Evaluation of the crash effects of Victoria’s fixed freeway speed cameras (Report No. 350)
This aim of study was to evaluate the road safety benefits of fixed speed cameras in operation in Victoria in terms of their impact on crash frequency and severity. Evaluation focused on camera installations on two roads; fixed spot speed cameras at 4 locations on the Geelong Rd (Princes Freeway) and the point to point speed camera system on the Hume Freeway covering the freeway from Epping to Broadford. These road sections were chosen for evaluation based on sufficient before and after installation crash history and being free from other confounding influences at the camera sites.
Analysis results showed that the estimated proportional crash reduction effects associated with the cameras at fixed spot camera sites were statistically the same as those estimated for the point to point system. The only difference between spot speed cameras and the point to point system was the geographical area of influence over which associated crash reduction effects were estimated. Evaluation results estimated a 27.7% statistically significant reduction (p=0.016) in all casualty crashes associated with fixed speed camera installations. A corresponding 30.2% reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes was estimated however, this was not statistically significantly different from the estimate for all casualty crashes.
Absolute crash savings associated with the Hume Freeway point to point camera system were much greater than those estimated on the Geelong Rd spot speed camera network with annual estimated reductions of 21 and 6.8 casualty crashes respectively associated with the cameras. This reflects the greater crash population covered by the point to point system compared to spot speed cameras.
