Road Safety: Safer Speeds
Speed is still a major cause of crashes in Australia and is considered to directly contribute to up to 40% of fatalities each year. It affects both the risk of a crash and the severity of any crash that occurs, including crashes caused by other factors.
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Car impact collision type:
Source: figure created using an adjusted version of Ashton’s 1982 formula (the pedestrian/cyclist curve is from Ashton’s original formula) |
A driver is more likely to collide with another car, hit a pedestrian or run off the road if he or she exceeds the speed limit or drives at a speed that is inappropriate for the conditions. As speed increases, a driver has less time to react to emergencies and requires a greater distance to stop.
| Impact Speed | ||
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25 km/h
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40 km/h
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60 km/h
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80 km/h
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110 km/h
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| Several elements are important for managing speed. | |
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| Infrastructure | Setting speed limits according to the safety standards of roads and roadsides can help reduce the incidence and severity of crashes. Speed limit reductions should be considered for high risk road sections where infrastructure improvement is not economically feasible, or would not reduce risk. |
| Vehicle Safety | Introducing safety technologies to new vehicles can help reduce crashes and the severity of injuries. Technologies such as electronic stability control (ESC), curtain side air bags and intelligent speed adaption (ISA) are proving valuable in reducing crash consequences. |
| Education | Targeted communication and education initiatives can increase drivers’ awareness of speed-related issues and foster more responsible behaviour by road users. |
| Enforcement | Strengthening speed enforcement can reduce the incidence of speeding. Expanding the safety camera network (red light and speed) at intersections, increasing policing operations at high risk locations and implementing automatic enforcement initiatives (e.g. Point-to-Point speeding detection cameras) continue to play a key role in reducing fatalities and serious injuries. |