Truck drivers using the M2 motorway and Lane Cove tunnel in New South Wales have been warned new Average Speed Cameras will be turned on after September 22.
The cameras will cover a 26km route between Baulkham Hills at the start of the M2 and Naremburn on the M1.
The cameras will initially operate in warning mode for a minimum of two months, with heavy vehicle drivers caught speeding at 30 km/h or less over the speed limit sent a warning letter.
Heavy vehicle drivers caught speeding at more than 30 km/h over the speed limit will receive a penalty. Fines, demerit points and other penalties will apply to heavy vehicles as normal after the grace period.
In a statement announcing the new cameras, Transport for NSW says heavy vehicles make up only three per cent of vehicle registrations, and eight per cent of kilometres travelled by NSW vehicles, however, they account for around 19 per cent of road fatalities.
“Research shows that Average Speed Cameras dramatically reduce the number of serious crashes along a length of road,” it says.
“Fatal and serious injury crashes involving heavy vehicles fell by 42 per cent on Average Speed Camera lengths during the five years between 2018 and 2022.”
The cameras work by measuring the amount of time it takes a heavy vehicle to drive between two points which are a known distance apart. The average speed that the heavy vehicle travelled between the two points can then be calculated.
Fines from heavy vehicle Average Speed Cameras go directly into the Community Road Safety Fund to deliver targeted road safety initiatives in NSW.