Professor Maxwell Cameron, of the Monash University Accident Research Centre, said research definitively shows average speed cameras are “extremely effective” in making roads safer.

Mr Cameron said that it “is a fair way of measuring speed and the argument of revenue raising doesn’t hold”.

He said that if people obeyed the speed limits on roads they wouldn’t need to pay a fine, so in one way its a “voluntary tax”. 

The endorsement comes as the NSW government finalises its new Road Safety Plan, which will outline key initiatives to address the rising road toll.

Point-to-point cameras calculate distance over time to determine the average the speed of a vehicle over an extended distance. Currently in NSW they are only used for heavy vehicles. 

Some 61 per cent of respondents to an online poll conducted by The Daily Advertiser opposed the introduction of point-to-point cameras targeting speeding cars.

Professor Barry Watson, from the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety at the Queensland University of Technology, said research, while fairly recent, is overwhelmingly in support of point-to-point cameras. 

He said the key initiative is to encourage compliance across the whole network and evidence suggests the best way to do this is by having “a multi-strategy approach”.

This includes using mobile cameras as a way to monitor the network, fixed speed cameras to deter speed in black spots with high accident rates, and a highly visible police presence as an added deterrent. 

Wagga MP Daryl Maguire said the camera proposal, along with other measures, was a “reflection of the public’s frustration with (the) road toll and the stupidity that occurs on the roads”.

He also said, however, that discussion of this policy “has been generated in the media. No policies have been put before the party room, if it occurs I will consider it at that time”. 

Daily Advertiser