Police ‘Wasting Time’ With Low-Level Speeding As Fines Triple: RACV

Victoria’s peak motoring group, the RACV, has hit out at the state’s police force and its policy of targeting low-level speeding.

Fairfax reports that fines for low-level speeding offences have tripled in the last five years from around 11,000 to 38,000 annually.

The RACV’s road and traffic manager, David Jones, labelled the exercise of targeting drivers travelling at less than 10km/h over the limit a waste of time.  

"We think there are more important issues," Mr Jones said.

"It's important to educate people, rather than financially penalise them for what could just be an honest mistake on a particular day."

Mr Jones said police should instead target drink- and drug-driving, while speeding fines should be reserved for higher-range speeders - those genuinely breaking the limit.

Trauma statistics used by police to support an iron-fisted approach to punishing speeding drivers were too simplistic, Mr Jones said, and the figures were misleading.

"A driver may have been going one or two km/h over the speed limit and been distracted, or a pedestrian could have walked out in front of them without paying attention,” Mr Jones said. 

“I'm concerned that the blank statistics about speeding and the results of it might be misleading. There are many factors at play in a crash.”

Road Safety