lifestyle auto car

Age groups

The research clearly shows that age is the main predictor of how frequently drivers exceed the speed limit. One in five of the 15 - 24 year old age group admits to exceeding the speed limit often, compared with one in ten aged 25 - 59 and less than one in twenty in the 60 plus age group.

The youngest group surveyed, 15 - 24 years of age, is still more focused on alcohol (60%) as a road safety issue than speed (53%). Also, they are the most likely to say that they don't drink if they are going to drive (53%), against the average of 40%. People in this age group who do drink remain the most interested in using a self-operated breath testing machine,with 56% (47% in CAS 12) saying 'very likely' in comparison to the national average of 37%. The research has shown an increased interest this year in using a selfoperated breath testing machine, up from 28% (CAS 12) to 37%.

Male: Female

Consistent with previous surveys in this series, CAS 13 shows a marked difference in attitudes between females and males when it comes to speeding and drink driving.

More females than males again place speed as the main cause of road crashes (42% v 33%) and think that there should be strict enforcement of speed limits for 60 km/h zones (54% v 42%) and for 100 km/h zones (40% v 25%). Fewer females than males believe it is okay to exceed the speed limit if you are driving safely (27% to 40% of males), with females being more likely to say they never drive at 10 km/h or more over the posted speed limit (25% v 15%).

These attitudes are consistent with the finding that fewer females (16%) than males (24%) said they had been booked for speeding in the last two years.

Females who hold a driver's licence are significantly more likely than males to say they do not drink at any time (23% of females, 13% of males). A larger proportion of female licence holders (44%) than males (36%) say that they do not drink before they drive. Females are still less likely than males to be aware of the correct guidelines for alcohol consumption by their sex, particularly for the first hour.

In the context of being a pedestrian, females (61%) are significantly more likely than males (45%) to think that having a BAC over .05 would affect their ability to act safely as a pedestrian.

City: Rural

While speed and drink driving continue to be nominated as crash causes at a similar frequency in both capital cities and rural locations, fatigue is once again a factor of which the non-metropolitan community is more aware (38% compared with 26% in the cities).

Consistent with previous years, though again at lower levels, residents in nonmetropolitan areas (43%) are more likely than those residing in the cities (35%) to believe RBT activity has increased. The community in non-metropolitan areas is also slightly more likely to have noticed an increase in speed enforcement (66% v 60%) and a rise in occupant restraint enforcement (32% v 26%).

People in capital cities are significantly more inclined to report being booked for speeding in the past two years (22% v 16% elsewhere). Those living outside the cities are more likely to want 60 km/h zones in urban areas strictly enforced.

The likelihood of always wearing occupant restraints (both front and rear) is still higher in the cities, although the likelihood of wearing the rear belt has improved this year.