Every time I even hint at the subject of speed limits I get hounded down by those who are adamant that driving within the limit is the answer to all our road safety woes – and praised by others who are equally convinced that all speed regulation is there purely to raise revenue. Obviously, the truth lies somewhere in between.

My reply to a lady who takes the former point of view is shown here. She had asked me for further information on some of the statistics I used, particularly the figure of one crash in twenty having excessive speed as its primary cause. It has been slightly modified from the actual reply I sent to her, but I'm sure you will get the general gist of what her email contained:


Dear Louise (not her real name),

Thank you for your email. This opinion piece is the latest in a long running series on many motoring subjects, including road safety. The five per cent figure for crashes caused by excessive speed was initially published in an article written late last year. It reported on an American National Highway Transport Safety Administration (NHTSA) report on causes of vehicle crashes. It can be read on http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Rather than discussing the individual Australian State and insurance company crash statistics you supplied, let's look at the report from what is virtually the parent body, the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC). On the subject of speed it says, “In Australia, excessive speeding has been noted as a contributing factor in up to 30 percent of fatal crashes. (The underlining is mine.)

Taken to extremes, if a driver is blind drunk, drugged out of their mind, goes through a red light, isn't wearing a safety belt and is exceeding the speed limit – then excessive speeding is a regarded as a contributing factor. In the article we are debating I referred to crashes in which excessive speed is the primary cause.

Louise, I feel you are missing the whole thrust of my argument – that governments are ignoring virtually all other causes of crashes apart from exceeding the speed limit. Even if you accept the somewhat vague Monash Uni upper figure of 30 per cent, it still means that drivers are not being educated in ways to avoid the other 70 per cent of crash causes. OK, drink driving and safety belt wearing do receive some publicity, but many other causes of crashes are completely ignored.

As to your argument that the faster the vehicle is travelling the greater will be the damage done to the occupants in a crash, may I point out that the object of safe driving is to avoid crashing, not to have a crash at the slowest possible speed...

Paying attention is by far the best way of avoiding a collision. Inattention is the number-one cause of vehicle crashes by a large margin, hence my oft repeated mantra: “Always have two hands on the steering wheel, two eyes on the road, and all of your attention on the vital act of driving.” Inattention can be caused by driving too slowly for the conditions, particularly for long period of time.

Best regards,
Ewan Kennedy

ewan@marque.com.au