Forrest Highway speed cameras to be given green light to start issuing fines

Point-to-point speed cameras will go live on Forrest Highway on September 6 and motorists can expect to be issued with fines if they don't adhere to the speed limit.

While the cameras are currently installed and operational on the highway, WA Police have been unable to infringe motorists until amendments to the existing Road Traffic legislation were approved in state parliament.

Minister for Road Safety Michelle Roberts made the announcement the cameras would go live next month on Thursday morning.

"This is about slowing motorists down and ultimately saving lives," she said. 

"This is not a revenue exercise, this is about dealing with a stretch of road that has a bad crash history."

Ms Roberts said the road experienced 183 crashes and eight people lost their lives in the past seven years.

The cameras, also known as average speed enforcement cameras, calculate the amount of time it takes a vehicle to travel between two points, and compare the average speed with the speed limit. If a driver is found to have exceeded the limit then a ticket can be issued.

The cameras, which also operate as fixed speed cameras, can ping a driver at the beginning of the zone, the end, or by calculating their average speed through the zone.

If a driver is speeding at each occasion, they will only receive one fine for the worst offence.

The cameras were first switched on in October, and an initial six month test revealed one in every three drivers were speeding while travelling through the 26 kilometre stretch of road.

The trial found 90 per cent of those speeding were exceeding the limit by between one and nine kilometres, while around 10 per cent were exceeding 120 kilometres an hour.

Around five per cent of drivers – around 25,000 people – reduced their speeds when travelling through the zone.

The trial was deemed a success, and changes to existing Road Traffic legislation will now encompass the use of point-to-point cameras as a means to ensure drivers reduce their speeds on the popular highway.

However the trial also attracted concern, as some drivers questioned the position of the cameras and their ultimate effectiveness.

The 26-kilometre zone includes the only two roadhouses along the 130 kilometre stretch of road between Baldivis and Bunbury – making those who stop for a snack or to fill up their cars essentially immune from getting a speeding ticket from the new cameras.

Motorists also taking turn-offs to the towns of Harvey, Yarloop, Preston Beach and Waroona were also be able to speed without the likelihood of detection.

But the government continues to stand by its chosen trial site, and a spokesman said Forrest Highway was chosen after an extensive analysis of data provided by the Road Safety Commission.

From 2009 to 2016, there were 183 crashes on Forrest Highway. Seven accidents resulted in death, while 22 led to serious injury.

Road Safety Commissioner Kim Papalia previously said several key factors were considered during deciding the location of the speed cameras.

"There have been too many tragedies along that stretch of the Forrest Highway," he said.

"These cameras are not intended to be secret, we want people to know about them and slow down, because ultimately it's about saving lives."

In August last year, member for Collie Mick Murray said while he supported speed cameras as a method to reduce the regional road toll, he encouraged the State Government look at other measures. 

"In all the time I have been travelling up and down Forrest Highway, I have not seen any cops," he said.

"However, I have seen four speed cameras. During one of our committee hearings, I asked why the police pick easy spots for the placement of speed cameras, such as the Old Mandurah Road turn-off on Forrest Highway.

"Since that time, I have not seen those cameras again. The police could put a Multanova there and put the cameras in another location.

"The speed limit at that turn-off is reduced to 80 kilometres. Most people would know where that turn-off is. There have been several accidents at that intersection, and two fatalities.

"We do not need a copper to sit there just to catch a person who is driving at 90km/hr instead of 80 at that intersection. They should be catching the people who get through that intersection and then speed up to 130 or 150km/hr.

"We need to have dedicated traffic cops. That has been in and out over the years. If we do not have traffic police on our highways, we will have problems."