Is speeding really that dangerous?

Speed related social costs

Speed crashes result in high social costs to the community in the forms of:

• hospital and health care costs
• lost productivity in the workplace
• the cost of using emergency services.

Every fatality that occurs on Queensland roads results in estimated social costs of A$2.7 million^‡. Every hospitalisation results in estimated social costs of A$238 935^‡.

Stopping distances

As the speed of a travelling vehicle increases, so does the risk of a crash. Australian research^{^} has shown that the risk of a serious casualty crash doubles with just a 5 kilometre speed increase on 60 kilometre urban roads or with a 10 kilometre increase on rural highways.

Regardless of whether other factors (such as alcohol, drugs and so on) contribute to a specific crash, speeding is dangerous because:

• the faster you go, the longer your stopping distance
• the faster you go, the harder you hit.

Driving within the speed limit allows you more time to react to unexpected variables such as the actions of other road users around you (vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists), and changes to the road environment itself (such as pot holes and obstacles). It is impossible to control the actions of other road users, and it is impossible to predict changes to the road environment that may require you to slow down to avoid a hazard.

Driving within the speed limit will allow you and other road users the best chance of survival in a crash.