Victorian drivers like most limits

TRANSPORT Accident Commission research has revealed Victorian drivers speed less and are more likely to find speeding unacceptable than their interstate counterparts.
The TAC this week released the findings of a survey that asked drivers in Victoria and interstate about their speeding habits and attitudes towards speeding.
It found that 73 per cent of Victorians normally drove at or below the speed limit in a 50km/h zone, compared to 64 per cent of non-Victorian respondents.
A similar trend was evident in other speed zones, with 72 per cent of Victorians saying they normally drove within the limit in 60km/h zones compared to 62 per cent in other states. Speed limit compliance dropped in 100km/h zones, with only 61 per cent of Victorians staying within the limit compared to 51 per cent interstate.
TAC chief executive officer Janet Dore issued a mixed response to the findings.
“While it is good that Victorians appear to be more responsible in relation to speed compliance than drivers in other states, it’s worrying to think that nearly 40 per cent of our drivers still admit to speeding in 100km/h zones,” Ms Dore said.
“Travelling even a few kilometres over the speed limit dramatically increases your chance of crashing so until every driver abides by the speed limits and drives to the conditions every time they get behind the wheel, we will continue to see people killed or seriously injured due to speeding.”
Survey respondents were also asked how they would judge another person’s behaviour if they exceeded the speed limit by 5km/h or 10km/h in various speed zones:
* 84 per cent of Victorians said exceeding 50km/ speed limit by 10km/h was unacceptable (80 per cent interstate).
* 74 per cent of Victorians said driving at 110km/h in a 100km/h zone was unacceptable (68 per cent interstate).
* 4 per cent of Victorians said exceeding a 50km/h speed limit by 5km/h was unacceptable (57 per cent interstate).
* 62 per cent of Victorians said driving at 65km/h in a 60km/h zone was unacceptable (54 per cent interstate).
Ms Dore said speeding remained a leading cause of road trauma and was a factor in about 30 per cent of all Victorian road deaths each year.
“What is clear from this research is that the majority of road users, both in Victoria and interstate, find speeding socially unacceptable but it also shows there is still work to be done to ensure all drivers get the message around speeding,” she said.
“If you’re driving in a 60km/h zone, your risk of crashing doubles for every 5km/h that you exceed the speed limit by.”