The Australian state of New South Wales will replace its old wet-film traffic cameras with digital cameras, the Transport Minister has announced.

The 183 red-light traffic cameras, which need manual loading and development, will be replaced by nearly 200 digital cameras which will allow images and information to be transferred instantly to a central database.

The state’s Roads and Traffic Authority will also install combined red-light and speed cameras at four permanent sites and rotate another five dual-use cameras over 25 known trouble spots.

The first 50 cameras will be installed over the next six months at locations identified for poor crash records with operation to start in December.

The project is part of the government’s plans to curb reckless driving after road fatalities rose to 415 in 2009.