But don't expect a fine in the mail if you mess up in the early days.
Australia's biggest jurisdiction has announced it will cease being a global outlier on point-to-point speed detection and its heavy-vehicles-only policy.
The speed camera trial will bring NSW into line with other mainland Australian states. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)
An all-driver approach will be trialled along two stretches of highway where six people have died in recent years.
Speeding drivers will receive written warnings for the first 60 days before financial and licence penalties kick in.
All other mainland Australian states and countries such as the UK, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands had found average speed cameras to be effective, Roads Minister John Graham said.
"We aim to be as rigorous as possible to be sure they will also reduce road trauma in NSW," he said on Sunday.
Legislation will be required to set up the trial, which will begin along a 15km stretch of the Pacific Highway between Kew and Lake Innes on the mid-north coast and a similar length of the Hume Highway, north of Gundagai.
Six people died and 33 were seriously injured at those locations in the five years to 2022.
John Graham says the trial was recommended by a road safety forum involving 155 experts. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)
In 2023, speeding contributed to 44 per cent of road deaths in NSW, three-quarters of which were in the regions.
A comprehensive communications campaign will inform drivers about the trial.
The measure was one of several recommended outcomes from a road safety forum in Sydney in April involving 155 experts.
Any future decision to make the trial permanent, or to roll it out to NSW's 35 other average-speed zones, will require parliament's approval.
The coalition said it supported genuine investment in road safety measures but, amid a lack of metro areas in the new trial, raised concerns of a "cash grab".
"This announcement is a narrow approach to road safety that looks to raise revenue from regional residents," opposition regional transport spokesman Dave Layzell said.
Drivers in NSW get multiple warnings when approaching speed cameras. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)
"It needs to look for a broader statewide approach to tackle the road toll, instead of picking our pockets to redirect money back to Sydney."
Peter Frazer, who founded Safer Australian Roads and Highways after his daughter Sarah died on her way to university in 2012, said the organisation had long lobbied NSW to change its approach.
"These cameras promote safer driving habits by encouraging drivers and riders to stick to the speed limit," he said.
Despite Sunday's change, NSW will remain an outlier on another road speed approach.
Drivers in NSW receive multiple warnings when approaching fixed and mobile speed cameras.
The stance, backed by the government and motoring groups, has been panned for "completely lacking any evidence base" by the head of the Australasian College of Road Safety.
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