NRMA Motoring & Services
High Visibility
Policing
And Its Impact on Driver Behaviour
November 2012
About NRMA Motoring & Services
NRMA Motoring & Services (NRMA) comprises of more than 2.4 million Members in
NSW and the ACT, and as such is Australia’s largest mutual organisation. For more than
90 years, NRMA has represented the interests of motorists in relation to road funding,
road safety and other related public policy issues.
NRMA began in 1920 when there were 20,000 motor vehicles on the road and the
conditions of roads in NSW were dreadful.
Throughout the years, NRMA has fought for improved road safety, including seatbelts in
cars, drink driving education programs, better road funding and fairer petrol prices.
Today, NRMA has grown, and in addition to our advocacy activities, we have diversified
to offer a wide range of motoring, travel, and lifestyle services, including our legendary
roadside assistance.
Comments and Queries
Comments and queries on this document may be directed to:
Government Relations & Public Policy
NRMA Motoring & Services
PO Box 1026, Strathfield NSW 2135
T: +612 8741 6000
E: Public.Policy@mynrma.com.au
High Visibility Policing
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Contents
About NRMA Motoring & Services ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
Comments and Queries ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2
Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Key Findings & Recommendations ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Enforcement and Road Safety---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Policing in NSW --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
Success with High Visibility Policing in NSW -------------------------------------------------------- 11
Interstate Experiences ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12
Covering the Entire Road Network ------------------------------------------------------------------ 12
Visible and Mobile Enforcement Activity ----------------------------------------------------------- 12
Camera vs. Non-Camera Programmes------------------------------------------------------------- 12
International Experiences --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
Speed and High Visibility Policing ------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
Drink-Driving and High Visibility Policing ----------------------------------------------------------- 13
References --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14
Cover photo courtesy of Flickr user ‘Highway Patrol Images’, taken 13 September 2012.
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Key Findings & Recommendations

High visibility policing should be the principle road safety enforcement
strategy employed by the NSW Government.

High visibility policing must be accompanied by high profile education and
awareness campaigns.

The NSW Government must ensure that appropriate resources are allocated
from the newly legislated NSW Community Road Safety Fund for these
purposes.

Nine out of 10 (86 per cent) NRMA Members would like to see a greater
presence of marked police cars on our roads.

Seven out of ten (69 per cent) NRMA Members believe that a visible
presence of police cars is the most effective way of tackling bad driver
behaviour than other methods such as speed cameras.

There is far greater community acceptance and support of police actions at
known black spots.

High visibility policing operations by the NSW Police have produced a
reduction in all categories of crashes (fatality, injury, and non-injury
crashes) of over 10 per cent and noticeably a reduction in injury crashes on
all routes except the M7.

On specific routes the reduction has been even more significant with an
over 50 per cent reduction in fatalities on the Hume Highway and a 33 per
cent reduction in fatalities on the Pacific Highway.

As part of ‘Operation Slowdown’ in NSW, a single Traffic and Highway
Patrol vehicle operating on the F3 was able to issue 16 infringement notices
in one hour to drivers of unregistered vehicles using automatic
numberplate recognition units.

A significant 11 per cent reduction in total crashes was achieved from high
visibility policing in areas outside of metropolitan Brisbane.

In Queensland crash reductions translated into savings, at state level, of
some 12 per cent of cost of the state's crashes of all severities and some 15
per cent of the state's fatal road crashes.

If high visibility policing in NSW was to achieve a 15 per cent reduction of
the state’s fatal road crashes as experienced by this Queensland program,
then this would have resulted in 55 lives being saved in 2011.

