Victoria's average-speed camera expansion lapses as bill fails final vote

Plans to expand average-speed camera enforcement across Victoria have collapsed at the last stage, with legislation passing the lower house but never reaching a final vote in the upper house. The bill lapsed as the government entered caretaker mode ahead of the state election in late November 2026.

What the failed bill would have changed

The proposed laws would have lifted some restrictions on point-to-point enforcement, opening the way for mobile average-speed cameras and giving authorities more flexibility over where they could be placed. Enforcement would no longer have been confined to routes sharing a single road name, allowing longer zones, and average speeds could have been checked along thoroughfares where the limit changes, such as a freeway dropping from 100km/h to 80km/h and back again.

Drivers caught exceeding the limit across an enforcement zone would have had at least 2km/h deducted from their calculated speed before any fine was applied. The bill also proposed recategorising average-speed penalties so they aligned with existing speeding laws.

Double-jeopardy protection and a scrapped commissioner

The legislation paired wider enforcement with a safeguard: the government sought double-jeopardy rules to stop motorists being prosecuted twice for the same offence, for example after being pulled over by Highway Patrol inside an average-speed zone. In late 2025 the government announced it would abolish the Road Safety Camera Commissioner, the role created to provide independent oversight of speed cameras statewide.

The net effect of the package was more potential infringements alongside a narrower set of protections for drivers. With the bill now expired, the existing point-to-point rules stay as they are until a future government revisits them.

What happens next

Because the bill lapsed rather than being voted down, it has not been rejected on its merits, and its future depends on the incoming parliament after the November 2026 election. Whether the expansion is reintroduced, and in what form, has not been announced.

The Yangwang U9 Xtreme has set two Guinness World Records at once, recording 312 mph on a public road in Abu Dhabi. The car is the flagship hypercar from Yangwang, the luxury division of China's BYD, positioned much as Lexus sits within Toyota.

The records cover the highest single-direction speed for a production car and for a production electric car. In the process the U9 Xtreme surpassed the standard U9's own previous mark of 308 mph, set last year.

Four motors and a 1,200-volt battery

The U9 Xtreme carries four electric motors, one at each wheel, for a combined output of more than 3,000 hp. That is roughly three Bugatti Veyrons' worth of power in a single car.

Its battery architecture differs from the standard U9, running a 1,200-volt system that can both discharge and absorb very large amounts of power with much improved thermal efficiency. Even at around 20 percent charge it can still deliver 1,800 kW (about 2,414 hp), or take on 700 kW through regenerative braking.

A motor at each corner gives the torque-vectoring software wide scope to divide power and limit wheelspin. Electric dampers hold the body flat under hard acceleration and braking, and active aerodynamic elements work to keep the car stable at speed. Giti Tires of Indonesia developed rubber able to withstand the forces involved.

A closed road, cleaned of debris

The record run took place on a 4.35-mile stretch of public road that was closed for the attempt and carefully cleared of debris, including a second pass to check for wires left behind by street sweepers.

That detail matters for anyone picturing a casual top-speed blast: the U9 Xtreme's headline figure was achieved on a prepared, shut-off surface, not in ordinary traffic.

Thirty cars, price still unannounced

Yangwang plans to build only 30 U9 Xtreme models. Pricing has not been announced in the source material, and neither has a full on-sale schedule beyond the production run itself.

What the record does show is the capability of BYD's battery chemistry, and the bragging rights that come with it. Speed records change hands, but for now no production car has gone faster.