Speeding Fines Down, Road Fatalities Up

Data released by Transport for NSW shows the number of speeding fines issued across New South Wales in February 2025 is down approximately 18.5 per cent compared with the same time last year.

According to Yahoo News, fewer than 44,000 speeding infringements were sent to drivers across the state last month – whereas more than 54,000 were handed out in February 2024.

The trend isn’t isolated to February. Over the 2023-24 financial year, 712,000 fines were issued – a drop of 11 per cent year-on-year.

Conversely, statistics from Transport for NSW also show both road fatalities and serious injuries are up.

So far this year, 77 people have lost their lives on New South Wales roads, compared to 74 at the same point in 2024.

Over the 2024 calendar year, 10,695 people were seriously injured, up from 10,613 recorded in the year prior.

Speaking to Yahoo News, a spokesperson for Transport for NSW said the drop in speeding fines shows people are taking responsibility and are “getting the message”.

However, the decline in infringements issued appears to be more closely linked with signage.

In late 2020, the NSW Government announced it was removing warning signs for mobile speed cameras.

Over the 2021-22 financial year, the number of fines for speeding more than doubled – with 1.25 million infringements sent out, compared to fewer than 460,000 in 2019-20.

The warning signs for mobile speed cameras were reintroduced in 2023, coinciding with a drop in drivers caught.

While experts agree the chances of a fatal crash increase significantly when speeding, figures provided by authorities do not yet appear to show a clear correlation between the number of speeding cameras and a supposed drop in road fatalities.

“Speeding remains the biggest contributing factor to deaths on NSW roads,” a spokesperson for Transport for NSW told Yahoo News.

“Road safety is a shared responsibility and there is never an excuse to endanger lives on the road by speeding on the road. Speeding infringements captured by mobile speed cameras in NSW have declined significantly since the reintroduction of portable signage.”

What do you think? Do speed cameras save lives?