Based on 2010 fatality data and NRMA’s Cost of Road Crashes report (2012)
that calculated the economic cost of road crashes, this would have equated
to a saving of $180 million per annum.
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Introduction
Every day in NSW approximately one person dies on our roads and 67 people are
injured (Centre for Road Safety, 2011). Over the decades road safety professionals have
made gains in reducing the road toll, yet everyday people are still dying costing the
community on average $2.8 billion each year (NRMA Motoring & Services, 2012).
In 1970, Victoria became the first state in the world to make seat belts in the front seats
compulsory. NSW followed the year after.
After seat belts became mandatory, a 50 per cent overall reduction was reported in the
number of drivers per 100 vehicles being admitted to hospital.
Yet people are still dying because they were not wearing the humble seat belt. In 2010,
11% of motor vehicle occupants killed were not wearing seat belts.
More alarmingly in 2010, 21,453 people were fined by the NSW Police for not wearing
their seat belts.
Enforcement cameras cannot encourage people to wear seat belts. Neither can
education alone. But high visibility policing will.
Not wearing a seat belt is not the only road safety concern on our roads. Driving while
tired, using a hand-held mobile phone and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
are all serious traffic offences that high visibility policing can address.
“It was more like extreme education.
It happened about twenty years ago
and I've never forgotten.”
NRMA Member, talking about the effect of being pulled
over by a police officer
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Enforcement and Road Safety
In 2010, 405 people were killed and 24,623 were injured on NSW roads. Amongst those
crashes in which the alcohol involvement was known, alcohol was a contributing factor in
51% of fatal crashes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, 19% of all fatal crashes,
7% of injury crashes and 5% of all crashes.
At least 5% of all motor vehicle drivers and motorcycle riders who were killed or injured
had an illegal blood alcohol concentration. Forty-four per cent of these casualties were in
the high range (0.15 g/100mL or more).
In order to change driver behaviour and ultimately the road toll, police enforcement of key
road safety issues such as drink driving and non-restraint use is needed. More police on
our roads means that more of these types of offences or inappropriate driver behaviour
can be detected and stopped.
“Because having the police personally means that I know I am
PERSONALLY responsible for my actions. Getting something in
the mail just feels like a rates notice or similar bill that just has
to be paid (which I may or may not whinge about).”
NRMA Member, talking about the effect of being pulled over by a police officer
We know from decades of road safety research that public education campaigns,
especially those using mass media, can help reduce crash rates when they are linked to
enforcement, but there is little evidence to suggest that these campaigns in isolation
have been effective (Elliot, 1993; Rothengatter, 1997).
More recently a study by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (Owens &
Boorman, 2011) found that the best deterrent to drink driving was the fear of being
caught. For deterrence to occur the motorist must experience being breath tested for
themselves, to understand that police are out there.
Owens and Boorman (2011) found that 58 per cent of motorists surveyed admitted to
driving over the legal limit. In NSW, a staggering 52 per cent of motorists admitted to
doing so.
According to Owens and Boorman (2011):
“From the driver’s perspective, merely knowing that testing occurs around them,
either by seeing it in practice, seeing or hearing about it in the media, or knowing
that testing is random, is not enough to influence the driver’s behaviour”.
The research goes on to prove that enforcement and presence is important. Even though
79 per cent of motorists had seen the campaign, drink driving still contributed to 19 per
cent of all fatalities.
It remains vital that education campaigns are followed up with police enforcement to
cement the experience. Advertising alone without police enforcement does not change
behaviour. The fear of getting caught is dramatically reduced when a person has not
experienced being pulled over and randomly breath tested, an activity that can be done
whenever anyone is pulled over by a police car.
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High visibility policing is a preferred deterrent for illegal behaviour, and is regarded as
one of the most effective method of policing, particularly when police need to announce
their presence and reassure the community that they are safe.
Detective Inspector Frank Gilroy, Parramatta LAC Crime Manager, put it simply, when he
said:
High visibility policing is what the community are asking for and it is true that
offenders become extremely aware of the fact that police are in the area. (NSW
Police Force, 2012).
In October 2012, NRMA surveyed over 1,700 Members and found that nine out of 10 (86
per cent) of our Members would like to see a greater presence of marked police cars on
our roads. Seven out of ten (69 per cent) of Members believe that a visible presence of
police cars is the most effective way of tackling bad driver behaviour than other methods
such as speed cameras (NRMA Motoring & Services, 2012).
When there is a higher police presence on the roads, NRMA Members overwhelmingly
agree that they are more conscious about:




