Queensland road speed limits: Townsville man petitions for huge increase

Medical professionals have reacted in horror to a petition from a North Queensland man seeking vastly increased road speed limits. HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR POLL.

Emergency services respond to a single-vehicle accident on the Bruce Highway between Ingham and Townsville. Picture: Cameron Bates

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) has reacted in horror to a petition from a North Queensland man seeking to increase speed limits to 130km/h.

RACS has slammed the parliamentary petition from Stewart Collins of Townsville as “irresponsible, reckless and potentially catastrophic”.

Dr Matthew Hope, chair of the RACS Trauma Committee, said speed was a major factor in serious and fatal traffic crashes.

“The petition to raise speed limits on Queensland roads to 130km/h is dangerous and should be dismissed by the Queensland Government and the Department of Transport and Main Roads,” Dr Hope said.

“The evidence is indisputable. The faster you go, the longer it takes to stop, and if you crash, the more severe the impact.”

Photos from the aftermath of a nasty accident on the Bruce Highway just south of Ingham that left three people from Townsville badly injured last year. Picture: Cameron Bates

The Brisbane-based orthopaedic surgeon said small increases in speed had “severe consequences if you crash”.

“An accident at 130km/h would be catastrophic.”

Mr Collins’ petition, which closes on August 18, has attracted just 2545 votes but builds on calls from Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto to increase the speed limit in overtaking lanes to 120km/h.

The southern side of the notorious accident- and flood-prone Gairloch S-bends on the Bruce Highway between Ingham and Cardwell. Picture: Cameron Bates

Mr Collins, who has been contacted for comment, said in his petition that the current speed limits “were set in 1974 based on the braking ability of a 1967 Ford Cortina” and that safety measures had vastly improved.

He urged the House to follow the example set by the majority of developed nations and “increase highway speed limits along the vast majority of our modern highway network to an appropriate 130km/h and stop using speed limits for fundraising.”

“Doing so would improve traffic flow and reduce congestion, freeing up the movement of citizens and the transport industry,” he said.

“Furthermore, faster-flowing traffic leads to reduced highway repair and repatriation costs.”

The RACS Trauma Committee has worked with lawmakers for more than 50 years to strengthen road safety measures, including mandatory seatbelt wearing, drink-driving countermeasures, and helmet laws.

So far this year, there have been 115 deaths on Queensland roads, a jump of 11 per cent compared to the previous year.

More than a quarter of fatal car accidents in Queensland involve speeding drivers, with the likelihood of surviving a crash also decreasing rapidly above certain impact speeds.

Dr Hope said more than 730 people sustained severe injuries as a result of accidents on Queensland roads each year.

“Many of these people live with long-term, debilitating injuries as a result of being the driver or passenger of a vehicle involved in a high-speed road accident,” Dr Hope said.

“These injuries are a significant burden on Queensland’s health system and can have long-term, devastating consequences on the quality of life of the person involved in the car accident.”

He said increasing speed limits on Queensland roads would undermine road safety initiatives and “result in more deaths and more severe injuries.”

Originally published as Queensland road speed limits: Townsville man petitions for huge increase