More South Australian drivers caught speeding, drink driving and dangerous driving

Police say the “fatal five” are the worst of bad habits on the road – they are losing some battles to stamp them out and making small gains on others.

Road users are failing the most dangerous safety tests, with rates of the “fatal five” offences dramatically rising on South Australian roads in the past decade, new figures reveal.

Road safety progress from 2011 for hundreds of fatal five offences: speeding, drink and drug driving, seat belt use, distracted driving and dangerous driving have been revealed for the first time.

RAA road safety expert Charles Mountain said it was disappointing that most of the fatal accident categories had recorded an increase in the number of offences, despite a substantial effort by police and the now defunct Motor Accident Commission.

“If we look at key contributors to the fatal five – seatbelts, dangerous driving, driving under the influence and speeding – the number of offences disappointingly aren’t dropping,’’ he said.

“Putting on a seatbelt is something simple which people can do to significantly reduce the severity of injury they would suffer in a crash.”

Of the fatal five categories, speeding was by far the most alarming problem.

In 2011, 109,086 road users were booked for speeding and this doubled to 226,234 offences in 2020.

Motorists coughed up $39m on speeding fines in 2011 and $101m in 2020.

Five bad habits contribute to the majority of fatal crashes.

In 2011, 5630 people were caught drunk or drugged while driving, and this had risen to 8051 before Covid-19 struck. Seatbelt and bicycle helmet offences also increased dramatically, with 10,717 people booked in 2020 but only 7174 in 2011.

Dangerous driving offences had also risen, with 90,205 fined in 2020, compared with 40,688 in 2011.

DEADLY DISTRACTION

Police said there was some success reducing the number of distracted drivers on the road – but it’s still regarded as one of the biggest contributors to fatals on SA roads. As mobile phone use peaked, 18,608 distracted drivers were caught in the worst year of the decade, 2012.

But this was slashed to 8306 in 2020. It stands at 2505 this year. According to police research, mobile phones and other personal electronic devices are major sources of distraction.

“You are four times more likely to be involved in a crash while using a mobile phone, even if it’s hands-free,” a SAPOL spokesman said.

Mr Mountain said the reduction in the number of distracted driving offences was as a result of road safety campaigns.

Traffic Branch Chief, Superintendent Bob Gray, said police would continue to focus on all five fatal categories, especially on the eve of the holiday period.

“In line with the increase of speeding and dangerous driving expiations reported by The Advertiser, lives lost with speeding and dangerous road users as contributory factors have increased in the first half of this year,’’ he said.

“However, distracted driving continues to be the highest contributing factor to lives lost this year.

“Police once again urge motorists to concentrate on the task at hand, do not drive distracted and do not speed.”

Cyclists were also signalled out by police, who say traffic offences have increased in the past decade. Figures show that in 2011, 246 cyclists were fined for riding without a rear light, but that leapt to 1622 by the end of the decade.

Originally published as More South Australian drivers caught speeding, drink driving and dangerous driving