driving within the speed limit (83%);
obeying the road rules (73%);
their driving behaviour (73%); and
using their mobile phone in a responsible way (60%).
The survey also found that three quarters (77 per cent) of NRMA Members believe that
speaking or texting on a mobile phone whilst holding it and driving under the influence of
alcohol (76 per cent) are the main safety issues when driving on our roads. These
offences can only be detected and deterred by police enforcement efforts.
Impact of Higher Visible Police
Presence on the Roads
I am more conscious about using my mobile
phone in a responsible way
33%
I am more conscious about obeying the road
rules
36%
37%
17% 5%5%
I am more careful about my driving
behaviour
35%
38%
17% 5%5%
I am more conscious about driving within the
speed limit
27%
45%
0%
20%
24%
38%
40%
60%
6%7%3%
9%3%
5%
80%
100%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither agree or disagree
Disgree
Strongly disagree
Don't know
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The effectiveness of high visibility policing has long been established in areas other than
road safety. For instance, the NSW Police Force make great use of specific high visibility
units such as the Mounted Police and the Public Order and Riot Squad, combining their
deployment with targeted strategies to reduce rates of offending, particularly around
public events or known crime “hotspots”.
In fact, over 80 per cent of the Mounted Unit's role is general duty high visibility patrols in
and around the CBD and metropolitan Local Area Commands (NSW Police Force).
Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Highway Patrol Vehicles', taken 13 September 2012
In relation to road safety, high visibility vehicles are intended to be seen day or night and
to be uniquely identifiable. They stand out against general traffic and against other
emergency vehicles so that motorists are aware of their presence on the road at all
times.
The NSW Police Force has also adopted high visibility programs targeted towards
specific road user groups. For example, in response to high-profile fatality crashes
involving heavy vehicles, ‘Operation Steel’ has been established to target shipping
containers and the heavy vehicles that move them around the road network.
The success of these high visibility programs has the NSW Police Force considering
increasing their presence across the road network, with them indicating that more
highways are intended to be targeted in the future.
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The increased number of high visibility Traffic and Highway Patrols helps ensure that
multiple black spot sites are covered throughout NSW over a rolling period. This increase
in high visibility policing has reduced the number of crashes, a feat that fixed speed
cameras have failed to
achieve.
“Personal interaction with a police officer is far
more meaningful than merely receiving
something through the mail like any other letter.”
NRMA Member, talking about the effect of being pulled over by a
police officer
NRMA research has suggests
that there is also far greater
community acceptance and
support of police actions at
known black spots.
Over 65 per cent of NRMA
Members believe that an infringement notice or a warning or caution issued on the spot
by a police officer has the biggest impact on driver behaviour. Conversely, only 13 per
cent of all Members believe that an infringement notice received in the mail from a fixed
speed camera, mobile speed camera, red light camera or speed and red light camera
has the biggest impact on driver behaviour (NRMA Motoring & Services, 2012).
More than half (54 per cent) of NRMA Members surveyed had received an infringement
notice or warning for a driving offence. Seventy seven per cent of these infringements
related to a speeding offence. NRMA Members also received infringements for illegal
right/left turns (10 per cent), not stopping at a red light (9 per cent), not stopping at an
amber light (9 per cent), and not stopping at a stop sign (8 per cent).
The infringement appears to have impacted on two thirds of NRMA Members' (66 per
cent) driving behaviour, which is particularly significant when considering that for 60 per
cent of Members their last infringement or warning occurred more than three years ago
(NRMA Motoring & Services, 2012).
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Policing in NSW
Only a limited portion of the NSW Police Force budget is focused on addressing road
safety, so it is important that the money is used effectively.
The use of high visibility policing serves as one of the biggest deterrents of illegal
behaviour on the road. Without police visibly enforcing the rules, people begin to not
appreciate the severity of their actions; high visibility policing has made a marked effect
on the road toll.
Currently, the strength of the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command unit stands at:


