New TAC campaign warns that speed is no accident

20 May 2004

Media release - 20 May 2004

TAC Minister Rob Hulls today launched a graphic new road safety campaign reinforcing the message that drivers who speed are responsible for the injuries they cause to others.

Mr Hulls said the campaign, specifically targeting low-level speeding, served as a timely reminder as the State's road toll continued to climb.

"Tragically we have had a devastating time on Victoria's roads so far this May with 26 deaths," he said.

"If the carnage continues at this rate our road toll will be worse than last year's record low of 330.

"But there are steps that we can take now, both as a community and individually, to prevent more deaths and serious injuries from occurring.

"Speed is involved in about a third of all road crashes and so something every driver can do to protect themselves and others is to ensure that they drive within the speed limit at all times.

"Drivers who wilfully speed are playing Russian roulette with their own lives, the lives of other drivers and passengers, and the lives of children, pedestrians and cyclists.

"There's no excuse that will make it OK if you kill someone because you were speeding."

Mr Hulls said that, although the majority of Victorians accepted that low-level speeding was dangerous, there was still a need for more education.

"Independent research studies have found that 70% of drivers aged under 50 now think that driving up to 5 kilometres above the speed limit in a 60km/h is speeding," he said.

"While this is encouraging and shows us that the attitudes are changing, there are still some drivers who are resistant to the message and these drivers need to think about how they would feel if they killed someone's child, parent or spouse because they were speeding.

"No-one wants to have that on their conscience."

The safety benefits of slowing down by 5km/h are: a reduction in the time it takes to stop a vehicle, a lower risk of crashing, lower impact forces and less severe injuries in the event of a crash.

Research conducted by the University of Adelaide has demonstrated that a car travelling at 60km/h will take approximately 45 metres to stop in an emergency braking situation while a car braking at 65km/h will still be travelling at 32 km/h after 45 metres.

The new campaign will go to air tonight.

Victoria's road toll currently stands at 143 down from 147 for the same period in 2003 (a decrease of 3%).