Skip to main content
Fatal Five 
Speeding
Speed continues to be the single biggest cause of serious casualty crashes in Tasmania with almost one-third of crashes involving speed.

Speeding is not only driving over the speed limit, but it is also driving too fast for the conditions. In every crash, the severity of the injuries is determined by the speed of the vehicle. It’s simple physics, the faster you go, the harder you hit, the more damage you do.

This is why speeding is the leading factor in fatal and serious injuries on our roads. Just look at the statistics: right now, almost one in three serious casualty crashes on Tasmanian roads involve speed. Just a 1 km/h increase in average speeds across the road network is expected to result in an additional 2 fatalities and 11 serious injuries each year.

Our goal is to eliminate road trauma in Tasmania and cutting the number of people speeding is a sure way to reduce the number of lives lost or people seriously injured on our roads.

How many people are killed or injured in crashes involving speed each year in Tasmania?

Take a Guess
Select the correct answer...
20
50
100
Sorry the correct answer is ‘100’.

Speeding significantly increases your chance of death or serious injury on the road.

Sorry the correct answer is ‘100’.

Speeding significantly increases your chance of death or serious injury on the road.

You're correct, the answer is ‘100’.

Speeding significantly increases your chance of death or serious injury on the road.

Speed limits

Speed limits need to reflect the safety features of the road, taking into account that humans make mistakes, and our bodies have a limited tolerance for energy released in a road crash. Speed limits are the maximum speed that you are allowed to travel. They are not a target speed. Sometimes the appropriate speed will be lower than the speed limit, depending on things like the weather, how busy the road is, or whether it is light or dark. The Commissioner for Transport sets the speed limits in Tasmania and approves speed limit changes.

To find out more about speed limits see Transport Tas.

 

Saving lives through speed enforcement

Tasmania’s speed camera system plays a critical role in preventing crashes and reducing the number of lives lost on our roads. Speed cameras are one of the most effective tools in the fight against deaths and serious injuries. There is currently mobile speed camera systems used in Tasmania. Improving road safety is the primary driver in identifying speed camera locations. This means speed cameras are located at places to reduce the level of speeding generally with a specific focus on the riskier parts of the road network. Mobile speed cameras can be anywhere, at any time. They will only be located at sites that have been approved by the Tasmanian Government. You can learn more about Tasmania’s speed camera system or to suggest a mobile speed camera location on the Tasmanian Government Camera Locations website.


  • I'll get there quicker.

    One of the biggest myths around speeding is that you’ll save time on your trip. While driving over the speed limit exponentially increases your chances of a crash, it will only save you a small amount of time, if any at all. For example, on a 10 km/h journey, you would only save 46 seconds by increasing your average speed from 60 km/h to 65 km/h.
  • Speeding isn’t that unsafe.

    Speed is the key factor that determines the amount of force unleashed in a crash. Research findings consistently show that the likelihood of a crash and the severity of an injury increases exponentially as speed increases.