An independent road safety specialist will assess how effective Canberra's road safety cameras are at reducing speeding and accidents, the ACT government has announced.
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The expert will also examine governance arrangements for the safety camera program after Attorney-General Simon Corbell expressed concern at delays in some projects, including the (now completed) installation of point-to-point speed cameras on Athllon Drive.
The government has a network of 13 red light/speed cameras, 13 fixed-speed cameras, five mobile camera cans and the point-to-point units on Athllon and Hindmarsh drives.
Mr Corbell said the number of cameras had grown rapidly over the past decade and it was the right time for an overarching review.
"We now have many more fixed-speed and red-light cameras, we now have point to point cameras and we're currently renewing the mobile camera vans,'' he said. "There's a lot of change happening - a lot more coverage [by] cameras. And now is the right time to review the overall effectiveness of the program, as well as make sure we've got the right governance arrangements for any future projects.''
The evaluation will be conducted next year and Mr Corbell hoped the results would help educate the community about how speed cameras contributed to road safety.
The expert evaluation would complement an inquiry into speed cameras being undertaken by Auditor-General Maxine Cooper.
Dr Cooper's inquiry is examining whether speed cameras are reliable, are effective at reducing speeding and are in the right places.
Mr Corbell said he had been unhappy with the rollout of controversial average speed point-to-point cameras on Athllon Drive.
The cameras were announced in 2012 but only became operational in early September this year.
"We have seen delays with a couple of our projects,'' Mr Corbell said.
"I haven't been happy with delays at Athllon Drive for point-to-point and I have had some concerns about the implementation of the point-to-point camera projects.''
Mr Corbell said Australian and international evidence had consistently shown that safety cameras improved compliance with speed limits and reduced red light running. Speed was a factor in more than one quarter of fatal crashes in the ACT.
''We know that it's a problem. It's a particular problem on Canberra roads because they are very well designed and have the capacity for higher speeds,'' Mr Corbell said.
