New average speed cameras to be turned on in Mackenzie later this year
Monday, 13 July 2026
Four cameras which will be used to target motorists who exceed the average speed limit through part of the Mackenzie Basin have been installed, but won’t be working until later in the year.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi announced the plan to install the cameras, which would be used to determine the average speeds of motorists on State Highway 8 between Lake Tekapo and Twizel, in November.
Six locations were announced to target motorists with the technology, with 11 others confirmed earlier.
At the time, NZTA’s head of regulatory strategic programmes, Tara Macmillan, said the cameras were used widely overseas and were “proven to reduce deaths and serious injuries”.
Asked for an update on the installation last week, an NZTA spokesperson confirmed the cameras, which had been installed, were not yet operational.
“We’re expecting the cameras will be in operation some time in the second half of this year,” the spokesperson said.
Once a date had been confirmed, NZTA would communicate that locally and via its website, they said.
“Before we switch any average speed camera to enforcement, we install ‘average speed camera area’ signs ahead of the camera area.
“On longer highway ‘corridors’ like this one, we’ll also install extra ‘average speed camera area’ signs along the way.
“These signs are a reminder for motorists to check their speed and slow down if needed.”
They said NZTA had surveyed speeds on the stretch of SH8, between April and May last year, and found that 81% of vehicles were keeping to the speed limit.
“Experience has shown that these cameras are effective in reducing speeding.
“In the first four months since the first set of average speed safety cameras in New Zealand began enforcement in the Auckland region, compliance with the speed limit increased from 88% to more than 99%.”
Average-speed cameras work by calculating a vehicle’s average speed along a length of road between two cameras.
The cameras measure the time a vehicle takes to travel between the cameras and calculate the average speed. Drivers are ticketed if their average travel speed between two cameras exceeds the limit.
At the time, Aronsen said speeding was not the main issue on the highway, and tourist traffic had reduced average speeds.
He believed a lack of places for motorists to pull over, and a lack of passing opportunities were contributing to crashes in the district.