A new Tasmanian road safety campaign highlights changes in road safety attitudes over the years and continues to challenge the myth that driving just a few kilometres over the speed limit is okay.
The next phase of the Road Safety Advisory Council’s (RSAC) Over is Over campaign will hit television screens and social media from this weekend.
“While it was once commonplace to disregard seatbelt use, think it was okay to have a few drinks and drive home and think nothing about texting while driving, those days are long gone and drivers have accepted that,” said the Chair of the Road Safety Advisory Council, Scott Tilyard.
“Our new campaign highlights the fact that speeding continues to be out of step with these changes, with many drivers still failing to understand that travelling even just a few kilometres over the speed limit increases the risks on our roads.”
In the last 50 years a number of key road safety measures have had a profound impact on making Tasmanian roads safer.
“The compulsory wearing of seatbelts, the lowering of blood alcohol limits together with random breath testing and laws around using your phone while driving has helped make our roads safer,” said Mr Tilyard.
“Those changes have resulted in significant progress being made to reduce road trauma over the last 50 years – the State’s road toll peaked in 1971 when 131 people were killed on Tasmanian roads.”
“However, despite widespread awareness about the risks associated with speeding and driving too fast for the conditions, many drivers continue to underestimate the potential consequences.”
Each year around 300 people are killed or seriously in injured on Tasmanian roads. Almost one third of crashes involve speed as a contributory factor.
Despite the scientific evidence being as compelling as it was for seatbelt use and drink driving, changing community attitudes towards speed remains a significant challenge.
“In each crash, the severity of injuries is determined by the speed of the vehicle – it comes down to physics, the faster you travel, the less time to react, the greater the impact and the more harm inflicted,” said Mr Tilyard.
“We know that people are continuing to speed, in our March Pulse survey 50 per cent of respondents cited they have driven up to 10 km/h over the posted speed limit in the last 12 months, a two per cent decrease from September 2023 and down from 60 per cent in April 2023.”
Since 2022 the Tasmanian Government has introduced 16 mobile traffic enforcement cameras to detect speeding. Some of the cameras can also detect illegal mobile phone use and failure to wear, or correctly wear, seatbelts.
“The automated traffic enforcement program marks Tasmania’s most significant road safety advancement in years and alongside police enforcement activities, is making an important contribution to reducing road trauma,” said Mr Tilyard.
“Our goal is to eliminate road trauma in Tasmania and reducing the number of people speeding is a sure way to reduce the number of lives lost or people seriously injured on our roads.
“Don’t be afraid to call out someone who is speeding – remind them of the dangers and urge them to slow down for everyone’s safety. Likewise, if you think that someone is driving too fast for the conditions – speak up. The life you save may be your own.”