTA said it expected to start operating its first average speed safety cameras at Matakana Road, Warkworth, later this year. It planned to progressively bring other average speed safety cameras online in the following months.
