Low-level leadfoots
Victorians still not getting the message on speeding
VICTORIAN motorists are tempting fate by pushing past the speed limit on local roads, with new figures showing hundreds of thousands of people are caught out by low-range speeding.
Speed camera data reveals 867,685 infringements were issued to motorists for exceeding the limit by more than 10km/h in the past financial year. A further 188,907 drivers were caught between 10km/h and 15km/h over the limit.
Victoria Police head of road policing operations, Supt John Fitzpatrick, said infringements were down by six per cent but too many people were still endangering lives.
“If, as a community, we agree that we lose too many lives on our roads, then we need to make tough decisions around exceeding the speed limit,” Supt Fitzpatrick said.
“People make conscious decisions around driving a motor vehicle on a highway and they need to be held accountable.
“Data from Monash University’s Accident Research Centre shows that if all drivers dropped 1km/h off their average speed, we could see a 5 per cent reduction in road trauma or 15 lives saved every year.”
It comes after research from the Transport Accident Commission in July revealed that a third of drivers admitted to speeding or using phones illegally.
TAC Lead Director Road Safety Samantha Cockfield said surveys showed many motorists thought low-level speeding was acceptable, despite decades of education campaigns to stamp it out.
“While speed is not always the cause of a crash, the speed of a vehicle at impact will always determine how badly people are hurt as a result,” Ms Cockfield said. mobile
RACV safety and education manager Elvira Lazar said speeding put all road users and the community at risk.
‘Most drivers are lawabiding and do what they can to keep themselves and others safe on the road,” Ms Lazar said.
“Unfortunately, there are still drivers who don’t fully understand the serious implications associated with travelling just a few kilometres faster than the posted speed limit.”