Kiwis pay $74m in speeding fines

Many Kiwis have a heavy foot, and the habit is lining government coffers: Speeding fines hit a three-year high in 2017 – creating $74 million in revenue.

That figure looks set to rocket this year, as the Ministry of Transport develops a new road safety strategy to try to curb the accident toll. More than 205,000 tickets were issued in the past six months, already surpassing last year’s haul.

For a country with too many cars traversing too many dubious roads, speeding is the lethal injection that has the road toll increasing four years running – in 2017 there were 380 road deaths. There have been 270 so far in 2018, five more than at the same time last year.

In comparison, 254 people were killed on the roads in Sweden in the same year. Sweden has a population of 10 million – more than double that of New Zealand – making our roads almost three times as deadly.

It’s this dangerous mix that has the Automobile Association (AA) calling on the Government to take a different approach and consider options used overseas.

Mark Stockdale, principal adviser for regulations at AA, believed the increasing number of fines was an indication ‘‘we are heading in the wrong direction’’.

‘‘Issuing fines and deterrents does work for a large part of the motoring public, but we want to be issuing less. Not because there is less enforcement, but because more people are travelling at safe speeds,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s foolish to continue something that’s not working.’’

Mobile camera-issued fines totalled $27,655,910, and static camera-issued amounted to $15,364,950. While fines given by officers produced the most revenue – $31,869,610.

Stockdale wanted the Government to introduce signs warning motorists a speed camera was approaching.

‘‘In every other country that has speed cameras, they have a large sign in front of the speed camera which gives a driver the chance to check their speed,’’ he said.

‘‘The purpose of a camera is to get people to slow down, with a sign they get the chance to slow down – New Zealand doesn’t do that.

Ministry of Transport research from 2017 found 85 per cent of the road toll occurred below the speed limit, but Stockdale said you could still be speeding and be within the speed limit.

It’s about driving to the conditions, he said.

Stockdale said not everyone responded to fines, or the ‘‘stick’’, and there needed to be an alternative option, or a ‘‘carrot’’.

‘‘Perhaps offering repeat speeding offenders to attend a discounted course to educate them about speed and the costs might get them to change their habits.’’

The approach was used in the United Kingdom and it had shown to change behaviour and reduce offending, he said.

Stockdale also thought the government should consider utilising smartphone technology and instantly notify drivers of a speeding fine.

Acting Associate Minister of Transport, James Shaw said: ‘‘The number of people being killed and seriously injured on our roads has gone up every year for the past five, so it’s appropriate that police are out there reminding drivers to slow down and drive safely.’’