Aussie drivers vote emphatically to change speed limits up to 130km/h, but here’s why it won’t be happening

Nine in 10 Australian drivers want this road rule nationwide, new data has found, but some warn most motorists lack the skills to handle it.

Aussies feel the need … the need for speed.

That’s according to a number of recent online surveys that put the question to the country’s motorists: Should the maximum speed limit be raised?

Facebook page Australian put out its survey pondering whether the speed limit in Australia should increase to 130km/h, before car website Drive did the same, not too long after.

Of the 21,200 votes on Facebook, more than 19,000 voted in favour of the move. That’s 90 per cent.

While Drive found just under 2000 of its 2,355 voters felt the same, comparing the higher speed limits present in European countries.

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“Do it like Europe, variable speed limits. No reason not to go 130 in the middle of the night on the M1. The old argument of wildlife. The last time I saw a kangaroo between Brisbane and Sydney on the M1 must have been a decade ago. More deer, etc., on European or American roads,” one user said.

“If you have answered no to this, you should proceed to your local VICRoads, etc and hand in your driver’s licence. Because you can’t drive,” another said emphatically.

Cars and road trains pass a road sign announcing a speed limit of 130km/h on the Stuart Highway. Picture: Che Chorley.

The overwhelmingly resounding yes however was a bit more spread in the comments section, with many voicing some concerns.

“No. Because half of the drivers can’t handle a car at 60km/h,” one said.

“Hit a kangaroo doing 130 and it wouldn’t turn out too good for you,” another said.

However many believe the move would never happen due Aussies lack of driver education.

“I’m all for higher limits on outback highway, as this would help with fatigue-related accidents,” one response said.

Cars and road trains pass a road sign announcing a new speed limit of 130km/h on the Stuart Highway. Picture: Che Chorley

The overwhelmingly resounding yes, however, was a bit more spread in the comments section, with many voicing some concerns.

“No. Because half of the drivers can’t handle a car at 60km/h,” one said.

“Hit a kangaroo doing 130 and it wouldn’t turn out too good for you,” another said.

However, many believe the move would never happen due to Aussies’ lack of driver education.

“I’m all for higher limits on outback highway, as this would help with fatigue-related accidents,” one response said.

The idea has often been a topic of hot discussion; however, it has never received any real political push for action on the matter.

In the five decades since the 110km/h speed limit was introduced, only a select few zones in the Northern Territory have been expanded to allow drivers to go 130km/h.

Another factor is the rise in road fatalities. Despite safer cars, around 30 per cent of crashes across the country in the past year have occurred at speeds over 100km/h, another deterrent for any real change.

As things stand, there are no plans to change the limit, but the voices don’t stop getting louder.

Originally published as Aussie drivers vote emphatically to change speed limits up to 130km/h, but here’s why it won’t be happening