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The RTA's original 3-Year trial proved that flashing lights significantly improve road safety and also showed which lights were most effective. The government claimed however that the original lights were unreliable as they had an average of 2 faults in 18 months (99.3% reliability). They embarked on a new trial at 100 schools commencing in February 2007.

Seven companies were selected to install lights, at a total cost of $7.2M for 200 signs. There were many problems with the trial:

1. Ineffective Technology

The original 3-year trial found that the most effective lights were two simple flashing lights on the 40kmh sign. They were found to reduce average traffic speeds by 50% more than the next most effective lights, those with flashing lights plus flashing LEDs around the "40" numerals.

In spite of that the RTA has included the more expensive latter type of lights in the 100-school trial. The 3-year trial was therefore a complete waste of time and money given that the RTA and government simply ignored its findings.

2. Unreliable

There were numerous faults with the lights during the second trial. See Media Releases link at left for examples. They were found to be 98.2% reliable overall.

The Schoolzone Santa was monitoring a small number of the above sets of lights. He recorded and photographed failures on the following dates. Full details are on his web site.

• 18/5
• 3/5
• 28/4
• 26/4
• 25/4 (Operating on public holiday - see Leader article from 26/4.)
• 24/4
• 22/4
• 16/4
• 14/4 (3 sets out)
• 14/4
• 3/4
• 21/2
• 16/2
• 13/2
• 12/2

3. High Price

The lights used in the original trial cost $12,000 per sign. The lights used in the second trial cost $36,000. They cost 3 times as much but were less reliable.

Only one type of lights was 100% reliable during the trial - those that I produced costing $350 each.

4. Unnecessary Back-to-Base Monitoring

Part of the high cost of the new lights was the back-to-base monitoring, an RTA requirement. In spite of that capability it took up to a week for faults to be fixed during the trial.

If faults with lights on some of Sydney's busiest roads during the government's much-hyped trial were not fixed for a week, what is the point of back-to-base monitoring?

Hundreds of students and parents pass the signs each day. The schools simply need to offer a small reward to the first child who reports a fault with the lights. Parents who drop off their children every day can also be rostered on to check the lights daily.

Lights that are monitored by the public are better than no lights at all, which is the government's preferred option for 96% of school zones.

5. Poorly Located

Many of the lights were installed behind trees, poles or bends in the road. What is the point of spending thousands of dollars on lights that cannot be seen? See Media Releases link for details.