Everyone knows that the faster you are travelling the greater your risk of a crash, and if you do crash the more likely you are to die, be seriously injured, or harm others.
It’s not rocket science. So why do 87% of WA drivers admit to speeding and 51% consider it to be okay?
A new Road Safety Commission campaign ‘Speeding shatters your excuses’ challenges common excuses for speeding:
Even when it seems okay to speed a little…
Even when it seems everyone else around you is speeding…
Even if you know the road like the back of your hand…
Even when you're running late…
Michael Francis, who was left with lifelong spinal injuries after a serious crash when he was 19, hopes the message will cut through.
'I know only too well the potential devastation of thinking it is okay to speed,' he said at the campaign announcement.
Michael was just five minutes from home when the car he was a passenger in crashed into a tree. Despite the driver being told to slow down by two people in the vehicle, it was too late, and the consequences of poor decisions life changing.
'Something has to change, there are no excuses for making poor choices on the road. We have a responsibility to all road users to drive safely,' Michael said.
Road Safety Commissioner Adrian Warner said that he hoped the campaign would help change the culture around speeding in WA by targeting people who largely held positive attitudes about road safety.
'Most of us try to do the right thing most of the time. But if we do the right thing more often, it will have a dramatic impact on our road trauma statistics,' he said.
'The new road safety campaign reminds us that seemingly small actions while driving can have catastrophic outcomes. And that if speed is a factor in your crash, there is no excuse for the harm you cause. The risk is just not worth it,' said the Commissioner.
The ‘Speeding shatters your excuses’ campaign will run across print, television, and radio as well as social media. Find out more on the 'Speeding shatters your excuses' campaign page.
