Drivers May Lose Demerits for Low Level Speeding
WA drivers should get a demerit point for speeding by less than 10km/h to help tackle the State's problem with low-level speeders, according to road safety experts.
Monash University Professor Max Cameron said WA was the only State where drivers did not get a demerit point for speeding by less than 10km/h and it needed to be rectified.
Professor Cameron, one of the State Government's main speed enforcement advisers, said the policy of not giving demerit points in such circumstance trivialised the dangers associated with low-level speeding, which was a major problem.
His claims were bolstered by a recent Road Safety Council survey of WA motorists that found one in four drivers did not believe they were speeding if they were exceeding the limit by less than 10km/h.
While WA motorists receive a $75 fine for speeding by less than 10km/h, drivers in NSW, Queensland and Victoria get one demerit point for the same offence in addition to a fine. Motorists in Tasmania get two demerit points and a fine and South Australia will do the same from September 1, doubling its demerit penalty to two points in addition to a fine...........
Ref: Ronan O'Connell, The West Australian
2011-01-06
