2500 a day: Qld motorists clock up huge number of speeding fines

Queensland authorities are considering a radical new penalty to stamp out the state’s worst speedsters after 2500 fines were dished out every day last year.

Authorities dished out 2500 speeding fines to Queensland motorists every day last year, with one driver busted breaking the rules on more than 60 occasions.

Following last year’s horror road toll, new figures have revealed 912,515 infringement notices were given out for speeding on Queensland roads in 2022.

One organisation or company was hit with a huge 365 infringement notices – the equivalent of one fine every day – making them the organisation that racked up the most speeding penalties.

There was also a single motorist who was caught flouting the speeding rules 67 times – making them the individual driver with the most speeding fines for 2022.

The overall number of speeding offences in Queensland last year dipped from 2021, when more than one million motorists were nabbed driving too fast.

A total of 18 drivers were caught speeding by handheld radars in school zones last year

More than 3600 fines were given to drivers last year who were nabbed recklessly speeding more than 40km/h over the limit – including 18 who were caught by handheld radars in school zones.

The state government is exploring the introduction of immediate licence suspensions for drivers caught travelling more than 40km/h over the limit, which is considered high-range.

Such a move would ensure the driver is taken straight off the road, rather than having to wait for the court process.

The proposal was discussed at a recent road safety roundtable that the state government convened after 299 people died on Queensland roads last year – the most number of fatalities since 2009.

A Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) spokesman said speeding was still one of the leading causes of fatalities and serious injuries.

The Queensland government is exploring the introduction of immediate licence suspensions for drivers caught travelling more than 40km/h over the limit. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“We see too many fatal crashes where speed was a contributing factor,” he said.

“Unfortunately people still think speeding isn’t dangerous.

“Motorists are reminded to stick to the speed limits, abide by the road rules and drive to conditions.”

More than half a million speeding fines in 2022 were issued on mobile cameras, while the number of penalties given out from point-to-point cameras jumped 36.5 per cent to hit 7416 fines.

Another 212,436 fines were dished out from fixed speed cameras.

In 2021, the most number of times a single organisation was nabbed breaking the speeding rules reached 260 occasions.

And, according to the data from TMR, the most number of times an individual driver was caught speeding in 2021 was 51 times.

The TMR spokesman said open licence holders who received 12 or more demerit point penalties within a three-year period faced having their licence suspended.

“The length of suspension depends on the number of demerit points incurred, and ranges from three to five months,” he said.