50 Victoria Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
22 December 2023
Tim Rowlands
[FYI request #20237 email]
REF: OIA-10773
Dear Tim
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
This is a follow-up response to your email
of 16 August 2022 requesting information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act) where you asked, among other things, about the location of the safety
cameras being used in the mobile phone and seatbelt detection trial. At the time of your request, NZ
Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) refused the information under section 6(c) of the Act.
The use of section 6(c) of the Act does not rely on whether infringement notices are issued; it is used
in instances where making the information available would be likely to prejudice the maintenance of
the law, including the investigation or detection of offences.
At the time of your request, the camera trial was stil ongoing, and this information was refused under
section 6(c) of the Act as disclosure of the camera locations used in the trial would have altered
people’s behaviour, affecting the accuracy of the trial results. This would have negatively impacted our
ability to assess safety cameras as a possible enforcement tool to detect people committing offences
by driving while using their mobile phones and/or not wearing their seatbelts. In turn, this would have
then prejudiced our ability to maintain the law.
The trial has now been completed and its results are being used to develop a strategy to reduce
offending in the future. The results of the trial were published in July 2023 and can be viewed at:
Mobile phone and seatbelt detection trial report- July-2023
I can now confirm the cameras used in the trial were located in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland at:
• State Highway 1 Newmarket
• State Highway 16 causeway
• Fanshawe Street in the Auckland Central Business District.
Please see page 7 in the link above for more details about the camera locations.
If you would like to discuss this reply with NZTA, please contact our Ministerial Services team by email
to [NZTA request email].
Yours sincerely
Tara Macmil an
Head of Regulatory and Strategy Programmes
Copy to:
Katty Lau
Investigator
Office of the Ombudsman
[email address]
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