Speeding targeted for safety
AS Queensland’s first dedicated Road Safety Minister I am concerned to see the recent spike in our road toll over the last month with 28 people losing their lives on our roads over the last month compared to 17 over the same period last year.
This year’s road toll now surpasses 2015 after the past two years saw the lowest and second-lowest road tolls in recorded Queensland history.
Given the importance of road safety to all of us, it is important that as we analyse and respond to crash data, we do so in an accurate and balanced way.
Speeding remains a killer of many Queenslanders and is one of the major causes of fatalities.
Statistics over the past five years show that between 20-25 per cent of crash fatalities involved speeding drivers or riders with more than half of those fatalities on roads with speed limits below 100km/h.
About half of all serious speed•related crashes happen at just 10km/h or less above the speed limit.
Thousands more people were injured in speed-related crashes, some who will suffer from the effects of their injuries for the rest of their lives.
A study by the Centre for Automotive Research South Australia has found that driving at any speed above the posted speed limit is dangerous.
Speed limits are based on clear and consistent safety criteria and a few km/h over the limit increases your stopping distance and everyone’s risk of injury, especially pedestrians.
So far in 2016 we’ve seen 36 pedestrian fatalities.
It would be irresponsible for police not to target speeding because of the clear risk to all road users.
Just ask any paramedic, police officer or firefighter who have attended crash sites to extract people from horror scenes.
Nothing would please me and the Palaszczuk Government more than to see not a single speeding ticket issued due to the absence of speeding on our roads, because then our roads would be massively safer with our road toll down by about a quarter to a fifth, saving the lives of between 50 and 60 Queenslanders every year.
There is no doubt that if our speeding laws were not so widely enforced, many more Queenslanders would be dying on our roads.
That is exactly what is happening in US states that have banned speed cameras like Texas, Maine and West Virginia – all states with more than double the fatality rate per 100,000 people compared to Queensland.
Suspicions that speeding tickets are not about road safety are simply not based on the facts.
It is Queensland law that every dollar collected from speed cameras in excess of the administrative costs is used only for road safety education and awareness programs, road accident injury rehabilitation programs, including blood and blood products used in the treatment of road trauma victims as well as road safety improvements on high risk state roads.
This program is called the Camera Detected Offence Program (CDOP).
Monash University Accident Research Centre found CDOP was associated with an overall reduction in all police-reported crashes of between 23 and 26 per cent over 2009-2012, with reductions being similar for the differ- ent crash severity levels.
This reduction represents an annual saving of about 6000 crashes a year.
This year there has been less revenue with fewer speeding tickets issued.
Many drivers are heeding the message on speed limits after our strong speed advertising campaigns.
Of course, four other risk factors make up the “Fatal Five” which increase your chances of crashes – alcohol/drug driving, distraction, fatigue and seat belts.
Already more than 65,000 random breath tests have been performed on Queensland roads this festive season via more than 19,000 police officer hours picking up many seatbelt, mobile phone offenders while remaining alert to the often overlooked silent killer – fatigue.
While fatality rates per 100,000 people are one sixth what they were in 1974, we have a long way to go on road safety.
It’s important we are all part of the solution every time we get behind the wheel. We all share the road, whether you drive, ride, walk or cycle, and we all depend on each other to minimise risk on our roads. Mark Bailey is the Queensland Minister for Road Safety
SUSPICIONS THAT SPEEDING TICKETS ARE NOT ABOUT ROAD SAFETY ARE SIMPLY NOT BASED ON THE FACTS