Vehicle speed and drink driving continue to be clearly perceived by the Australian community as the dominant factors leading to road crashes. The CAS monitor has consistently found that each of these factors is spontaneously mentioned by over half the population as a major crash cause.
Despite this high awareness of the results of speeding and drink driving, there is still a marked and persistent difference in public attitudes towards enforcement of these issues. For example, whereas support for random breath testing has been almost universal over the life of the survey (consistently at 97%), opinions on speed enforcement have been much more divided. This year's survey shows 56% of the community still agree with the proposition that 'fines for speeding are mainly intended to raise revenue' and one in three still agree that 'it is okay to exceed the speed limit if you are driving safely.'
While the community clearly views speeding as more socially acceptable than drink driving, there is growing evidence of a positive shift in public attitudes. Over the past seven surveys, responses to a range of speed-related questions suggest that people are becoming less permissive of speeding behaviours. CAS 13 in particular has shown an increase in acceptance of 50 km/h in residential streets, though desire for 40 km is still a minority view. CAS 13 also shows fewer people tolerating speeds over 60 km in residential streets.
The CAS series has also shown an increasing trend in the number of people who say or agree that:
* they only speed occasionally or never speed
* there should be no tolerance or at most a 5 km/h tolerance for breaking the speed limit in a 60 km/h zone
* an extra 10 km/h will significantly increase crash risk, an
* in 60 km/h zones, an extra 10 km/h will make any crash a lot more severe.
At the same time, there has been a decrease in the number of people who would tolerate speeding at 15 km/h or above in 100 km/h zones and in the number of people who believe that it is okay to speed if driving safely.
While the research has been showing that fatigue is increasingly being recognised as a major contributor to road crashes, the latest survey shows a small decline in mentions of this factor. Compared with six years ago, mention of fatigue as one of three main reasons for road crashes nearly doubled, from 19% in CAS 7 (1993) to 35% in CAS 12. CAS 13 still records a high 30% mention, unaided.
Despite this high awareness of the results of speeding and drink driving, there is still a marked and persistent difference in public attitudes towards enforcement of these issues. For example, whereas support for random breath testing has been almost universal over the life of the survey (consistently at 97%), opinions on speed enforcement have been much more divided. This year's survey shows 56% of the community still agree with the proposition that 'fines for speeding are mainly intended to raise revenue' and one in three still agree that 'it is okay to exceed the speed limit if you are driving safely.'
While the community clearly views speeding as more socially acceptable than drink driving, there is growing evidence of a positive shift in public attitudes. Over the past seven surveys, responses to a range of speed-related questions suggest that people are becoming less permissive of speeding behaviours. CAS 13 in particular has shown an increase in acceptance of 50 km/h in residential streets, though desire for 40 km is still a minority view. CAS 13 also shows fewer people tolerating speeds over 60 km in residential streets.
The CAS series has also shown an increasing trend in the number of people who say or agree that:
* they only speed occasionally or never speed
* there should be no tolerance or at most a 5 km/h tolerance for breaking the speed limit in a 60 km/h zone
* an extra 10 km/h will significantly increase crash risk, an
* in 60 km/h zones, an extra 10 km/h will make any crash a lot more severe.
At the same time, there has been a decrease in the number of people who would tolerate speeding at 15 km/h or above in 100 km/h zones and in the number of people who believe that it is okay to speed if driving safely.
While the research has been showing that fatigue is increasingly being recognised as a major contributor to road crashes, the latest survey shows a small decline in mentions of this factor. Compared with six years ago, mention of fatigue as one of three main reasons for road crashes nearly doubled, from 19% in CAS 7 (1993) to 35% in CAS 12. CAS 13 still records a high 30% mention, unaided.
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