Four locations along the freeway are about to get new fixed cameras as authorities prepare to begin fining drivers breaching road rules within its point-to-point average speed zone.
Four locations along the freeway are about to get new fixed cameras as authorities prepare to begin fining drivers breaching road rules within its point-to-point average speed zone.
By Rebecca Peppiatt
January 22, 2025 — 2.00am
There are plans for more “smart” cameras to detect whether Perth drivers are wearing seatbelts or using mobile phones, as road users can expect to start receiving cautions for behaviour picked up on similar cameras set up along the city’s freeways.
Weeks after six of the country’s most advanced portable traffic cameras were launched by the WA government, a tender has been published calling for four new similar cameras; two for the Mitchell Freeway and two for the Kwinana Freeway.
The cameras will be able to spot mobile phones being used, seat belts not being worn, speeding, average speeds, red X-lane violations, and can detect unlicensed vehicles.
They will also use point-to-point technology to detect the average speed of each driver.
Four sites have been earmarked for the camera placements, including on the Kwinana Freeway near Gentilli Way, Salter Point heading north, Kwinana Freeway near Mill Point Road heading north, Mitchell Freeway near Karrinyup Road heading south, and Mitchell Freeway near Powis Street heading south.
These are in addition to cameras already at Bateman and Como on the Kwinana Freeway and at Innaloo on the Mitchell Freeway.
The only fixed point-to-point cameras already in use are along Forrest Highway in the South West.
Acting Road Safety Commissioner Rebecca Hamilton called the introduction of the cameras – the first of their kind in Australia – a “game changer”.
“These fixed safety cameras will have the ability to identify a range of high-risk behaviours at once including not wearing or incorrectly wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone while driving and speeding,” she said.
“They will complement existing fixed safety cameras installed on the Kwinana Freeway at Gentilli Way (Salter Point) and Mill Point Road (South Perth).”
Those sites have not yet been used for enforcement services, but that is set to change as of Australia Day, with drivers to be issued cautions for any illegal behaviour spotted by the fixed cameras on the Kwinana Freeway and by the new safety camera trailers operating statewide.
All fines generated from the cameras will be paid to the Road Trauma Trust Account and these funds must be used for road safety initiatives, Hamilton said.
A trial of a mobile camera pointed at just one lane on the Kwinana Freeway near Salter Point in November spotted more than 6300 people using their mobiles while driving, and 5100 not wearing their seatbelts, WA government data showed.
Had that camera been used to issue fines, it could have netted the Road Trauma Trust Account anywhere from $5 million to $10 million, depending on the severity of the offences.
“These new fixed cameras in conjunction with the new fleet of mobile road safety cameras are game changers,” Hamilton said.
“The evidence from the deployment of similar cameras in NSW and Queensland has shown a dramatic drop in the number of people on their mobile phones or not wearing a seatbelt.
“It is very simple, if you think you are going to be caught doing the wrong thing then most people change their behaviour.”
The tenders for the new freeway cameras are expected to be awarded in the third quarter of this year, with installation expected to begin at the end of this year and the first part of next year.
The Road Safety Strategy has a set target to reduce the number of people fatally, severely or seriously injured on our roads by 50-70 per cent by 2030, and to zero by 2050.
Nearly 190 people died on WA’s roads in 2024, the highest road toll for the state in 10 years.
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Rebecca Peppiatt – is a journalist with WAtoday, specialising in crime and courts.Connect via email.
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