CAMERAS save lives, the State Government spruiks, but it no longer wants you to know where they are.
Drivers will no longer be able to find out where mobile speed cameras are being placed, with the Government scrapping the publication of their weekly locations.
There was an 8 per cent fall in fines in the eight months after the public became aware of camera locations.
The Government yesterday said it would no longer place the rostered camera sites online, following a review of the effectiveness of the practice on road safety.
The initiative had been an election promise but Police Minister Peter Ryan said an internal review had found it had no demonstrated impact on road safety statistics.
The Department of Justice inquiry was sparked by an Auditor-General's report in August, which found there was "a likelihood of increased adverse road safety outcomes" from the publication of the cameras' location.
"Based on findings of the review, and taking into consideration the Auditor-General's recommendation, the Coalition Government has decided not to continue providing a weekly list of restarted mobile road safety camera locations," Mr Ryan said.
The weekly list was published on the Government's Cameras Save Lives website and distributed to the media.
The review found there were no significant differences in the proportion of speeding vehicles state-wide and no link between the weekly publication of mobile camera locations and road fatalities.
Comparing February to September 2011 to the same period last year, the review found there was an eight per cent drop in the state-wide monthly average for fines from mobile cameras.
The fall could be attributed to adverse weather and flooding, mobile warning signage and industrial action by police from July.
The move comes as police prepare for an unprecedented blitz on speeding and drink and drug-affected drivers over the holiday period.
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe told the Herald Sun it would include a dramatic increase in mobile speed camera use in high-risk locations.
