Some “incredibly reckless, dangerous” behaviour on the roads is inevitable says AA spokesperson, and requires consequences with the goal of encouraging “better choices”.
The AA says a car clocked speeding at 204km/h highlights the need for speed cameras to stop “dangerous behaviour”.
Last week, 1News revealed some of the fastest speeds captured by speed cameras in the first two months since the NZ Transport Agency took over their operation.
The fastest speeds recorded across July and August were 204km/h, 193km/h, 175km/h, 171km/h, and 167km/h. NZTA elected to file charges in court for each speed under the Criminal Procedure Act.
AA road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen told 1News the high speeds recorded “illustrate that we’re always going to have some people doing incredibly reckless, dangerous things”.
“We need to have enforcement to try to catch people when they are doing some of those really risky things, and have some consequences so that we try to get people to make better choices.”
He said that while it may be inconvenient for many people to get a speeding ticket in the mail, the tickets were intended to “hopefully get people not to break the rules in the first place and make safer choices”.
Thomsen also said people who did dangerous things while driving needed to face some consequences, “so hopefully, they won’t do it again”.
Under New Zealand law, driving more than 40km/h above the speed limit can result in a 28-day licence suspension. Drivers caught driving at more than 50km/h over the limit could cop a careless, dangerous, or reckless driving charge.
NZTA said that while it could not comment on the speeds it recorded, as charges had been laid, the agency would prosecute any motorist driving 50km/h above the posted limit in court.
In an earlier statement to 1News, NZTA head of regulatory strategic programmes Tara Macmillan said the purpose of speed cameras was to “reduce harm on the roads, not to generate revenue”.
“Speeding drivers can cause serious and irreparable harm on the roads, including deaths and serious injuries.
“Evidence shows that we can reduce the chances of people being killed or seriously injured in crashes if drivers travel within speed limits, and that is why we have safety cameras.
“Speed can be the difference between death, a life-changing injury and walking away from a crash unharmed.”
NZTA took control of the tools from police in July, now operating 64 fixed speed cameras, one red light camera, and 35 mobile speed cameras.
In July and August, the agency issued a total of 79,364 infringement notices, comprised of 37,821 in July and 41,525 in August.
The total dollar value of all infringements from NZTA’s first two months was $4.78 million, with $1.7 million collected as of August 31.
All payments from speed camera tickets were transferred from NZTA to the Crown Consolidated Fund.
NZTA had also rolled out several new measures, including speed-camera-equipped SUVs and trailers, and was constructing new average speed safety cameras.
