Hundreds of thousands of Victorians pay price for low-level speeding offences

Hundreds of thousands of Victorians are tempting fate and getting caught for low-range speeding, as motorists push past the limit on local roads.

Victorian motorists are tempting fate by pushing past the speed limit on local roads, with figures showing hundreds of thousands are caught low-range speeding.

Mobile and fixed-camera data reveals 867,685 infringements were issued to motorists who exceeded the limit by less than 10kmh last financial year.

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A further 188,907 drivers were caught 10-15kmh over.

Victoria Police head of road policing operations Supt John Fitzpatrick said infringements were down by 6 per cent, but too many were still endangering lives.

The warnings clearly aren’t getting through to motorists.

“If, as a community, we agree that we lose too many lives on our roads, then we need to make tough decisions around exceeding the speed limit,” he said.

“People make conscious decisions around driving a motor vehicle on a highway and they need to be held accountable.”

Its lead director of road safety, Samantha Cockfield, said surveys had shown many motorists thought low-level speeding was acceptable.

“Speed remains one of the biggest factors causing death and serious injuries on Victorian roads, and the risk increases even with small increases in travel speed,” she said.

“While speed is not always the cause of a crash, the speed of a vehicle at impact will ­always determine how badly people are hurt.

Director of road safety, Samantha Cockfield

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“The evidence is clear that enforcement, combined with public education, is highly ­effective in reducing risky driving behaviour.”

RACV safety and education manager Elvira Lazar said speeding put all road users at risk.

“Most drivers are law-­abiding and do what they can to keep themselves and others safe on the road,” she said.

“(But) there are still drivers who don’t understand the serious implications associated with travelling just a few kilometres faster than the posted speed limit.”