Overhauled speed limits may save more lives in one state

Safety should always be paramount when we navigate the roads of life.

Unfortunately, Australia has witnessed the devastating impact of road injuries and fatalities.

In a bold move to address this deadly issue, one region may revolutionise road safety with a new set of regulations—a first in the country.


Western Australia may pioneer major road rule changes through a trial that will happen in December.

Once approved, WA will implement reduced speed on nearly 2000 roads, with a particular focus on regional areas where road deaths happen at an alarming rate.

This year, WA witnessed a harrowing surge in road fatalities.


compressed-WA roads.jpeg
Western Australia has seen over a hundred road-related accidents, which led to injuries or death. Image Credit: Pexels/Lachlan Ross


Halfway through the year, the state had recorded 102 deaths, which served as a grim indicator that 2024 could be one of the deadliest years for road safety in a decade.

The statistics are particularly dire for regional roads.

About 60 per cent of these fatalities have occurred outside metropolitan areas.

This prompted road authorities to take action, and reducing speed limits could be a critical first step.


By December this year, the councils of the Shire of Augusta Margaret River and the City of Busselton will cast their votes on implementing reduced speed limits on roads between the two local government areas.

This should include 550 roads in the Shire and 1250 roads in the City.

Once approved, these changes should come into effect from early 2025 under a trial.

The said trial would run for three years to thoroughly assess the impact of the new speed limits.

This initiative was a collaboration between the two LGAs and the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC).

RAC General Manager for External Relations, Will Golsby, spoke about the trial's objectives.

It should 'measure the extent to which lower speed limits help save lives' and prevent severe, road-related injuries.


The proposed speed limit reductions would be tailored to the specific needs of each area.

Speed limits should lower from 50 km/h to 40 km/h in high pedestrian zones like Busselton, Augusta and residential streets.

Sealed roads west of Bussell Highway should have new limits between 70 km/h and 80 km/h.

Roads through built-up areas—including the Bussell Highway through Busselton and Bayview Drive entering Gracetown—should have a speed limit between 50 km/h to 60 km/h.

Golsby believed that there was 'strong evidence from around the world' that speed limit reductions could decrease road-related accidents.


The WA Road Safety Commission also identified speed as a leading factor in road trauma within the state.

WA Centre for Road Safety Research Director Teresa Senserrick advocated for a decrease in the default speed speed limit on outback roads in the state.

As of writing, the speed limit currently stands at 110 km/h—one of the highest limits globally.

Senserrick wanted this limit to be reduced as a starting point, hoping that the rest of the country would follow suit.

Earlier this year, other states, such as the Northern Territory, have also eyed changing their speed limits.

As we await the outcome of the upcoming vote, drivers must stay informed and adapt to these potential new laws.

The safety of our community is paramount, and adhering to these changes could save countless lives.
Key Takeaways

  • Western Australia has considered a significant road rule change through a speed limit reduction trial on almost 2000 roads to combat high road fatality rates.
  • Once approved, a speed limit trial should start in early 2025 and would take effect for three years.
  • The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC) supported the move, with evidence suggesting lower speed limits could decrease road deaths and injuries.
  • The trial should implement lower speed limits in high pedestrian areas and on sealed roads, among others.
Have you experienced close calls on regional roads? Do you believe that reducing speed limits will make a difference? Join the conversation and share your thoughts and opinions with us in the comments below.
 
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Better learner training would be a good start. Part of learner training should be training on the skid pan and how to look ahead and see what’s happening and how to plan for a trip.
 
Yes and international licenses however I do think that if people who have had a license for longer than, say, 30+ years, many would not actually pass the driving tests of today.
Oh really? I’m 74,in order to keep my heavy vehicle license, I had to go through comprehensive assessment, starting with a car, then a semi and a verbal road rules test. I passed all my assessments. The older drivers that are in those stats have never driven outside their suburbs,apart from the long weekend camping trips. I call them weekend warriors who think because they can drive nothing will happen to them. In my suburb, hoons are a major problem, we should adopt the N.Z. approach by crushing their car with the driver watching.
 
DRiver training in Australia is appalling. IN Germany i involves much more formal instruction, and costs around $10,000.

Would Australians accept that?
I agree that Driver training is appalling, drive past a VIC roads Like we have were I live and see all the immigrant driver training people teaching how to drive and you will see what I mean. They are teaching people that it's ok to back out into traffic expecting coming traffic to give way to them, don't they know that if there is accident that the person backing is liable, and will have to pay from there insurance NOT theirs.
 
All driver knowledge tests should be in English only. Not the myriad of gibberish spoken in other countries.

Do you see road signs in Hindi, Arabic, Mandarin, Sudanese, Vietnamese, Greek, Maltese, Spanish and so on? Of course not! Do the f**king knowledge test in English otherwise you will be an accident waiting to happen.

Better still....piss off back to your own country.
 
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They can put the speed limits to 10km/h and there will still be road fatalities. A lot of people don't know how to drive. Then there are the one's that think they are to only ones on the road. There are more automatic cars on the road so it's kind of jump in and point the car in a direction and forget about anything else. Reducing the speed limit might save 1 or 2 people but I don't think that is the overall solution. They need to think of a solution that addresses all the issues. With the proximity alerts on cars the people aren't thinking. It's these add on's to cars they either distract the driver or make them think they are bulletproof.
every driver shoud take a driving test every 2 years most truck do that to ceep thare licanc
 
Doesn't matter how much you drop the speed limit there are idiots out there that don't believe in any road rules. They think they own the roads and everyone else is in their way. Inattention is a big factor and the biggest one I find is they must get in front of everyone regardless. I've seen people go over double white lines but the worst is the one where they cut you off as the overtaking lane merges into one lane,this has happened to me so many times and scary when you have a large primemover behind you.
 
Leave the speed limits alone!! Again just revenue raising. If anything should be done, they should treble the fines and suspension times. That would not worry me in the least, and if the person keeps ignoring the current limits, take the vehicle off them and auction them off and put the money raised on the roads and not in the state's coffers.
 
You can debate this till the cows come home but I must have my say.
I would love to see the real reasons behind each road accident and I will bet you there are three reasons behind MOST of them.
INATTENTION, INATTENTION, INATTENTION
my suninlaw was driving t work when a woman came out of side road onto express hwy dident see the giveway sine he took evavis action sheside swiped the right hand of his car and kept going he chased her and stoped her she was on and overseas licens been in oz one week the usual thin nospeek theenglish
 
So, what's the pretty little piccie of a bend in a river got to do with the story?
 
Just another excuse to try and raise revenue by booking motorists on a lower speed limit. Lower speed limits just create traffic and frustration. Especially when you get someone driing on the freeway in the middle lane driving 20 to 30 km under the limit causing a traffic build up then someone doing 20 or 30 km over the speed limit in the right lane.so you cant overtake All it does is lead to frustration. Governments only care about making money.
 
Have we had any close calls? Yes, several. Were they related to speeding? NO. They were a result of stupidity. Idiots overtaking other cars when it was definitely unsafe to do so. On double white lines, with a bend coming up or a crest coming up. At one point when we lived near an interstate Hwy, we thought it must be legal in SA to cross double white lines as we saw it so often and they always had SA plates.
Lowering speed limits is going to cause more frustration and more risky, dangerous driving.
 
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Absolutely ridiculous! Train people how to drive correctly, as in Germany. Next, they will want us to wrap up in cotton wool and bubble wrap
 
No, Idiots will still speed or try to, look at the CCTV of the idiot on Sydney Harbor Bridge trying to pass with 3 lanes full approaching. Trying to overtake in stupid moves over the limit cause many deaths in WA too.
 

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