Thousands of speeding drivers slapped with tougher fines

Thousands of extra motorists are being slapped with heftier penalties after the Palaszczuk government adjusted the speeding fine tiers in Queensland, with the state’s horror road toll used as justification for the move.

Thousands of extra motorists are being slapped with heftier penalties for speeding after the Palaszczuk government adjusted the speeding fine tiers in Queensland.

The lowest speeding fine category used to apply to drivers caught speeding less than 13km/h over the limit – but on July 1, this was reduced to less than 11km/h over the limit.

It means drivers nabbed between 11km/h and 13km/h over the limit have now been pushed into a higher speeding fine category, where they are hit with a harsher fine and two extra demerit points.

The Courier-Mail can reveal that since the change was introduced, the number of drivers caught in the higher speeding fine tier has ballooned by thousands.

Thousands of speeding drivers have been hit with harsher penalties after the speeding fine tiers were adjusted.

In July 2021, there were 18,600 motorists given a speeding fine in the higher 13-20km/h speeding fine tier – but this increased to 24,345 in July 2022 when the tier was widened to 11-20km/h over the limit.

Meanwhile, motorists fined in the lowest speeding fine tier reduced from 55,196 in July 2021 to 36,990 in July 2022 as the tier was reduced from less than 13km/h over the limit to less than 11km/h over.

There was a similar increase in fines given out in the higher tier in August 2022, when 29,244 motorists were fined when the tier was expanded to 11-20km/h over the limit.

In contrast, there were only 18,016 fines issued in the same tier in August 2021 when it was set at the higher 13-20km/h threshold.

Drivers busted speeding in the lower tier of less than 11km/h over the limit are fined $287 and are hit with one demerit point.

But for those caught in the next tier up of between 11 and 20km/h over the limit, the fine increases significantly to $431 along with a loss of three demerit points.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey defended the change up, pointing to the increasing number of deaths on the roads where speeding was a factor.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

He suggested he was not surprised to see more speeding motorists pushed into the higher fine tier following the changes.

“And I hope with a stronger demerit point penalty we see more dangerous drivers taken off Queensland roads,” he said.

“In the first eight months of 2022 we had more fatal crashes where speed was a contributing factor than for the entire calendar years of 2017, 2018, and 2019.

“Just over 5km/h above the speed limit in urban areas (and 10km/h above in rural areas) is enough to double the risk of a casualty crash.”

The state government significantly increased the value of all speeding fines on July 1 as part of their push to halve the number of road fatalities by 2031.

The penalty for the lowest speeding fine tier increased from $183 to $287, while in the highest tier – which is set at more than 40km/h over the limit – the penalty increased from $1,286 to $1653.