- Innovative red-light technology rolling out at 15 intersections across Qld
- Risk of collision is reduced by more than 33 per cent
- National Road Safety Week – Everyone has the right to get home safe
The Palaszczuk Government is committed to providing a reliable, accessible, and, most importantly, safe road network, investing more than $1.5 billion in road safety over the next four years to make Queensland’s roads as safe as they can be.
This National Road Safety Week (14 to 21 May), the Palaszczuk Government is announcing the extension of its award-winning ‘Hold the Red’ technology in 15 targeted locations across Queensland, helping to ensure more Queenslanders get home safely.
Hold the Red is an intelligent crash avoidance system that uses radar to detect vehicles about to run a red light and implements a two-second delay that prevents other motorists or pedestrians from entering the intersection, which significantly reduces the risk of a collision with any red-light runners.
An evaluation of the Hold the Red trial by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland (CARRS-Q) found the Hold the Red system can reduce red-light running crashes by 33.47 per cent.
This initiative is part of a suite of measures being considered to reduce the number of fatalities and accidents on Queensland roads, including the introduction of an immediate licence suspension for high-range speeding offences, developing and trialling engaging content for young drivers on road rule changes and emerging road safety issues and trialling new technology.
Sadly, 83 people have already lost their lives this year on Queensland roads. Last year, 297 people lost their lives. And nearly every year, almost 8,000 people in Queensland are seriously injured on our roads, with some of these injuring being life changing.
Landmarks around Australia will be lit in yellow this week to shine a light on road safety.
Quotes attributable to the Minister:
“This National Road Safety Week, Queenslanders are being asked to ‘drive so that others survive,” he said.
“It’s an important message that reminds us that road safety is everyone’s responsibility.
“Motorists who run red lights pose a potentially deadly risk to other road users.
“An evaluation of our ‘Hold the Red’ trial sites found the system can dramatically improve safety by reducing potential conflicts between red-light runners and cross traffic by more than 33%.
“Following the trial’s success, we’re rolling out this life-saving technology to an additional 15 signalised intersections across the state.
“We’ve selected locations where there’s a history of red-light running behaviour and expect to have the ‘Hold the Red’ technology installed by mid-2024.
“The expansion is a key feature of the Queensland Road Safety Action Plan 2022-24 and will further assist as we work towards achieving our Queensland Road Safety Strategy 2022-31 targets of reducing fatalities by 50% and serious injuries by 30% by 2031.”
Fast Facts
‘Hold the Red’ (HTR) is installed into the Traffic Controller Cabinet at signalised intersections using a virtual loop card. The system uses a radar to track each vehicle approaching an intersection up to 150-metres from the stop line.
When the radar predicts a motorist is about to run the red light during the all-red phase, the opposing red lights are extended, reducing the chance of another vehicle entering the intersection at the same time as the offending vehicle.
In 2018, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) installed HTR at four signalised intersections in South East Queensland, to determine whether it could effectively reduce red-light running crashes.
An evaluation of the trial by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland (CARRS-Q) found that HTR had the potential to reduce red light running-related crashes by 33.47 per cent at intersections where it is installed.
The evaluation also found that the HTR system has minimal impact on traffic delays at intersections, with a maximum delay of 10 seconds per weekday and 8.5 seconds per weekend.
The HTR trial was funded through the Camera Detected Offence Program (CDOP).
In 2019, HTR was awarded Australasia’s premier road safety award, the 3M-Australasian College of Road Safety (ACRS), Diamond Road Safety Award.
