Hundreds of Bathurst drivers fined after camera warning signs removed

Up until last December, signs alerting motorists that a mobile speed camera ahead were provided in NSW. However, the government's crackdown on speeding drivers has seen them removed - and the number of cameras and their hours of operation tripled.

Figures from the NSW government's revenue office show a significant increase in the number of tickets from mobile speed cameras issued in Bathurst.

At Guyong, on the Mitchell Highway in December 2019 and January 2020, three tickets were issued. The same period 12 months later saw 41 drivers fined.

On the Great Western Highway, Kelso, westbound, between December and February 2019 and 2020, 21 drivers were caught speeding. One-year on that number jumped to 117.

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It was a similar story with eastbound traffic in the same location, between February and March 2020, 23 drivers were caught speeding. In the same period for 2021 there were 300 drivers fined.

In Gilmour Street, between February and March 2020 10 drivers were caught speeding by a mobile camera. The same period the following year there were 120 drivers fined.

Motoring lobby groups including the NRMA have questioned whether unmarked cameras will change behaviour, however the government is unrepentant, saying the initiative makes roads safer.

Regional Roads Minister and Bathurst MP Paul Toole agreed, saying the message was simple.

"If you drive to the speed limit you won't get fined," Mr Toole said.

"If you're not doing the wrong thing you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

He said while the focus seems to be how many people are fined, we should be more concerned with the number of people who are speeding.

"It's scary how many people are driving above the speed limit, putting not only their lives but everyone else at risk. No one likes getting a fine in the mail, but what is far worse is getting a knock on the door saying your loved one has been seriously hurt or killed in an accident involving speed."

Mr Toole said drivers "need to change their culture."

He also welcomed an inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety into the mobile speed camera program announced last week.

"At the end of the day it's about saving lives," he said.

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