New Zealand’s new fleet of unmarked, camera-equipped SUVs has detected 67,308 speeding offences in its first four months on the road, figures from NZTA show.
The vehicles, which replaced police camera vans in May as part of NZTA’s takeover of the road-safety camera network, operated between 12 May and 21 August and generated $928,960 in fines. One SUV recorded 5,179 offences; another issued $104,270 in fines on its own. All revenue goes to the Government’s Consolidated Fund, not NZTA.
There are now 34 mobile camera SUVs nationwide, working alongside camera trailers. Designed to blend into traffic, they are deployed on an “anytime, anywhere” basis across urban and rural locations without warning.
NZTA’s head of regulatory strategic programmes Tara Macmillan said the units are being targeted to high-risk sites.
“Mobile cameras will be used in places where there is a risk of people being killed or seriously injured in a crash,” she told 1News.
“Evidence shows that unsigned mobile safety cameras are twice as effective at reducing crashes as sign-posted cameras. So, while our safety cameras in SUVs and trailers will be visible to drivers and will not be hidden, they won’t be signposted.”
The SUVs form part of a wider expansion that includes camera trailers and average-speed cameras. Between 1 July and 31 August, NZTA’s fixed cameras issued 79,364 infringement notices, totalling $4.78 million in fines during the agency’s first two months of operation.
Macmillan said the focus is safety, not revenue: “The evidence clearly shows that where safety cameras have been used in New Zealand and overseas, they reduce speeds and reduce the harm caused by crashes. Because of this, they’re proven to significantly reduce deaths and serious injuries.
“Speed can be the difference between death, a life-changing injury and walking away from a crash unharmed. Alongside other improvements, safety cameras will contribute to a transport system that protects us all.”
