More red light cameras

Six more red light cameras will be installed at high-risk intersections across Auckland as part of efforts to reduce dangerous driving and help save lives.

Funded by the regional fuel tax, the new sites will be in operation by October, bringing the total number of red light cameras to 12.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said they were not a revenueraising measure or to ‘‘catch people out’’ but were to prevent people getting hurt or killed.

‘‘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.’’ Goff said the scale of Aucklanders’ red light running was demonstrated by the six existing cameras, installed in June, catching 660 people running reds in three weeks.

The cameras were switched on after a Stuff investigation revealed they had been in calibration mode since their installation, at a cost to ratepayers of $720,000, since last July.

Over the next 10 years, the total number of red light cameras would reach 42, Goff revealed.

‘‘Aucklanders have the right to feel safe when they have the right of way to drive or cross a road at a lighted intersection.’’

When the new cameras were ready to go live, Auckland Transport would choose which six sites would be enforced, with enforcement rotating between the 12 sites. This meant cameras could be active at any site, at any time, the organisation said.