NZTA wants to quadruple number of ‘safety cameras’ on our roads

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is planning on quadrupling the number of ‘safety cameras’ on our roads over the next few years, including those that detect speed.

Just under 200 cameras are currently in operation across the country, but that number is set to rise to nearly 800 according to the agency’s Director of Regional Relationships Emma Speight, via Stuff.

We understand that the total amount will be made up of red light, phone use, seatbelt use, static speed, and point-to-point speed (average speed) cameras.

This comes as the transport agency is set to take over responsibility for camera operations from the New Zealand Police from around mid-2024.

NZTA’s website states that systems are currently being developed to handle the transfer.

In October, NZTA announced that it would be installing several new average-speed cameras across Auckland, their design of which is said to be more effective at catching speeders.

“When operating in average speed mode, drivers are only ticketed if their average travel speed over the entire distance between the two cameras is over the limit – they can’t be ‘pinged’ by a single camera,” said Tara Macmillan, Head of Regulatory Strategic Programmes at NZTA.