520 police vehicles and
1,245 highway patrol officers with 1,070 officers currently on active duties.
It is anticipated that an extra 100 police officers will begin to be deployed from December
2012 onwards as part of a NSW State Government pre-election commitment to increase
the amount of Highway Patrol officers.
The Traffic and Highway Patrol Command also includes 60 crash investigation officers,
70 motorbikes, used primarily in the Sydney CBD, along with an aircraft that monitors
point-to-point speeding (NSW Police Force, 2012).
“It's personal, it's confronting, and it's timely.”
NRMA Member, talking about the effect of being pulled over by a police officer
Traffic and Highway Patrol Command vehicles cost approximately $3,000 a month over
three years, and have approximately $70,000 worth of technology added into them. The
technology includes a computer, front and rear video, inbuilt and handheld radars along
with CB radio systems and the ubiquitous lights and sirens. The technology in the cars is
upgraded regularly to accommodate technological advances.
The NSW Government has also committed to installing an additional 100 mobile
automatic number plate recognition units, bringing the total number of units up to 200.
The mobile automatic number plate recognition units allow for detection of both stolen
and unregistered vehicles.
Photo courtesy of the NSW Police Force Traffic and Highway Patrol Command
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Success with High Visibility Policing
in NSW
‘Operation Freeflow’ is an example of the success of high visibility road safety
enforcement in NSW. ‘Operation Freeflow’ nominally begun in February 2012 and was
originally planned to cease in May 2012, but was continued due to its effectiveness.
The Operation includes an increased police presence on all days of the week between
5.30am and 7pm on many of Sydney’s major arterial roads. It has seen the average
travel speed increase during the morning and evening peaks as a result of less crashes
and better crash management. Police response times to crashes have fallen from an
average of 18 minutes to six minutes (NSW Police Force, 2012).
‘Operation Freeflow’, in conjunction with other specific high visibility policing strategies,
has produced significant road safety outcomes in NSW.
In 2012, specific operations have been conducted on the major Sydney arterial roads
(that is, the F3, F6, M2, M4, M5 and M7) as well as the major routes north and south of
Sydney (that is, the Pacific Highway and the Hume Highway).
These targeted operations have produced a reduction in all categories of crashes
(fatality, injury, and non-injury crashes) of over 10 per cent and noticeably a reduction in
injury crashes on all routes except the M7. On specific routes the reduction has been
even more significant with an over 50 per cent reduction in fatalities on the Hume
Highway and a 33 per cent reduction in fatalities on the Pacific Highway (NSW Police
Force, 2012).
“My young child was in the car with me. I felt like I had let them
down.”
NRMA Member, talking about the effect of being pulled over by a police officer
The data also showed a marked increase in the issuing of infringement notices for
general traffic offences, excluding speeding, which demonstrates the flexible and
ubiquitous nature of active, high visibility police patrols.
In addition, the NSW Police Force also reported significant accompanying benefits
beyond road safety, including seizures of stolen cars, firearms, drugs, wanted persons
and increased detection of unregistered vehicles (NSW Police Force, 2012).
The NSW Police Force also rely on period targeted campaigns such as ‘Operation
Slowdown’ for the Labour Day long weekend, which involved the issuing of 4,800
infringements for speeding; many of which included other offences such as drink driving,
un-restrained passengers, or mobile phone use.
As part of ‘Operation Slowdown’ a single Traffic and Highway Patrol vehicle operating on
the F3 was able to issue 16 infringement notices in one hour to drivers of unregistered
vehicles using automatic numberplate recognition units, making a major contribution to
the safety of other motorists (NSW Police Force, 2012). Following the success of these
programs there is an intention to continue the roll out of the high visibility strategy to
other major state highways including the New England Highway.
NRMA believes that in order to address bad driver behaviour more resources must be
dedicated to ensure that high visibility policing continues to occur across NSW.
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Interstate Experiences
Covering the Entire Road Network
The Random Road Watch program in Queensland was designed to provide longer-term
wider coverage of the road network through low-level randomised enforcement of
different areas. It used conventional policing methods with a changed approach to
resource management and allocation to ensure that all areas of the road network
received police attention (Newstead, Cameron, & Leggett, 1999).
An analysis of the effects of the program on crash frequency showed the program to be
effective overall with fatal crashes falling by an estimated 31 per cent. In addition, crash
reductions in the third year after the program’s introduction translated into savings, at
state level, of some 12 per cent of cost of the state's crashes of all severities and some
15 per cent of the state's fatal road crashes.
Overall, the program produced a significant 11 per cent reduction in total crashes in
areas outside of metropolitan Brisbane. The opportunity-cost benefit/cost ratio for the
program was estimated to be 55:1.
If high visibility policing in NSW was to achieve a 15 per cent reduction of the state’s fatal
road crashes as experienced by this Queensland program, then this would have resulted
in 55 lives being saved in 2011.
Based on 2011 fatality data and NRMA’s Cost of Road Crashes report (2012) that
calculated the economic cost of road crashes, this would have equated to a saving of
$180 million per annum.
Visible and Mobile Enforcement Activity
A statistical analysis of Queensland drivers was undertaken to investigate the impact of
