Speed and its impact

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.

- Marcus Tullius Cicero -

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I started driving (legally) at the age of sixteen, back in 1986; until then the only driving I'd done was in vehicles on private property which is where I initially learned to drive.

There was less traffic on the road back in 1986 which made the roads a safer place generally, and no mobile phones or social media so driver-attentiveness was higher than today. Yes, vehicles didn't have as many safety features as they do today, driver aids and warnings like active braking, lane assist, reverse cameras, radar adaptive cruise control, lane-change monitors, forward collision warning/active braking, anti-lock braking, traction control, electronic stability control, traffic sign recognition, pre-crash tensioning seat belts, advanced crumple-zones and side intrusion protection, automatic high beam off, automatic windscreen wipers, front and reverse beepers, bi-xenon/LED lights, cross traffic alert and so on...My vehicles have all of that and more...Back in 1986 not much of that existed and that probably made being on the the roads a little more dangerous, but maybe less traffic and greater awareness offset it? Who knows.

Culpable driving like reckless driving, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol or whilst distracted by a mobile phone is probably one of the greatest factors to fatalities and serious injury crashes (wrecks) on the roads today and speeding is another, the greatest factor to road deaths in this country.

Now, I'm not innocent here; the fastest I've travelled on a public road in or on a vehicle is 290kph (180mph) which occurred when I was on my Yamaha R1 motorcycle. Had I come off at that speed I'd be a little red stain on the road or a tree somewhere, I know it now and I knew it then. I did lesser speeds also, but still faster than I should have, and it was fucken idiotic. These days, I do the speed limit...except when overtaking on open roads when I might get my truck up to around 150kph or so for a brief period.

I'm also a very good driver, attentive and aware of what's around me and have a good spatial awareness and eye for what may pop out of nowhere. I don't late brake, don't tailgate, use the indicators, check blind-spots, know the road laws well and generally drive around the nutbaggery that others may or may not do; one must these days as so many people are phone driving.

I've had accidents also, I was rear-ended in my Lexus and T-boned in my Audi at traffic lights when someone came through a red light, both times I was ok but the cars were fucked up - I loved both those cars and was furious as I was not at fault either time. But that's how it goes on the roads these days, it's increasingly risky.

I was having a conversation about all of this last week and about the fucken annoying fact that speed limits are decreasing...although I understand why. I guess I wonder where it stops though, how low does it go?

The maximum speed limit here is 110kph (68mph) although there are some remote roads that can be specially designated a little higher at 130ph.

In urban areas speeds range between 25kph (school crossings and roadworks) to 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110kph. It's all reasonably sensible I guess, but it can be frustrating as not all the zones are signposted and getting caught speeding is very easily done. The net result of the speed deceases are a decreasing fatality and serious injury number; speed is the number one killer on Australian roads and reducing it, with greater speed detection technology employed by the police and very costly fines it seems to be having an effect...but the decreasing speed limits are bloody annoying.

Below is a screen capture from the SAPOL website clearly showing the statistics and while there's anomalies there's also a clear trend. I also looked up 1986, the year I got my drivers license, and interestingly it was almost 300 deaths, the highest number from 1980 to this day.

I drive a lot and in many different places across Australia and the common theme is speeding and inattentiveness. Fatalities are lowering but the cases of road accidents are increasing meaning there's more non-fatal accidents than ever before...a combination of many factors I guess, and an alarming trend also.

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What's it like in your location? If you've been driving for a while and have good perspective on the trend in your region feel free to comment. If you're a safe driver tell us what led you to be and if you're an inattentive phone driver, excessive speeder or like to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs feel free to tell us why. Comment on anything related I guess, it's up to you.