What the Tasmanian Liberals will do:

• Quarantining speed camera revenue for use on road safety initiatives;
• Compulsory driver education for all drivers who lose their licences;
• Incentives for learner drivers who undertake professional driver training;
• An incentive scheme to reward safe drivers; and
• Permanent speed cameras at identified traffic black spot sites.

Speed Camera Revenue

The Tasmanian Liberals understand that there is a general principle not to hypothecate revenue received from fines, but do not accept that principle in regard to fines paid for proven speed camera offences. Given that speed is such a large contributor to car crashes which cause death and injury, we believe the revenue from speed cameras should be quarantined to be used for road safety measures, including public education and physical infrastructure.

Driver Education

The Tasmanian Liberals believe that any person who has had his or her driver licence suspended or who has been disqualified from driving because of an accumulation of
offences or a particular offence, should be required to undertake a short course which relates to driver behaviour.

In Government, advice would be sought from other jurisdictions which have had success with this initiative in improving driver behaviour.

Driver Training

The Tasmanian Liberals believe that, as well as sanctions to deal with driving offences, a responsible State Government would support incentives to encourage novice drivers to undertake professional training in defensive driving.

One incentive would be a rebate on the fee for a full driver licence upon providing proof of successful completion of a course which has been accredited by the State Government.

Safe Drivers

Consistent with our dual ‘incentive and sanction’ approach, the Tasmanian Liberals believe that there should be a rebate on driver licence renewal fees for drivers who can prove they have no driving convictions for the previous five years in any Australian jurisdiction, and who are not facing any unheard charges.

Black Spots

Permanent speed cameras should be installed at black spot sites which have been proven by police statistics to be common sites of crashes. The Tasmanian Liberals recognise that there is a cost for such equipment, so therefore the cameras would be rolled out over a period of time. In the interim, all recognized black spot sites in Tasmania should be sign-posted to alert road users.