New high-tech monitoring cameras roll out across Queensland to boost vehicle safety

road accident australia — Member of the public look on as firemen and policeman inpsect a bus which crashed into parked cars along a main road in Sydney, Australia, July 1, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray Reuters/David Gray

Three new automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras have rolled out across Queensland’s road freight network. These cameras will monitor heavy vehicles, boost heavy vehicle safety and provide further step towards a national heavy vehicle compliance network.

One of the three cameras was already installed at Goodna. More cameras will be installed over the next 12 months near Morven in regional Queensland and at Barcaldine.

Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester said the high-tech monitoring cameras aim to encourage safer driving practices on the state’s freight network and heavy vehicle routes. The cameras are installed in conjunction with the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, targeting safety on main freight corridors and black spots.

Federal Member for Maranoa David Littleproud has welcomed the news, saying heavy vehicles and trucks are the lifeblood of the state’s transport network. “The Coalition is heavily investing in upgrading key freight corridors throughout regional Queensland to not only make sure transportation happens efficiently, but also to keep our roads safe,” Littleproud said in a joint media release with Petroccitto.

A junction between the Warrego and Landsborough Highways is near Morven and near Barcaldine, Capricorn and Landsborough Highways meet. These areas, Littleproud said, represent very significant transport connections in his electorate, “so it makes sense safety is a priority.”

He maintained that the new cameras will be part of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator's National Compliance Information System. It will merge compliance and camera data from territories and states in order to provide a national set of heavy vehicle related compliance and monitoring data.

For NHVR CEO Sal Petroccitto, installing further cameras on the ground was an important step towards better data sharing across borders. More cameras will also reinforce efforts to make the nation’s key freight networks safer.

A research from Monash University Accident Research Centre has found that Australia could be a road rage capital. Pettrocitto believes that these cameras can help authorities detect harmful behaviour and unsafe practices by heavy vehicles on the road. They will also narrow the focus for compliance and enforcement efforts.

He added that national visibility of vehicle movements lets the NHVR and other enforcement agencies to spot drivers and operators who systematically flout fatigue laws. To identify further camera sites along the busiest freight routes and take full advantage of heavy vehicle monitoring capability, the NHVR teams up with other state road transport authorities.

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