enforcement activity by Queensland Police on self-reported speeding behaviour. The
study focused primarily on the visibility and the mobility of the enforcement method in
assessing their effectiveness. The study measured attitudes toward a series of different
enforcement mechanisms in the setting of various types of road environments.
Effectiveness of different enforcement mechanisms varied greatly in different scenarios
(Soole, Watson, & Lennon, 2009). However, drivers considered overt methods more
effective to covert methods on the whole, but the effectiveness of covert methods was
significantly higher for those that had a high degree of mobility.
Camera vs. Non-Camera Programmes
A qualitative focus group was conducted to discover the attitude of a group of
Queensland drivers toward a range of camera and non-camera enforcement methods.
The investigation covered policy and practices that were used across the state.
The study showed that non-camera based methods were preferred by respondents and
had higher self-reported compliance rates (Soole, Lennon, & Watson, 2008). Support for
camera based methods relied on overt operation and whilst they were recognised as
having an important road safety benefit, there was a high degree of scepticism about
revenue raising. Some respondents reported no change in speeding behaviour as a
result of the use of cameras and others reported more limited site-specific obedience.
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International Experiences
Speed and High Visibility Policing
In May 2008, the London Police undertook ‘Operation Radar’ which increased the police
presence on a six mile stretch of road for four weeks. It resulted in a clear drop in driving
speed. A combination of both static and mobile policing was used by two teams of six
officers (Walter, Broughton, & Knowles, 2011).
The increased presence saw a large majority of drivers speed drop by 3.06km/h. At sites
where the speed limit was exceeded by a greater amount the decreases were even more
significant, falling up to 5.79km/h where the speed limit was exceeded by 10.9km/h on
average before the operation.
Drivers exceeding the speed limit in some sections fell from 57 per cent to 48 per cent
and remained lower than before the operation for the two weeks period after the
operation ceased.
The proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit by 24km/h or more also decreased
significantly. The study demonstrated that the reduction in speeding was also noticed at
selected study sites around the targeted route.
Drink-Driving and High Visibility Policing
In Maryland, USA, (Beck & Moser, 2004) a six month campaign was conducted in 2002
across six states. In Maryland there were 66 sobriety checkpoints conducted, stopping
22,347 vehicles and resulting in 133 driving whilst intoxicated arrests. The state spent
$100,000 on media for the campaign, but also benefited from earned media time and
overlap from Virginia’s $600,000 media buy.
Exposure to a sobriety checkpoint increased a driver’s perceived vulnerability to being
stopped by the police for drink driving (42 per cent from 27-30 per cent for
unexposed/unaware drivers). Exposed drivers were also more aware of seat belt laws
and were more likely to report using their seat belts more often in the last three months,
as well as knowing others who have increased usage.
This suggests that sobriety checkpoints may have a beneficial spill over effect with other
non-drinking and driving behaviours. Given the prominence of the seat belt promotion
campaign (“Click it or Ticket”) that occurred at the same time as the Checkpoint
Strikeforce campaign, it is not surprising that drivers reported increased seat belt usage.
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References
Beck, K. H., & Moser, M. L. (2004). Exposure to the sobriety "Checkpoint Strikeforce"
campaign in Maryland: impact on driver perceptions of vulnerability and behavior.
Traffic and Injury Prevention, 101-106.
Centre for Road Safety. (2011). Road Traffic Crashes in New South Wales: Statistical
Statement for the Year ended 31 December 2010. North Sydney: Transport for
NSW.
Elliot, B. (1993). Road Safety Mass Media Campaigns: A Meta Analysis. Department of
Transport and Communications. Canberra: Federal Office of Road Safety.
Newstead, S. V., Cameron, M. H., & Leggett, L. M. (1999). Evaluation of the Queensland
Random Road Watch Program. Melbourne: Monash University Accident
Research Centre.
NRMA Motoring & Services. (2012). Cost of Road Crashes. Sydney: NRMA Motoring &
Services.
NRMA Motoring & Services. (2012, October). High Visibility Policing Survey. Sydney:
NRMA Motoring & Services.
NSW Police Force. (2012, October). Confidential Data & Discussions. Sydney.
NSW Police Force. (2012, June). Mounted Police in Parramatta Mall. Police Monthly, p.
29.
NSW Police Force. (n.d.). NSW Police Force - About Us. Retrieved October 29, 2012,
from
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/structure/operations_command/major_ev
ents_and_incidents_group/mounted_unit/duties
Owens, K. P., & Boorman, M. (2011). Evaluating the Deterrent Effect of Random Breath
Testing (RBT) and Random Drug Testing (RDT) - The Driver's Perspective.
Canberra: National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (NDLERF).
Rothengatter, T. (1997). Psychological aspects of road user behavior. Applied
Psychology: An International Review, 223-234.
Soole, D. W., Lennon, A. J., & Watson, B. C. (2008). Driver Perceptions of Police Speed
Enforcement: Differences Between Camera-Based and Non-Camera Based
Methods: Results from a Qualitative Study. Australasian Road Safety Research,
Policing and Education Conference. Adelaide.
Soole, D., Watson, B., & Lennon, A. (2009). The Impact of Police Speed Enforcement
Practices on Self-Reported Speeding: An Exploration of the Effects of Visibility
and Mobility. Brisbane: Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety –
Queensland (CARRS-Q).
Walter, L., Broughton, J., & Knowles, J. (2011). The effects of increased police
enforcement along a route in London. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 12191227.
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