The Road Safety Advisory Council (RSAC) is urging motorists to slow down as 33 people have lost their lives on Tasmanian roads this year.
RSAC Chair, Scott Tilyard said the lead up to Christmas is a busy time for all of us and sometimes we’re in a rush to get what we need or get to our destinations. We might be tempted to go over the speed limit or answer that mobile phone text, but what might seem like a harmless action at the time can be fatal.
Too many road users continue to engage in high-risk behaviours on our roads putting themselves and other road users at risk. The ‘fatal five’ driving behaviours remain the highest contributors to serious casualty crashes. These are speeding, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, distraction, not wearing a seatbelt, and fatigue.
Speed continues to be the single biggest cause of serious casualty crashes in Tasmania with one in three crashes being speed related.
It doesn’t matter if you’re speeding by 15 km/h or 4 km/h. As speed increases, so too do serious casualties.
Findings from RSAC’s triennial attitudinal tracking research shows one in five Tasmanians find it acceptable to drive up to 10 km/h over the speed limit. This shows Tasmanians aren’t taking speeding seriously enough.
As our new advertising campaign says, if you’re driving even a few kms over the speed limit, it’s over – Over is Over.
‘Over is Over’ is our call for social responsibility. It challenges motorists to rethink their attitudes to speed and encourages them to adjust their behaviour by not driving over the speed limit, at any level.
Speed limit compliance is a social responsibility. In the same way as compliance with social distancing and mask wearing will stop the spread of COVID, if we can reduce the number of speed-related crashes, we can effectively reduce the lives lost on our roads.
The ‘Over is Over’ campaign, will hit Tasmanian TV screens and radio airwaves this week and will be in newspapers and on billboards around the state.
This campaign is an initiative to encourage safer road use and promote safe behaviours under the current Towards Zero Action Plan 2020-2024.