Police take data-driven approach to catching speeders

“Just because it’s a 100km/h road does not mean you should drive at 100km/h”: Police have laid blame for fatal crashes on motorists, not roads.

Police are looking at new ways to detect speeding offences in an effort to reduce the leading cause of fatal traffic crashes.

You cannot lay the blame for a traffic crash on a bad road as all motorists should drive to the conditions.

This was the message from Darling Downs Police Acting-Inspector David Campbell as he implored motorists to make better decisions during Road Safety Week.

It comes as police identify speeding as the leading cause of fatal crashes across all age groups and backgrounds.

It is the most deadly of the Fatal Five.

“Speeding is always up there,” Acting Insp Campbell said.

“From the moment someone gets their licence.”

A third of all fatal traffic crashes in the Darling Downs in 2020 were the result of drivers pushing past the speed limit.

Half of those crashes occurred in 100km/h zones.

Acting Insp Campbell said it was a serious problem in rural areas, with one third of fatal crashes occurring on gravel roads.

“Just because it’s a 100km/h road does not mean you should drive at 100km/h – you must have regard to wildlife and the conditions,” he said.

Police are well aware of the dangers of speeding on rural roads and adjust their enforcement to stamp it out.

Acting Insp Campbell said police placed speed cameras along roads that were hot spots for fatal and serious traffic crashes, as well as those that attracted speedsters.

“We do get complaints from the community, and we act on those,” he said.

“All of our enforcement is aimed at changing behaviour – when someone drives past another person who has been intercepted then they tend to slow down.”

Worryingly, speeding is often combined with other dangerous behaviour, including distracted driving, drink and drugged driving and failing to wear a seatbelt.

“As soon as you mix one, two or three of those Fatal Five factors, you’re really increasing the risk of death,” Acting Insp Campbell said.