COVID-19 restrictions fail to dent in shocking road behaviour
Traffic might have halved amid virus shutdowns but that hasn’t dented SA Police revenue from fines. These figures reveal just what motorists are doing to keep officers dishing out the tickets.
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Despite COVID-19 restrictions South Australians have been misbehaving so badly that police have been able to issue millions of dollars more in on the spot fines.
Latest SAPOL figures show that despite up to 50 per cent of vehicles being absent from our roads for months this year, and many people at home and off the streets, 440,104 fines and cautions were still issued, only slightly fewer than the 2018/19 total of 471,018.
And with the slight increase in the value of each fine, officers were able to increase the amount they wrote out in fines from $172m in 2018/19 to $178m in 2019/20.
The Advertiser has published online all fines issued over the last two years for those where there were more than 100 offenders.
RAA road safety spokesman Charles Mountain said despite there being less motorists on the road, the risks were still very real.
“Many of these fines have been issued for behaviours that research shows can significantly endanger drivers, riders, passengers and pedestrians,’’ he said.
“For example, speeding and red light running are highly dangerous, with potentially horrific consequences.”
Mr Mountain said of most concern 201,629 motorists in 2019/20 had been caught speeding, which despite months of having only half the number of cars on the road was similar to the 205,893 caught in 2018/19.
Drink driving results showed a slight increase in positive tests, from 3766 caught to 4112, and drug drivers decreased from 3483 to 3325.
Use of mobile phones also increased on the road from 7371 to 8204.
On the spot fines for minor offending are recorded by SAPOL against a wide range of bad behaviour, including; driving, boating, licenced premises, offending on public transport, cycling, pedestrian errors, and drug offences.
The first COVID-19 case in Australia was diagnosed in late January, followed by the first travel restrictions in early February.
There is some evidence that drivers tried to get away with more when they presumed police officers were not looking, or that police had more time to catch offenders.
The number of drivers who failed to stop at a stop sign increased from 2518 to 3919, with fines increasing from $192,272 to $324,233.
And drivers of unroadworthy vehicles were also caught more often, 2062 increasing to 2648.
In total the figures show South Australian drivers maintained their bad habits throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period, attracting the ire of police between February and June this year 232,798 times in all categories, compared to 233,028 times in the same period of 2019.
Only in the month of February 2020, after the crisis hit but before lockdown began, did bad behaviour drop significantly, from 50,585 in 2019 to 40,482. June this calendar year was the only other month to record a year-on-year decrease in bad behaviour, from 44,661 to 43,807.
The dollar-value increase in the amount police charged wrong doers was partly made possible by the increase in fine amounts to keep up with inflation. The average fine issued was $365 in 2018/19, but this increased to $405 in 2019/20.
Of the 440,104 fines and cautions issued in 2019/20 424,233 were for road and public transport related offences.
This was very similar to the number of road and public transport related fines and cautions issued in 2018/19, 451,999.
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Police were slightly more sympathetic to those doing the wrong thing over the last year, issuing 76,776 cautions instead of a fine, compared to 76,558 in 2018/19.
A police spokesman said full COVID-19 restrictions only covered a small part of the 2019/20 calendar year, and had not had a big impact on fines issued and; “Despite COVID-19 restrictions, police haven’t wavered in our commitment to road safety”.
“Unfortunately, some people choose to do the wrong thing and will always come to the attention of police,” the spokesman said.
Police Minister Vincent Tarzia backed the tough police stand, especially for the most serious road infringements.
“It’s more important than ever for all South Australians to engage with our fatal five messaging, don’t drink or drug drive, don’t drive dangerously, always wear a seatbelt, abide by the speed limit and avoid distraction,’’ he said.
“Our SAPOL officers do an amazing job keeping South Australians safe on the road and I thank them for what they do every single day.”
Opposition police spokesman Lee Odenwalder said there was a clear needs for more road safety funding and was critical of the abolition of the Motor Accident Commission.
“Despite the impact of COVID-19 on traffic numbers in recent months, people are clearly not getting the message,’’ he said.
