Road safety cameras
Tim READ (Brunswick) (09:50): A constituent recently told me that there are currently no red-light cameras at pedestrian crossings across Victoria. There are 287 fixed cameras in Victoria that detect red-light infringements or speeding, or both, and all of these are at intersections or on freeways, tollways and highways. This is concerning given the most vulnerable individuals on the road are those who are not inside a car, particularly pedestrians. I regularly hear of motorists running red lights at pedestrian crossings, and constituents describe cars flying through at high speeds when pedestrians have right of way, endangering themselves and at times young children. Up until 2022 there was one red-light pedestrian-crossing camera installed along the Maroondah Highway in Lilydale, which within 171 days detected over 25,000 vehicles disregarding speed limits or red lights. So these issues clearly extend beyond Brunswick to right across Victoria. I think it is a bit of a mark of this state’s priorities that we are using red-light cameras to protect cars but not people. While this may be inadvertent, I am also concerned that pedestrian crossings are somehow less visible to motorists. We need speed and red-light cameras at pedestrian crossings to protect our state’s most vulnerable road users.