AAMI Australian Insurance
AAMI Public Affairs Manager Geoff Hughes said it was easy for motorists to become complacent about reduced speed limits in school zones, during holiday periods. “Over summer, drivers tend to forget about 40 kilometre-an-
“With many schools across the country resuming on or around 1 February, there will naturally be an increase in both vehicle and pedestrian traffic,” he said. “At this time, drivers need to be particularly vigilant about slowing down and sticking to the speed limit – particularly in restricted speed areas.”
Mr Hughes said between 2000 and 2003, 1275 pedestrians were killed on Australian roads**. “While pedestrian fatalities are declining overall, regrettably for children, they are still a leading cause of death. Nationally, one child pedestrian, on average, is killed every week – and for each child who dies, 25 are admitted to hospital after suffering pedestrian-related injuries***.”
He said school speed zones had been in operation since 2004 in all states and territories, so there was no excuse for drivers who failed to comply with this important road safety initiative.
“These initiatives can only be successful if drivers make a conscientious effort to observe and adhere to reduced speed limits when they are in force,” he said. “And our research shows this is not always the case, with one-third of drivers (33 per cent) admitting they sometimes speed to get to work or home sooner and 28 per cent saying they believe that going five or 10 kilometres an hour over the speed limit isn’t really speeding.
“And coupled with regular speeding is aggression, with 65 per cent of motorists saying that, as a pedestrian, they had experienced aggression from impatient motorists.
“With the prevalence of these types of attitudes, it’s not that surprising that AAMI’s research also showed 41 per cent of drivers have had a close call with a pedestrian or cyclist,” he said.
“Speed continues to be a major killer on our roads, so it’s critical that drivers show some patience and do their part to reduce fatalities among pedestrians and other motorists, by always observing posted speed limits.”
In signed school speed zones, speeds are restricted to:
• Permanent 40 km/h speed limits outside schools on roads with a 50 km/h speed limit; or
• Time-based 40 km/h speed limits outside schools on 60 and 70 km/h roads; or
• Time-based 60 km/h speed limits outside schools on 80, 90 and 100 km/h roads.
These restrictions apply on school days from 8 - 9.30am and from 2.30 - 4.30pm, even if students cannot be seen. In some areas, the restrictions apply all day. Check with authorities for local restrictions.
* The 2007 Crash Index was conducted for AAMI by Sweeney Research and is an independent telephone and internet survey of 2380 Australian drivers in all States and Territories.
** Australian Bureau of Statistics
*** Kidsafe Australia
To arrange a media interview, contact:
Brian O’Neil, Public Relations Exchange, ph 03 9607 4500 or 0411 055 284
Geoff Hughes, AAMI Public Affairs Manager, ph 03 8520 1469 or 0413 483 591
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
