Motorists pick up pace as 500 speeding drivers prosecuted daily

More than 500 drivers on average were prosecuted for speeding every day last year, with those driving more than 15 to 30km/h over the legal limit surging by 19 per cent.

Although the total figure of 183,215 prosecutions for speeding offences last year represents a 7.9 per cent drop from the previous year, most of the decline was reported in the category of motorists who violated speed limits by 15km/h or less, with 60,897 prosecutions.

Most of the violations last year were in the 15 to 30km/h category, with 111,431 prosecutions - 18.9 per cent more than the previous year.

A further 9,921 prosecutions involved speeding by more than 30 to 45km/h over the allowed limit, about 8 per cent more than the year before. Prosecutions for speeding by more than 45km/h dropped 9 per cent to 966 last year.

Speeding caused 510 traffic accidents last year, 10 per cent more than 2002.

A police spokesman said a review found that driving too fast was among the top 10 factors contributing to the 173 fatal traffic accidents last year.

The other factors included losing control, improper or illegal turns, starting or reversing negligently, careless lane changing, emerging from side roads negligently, driving too close to the vehicle in front or on the wrong side of the road, and improper overtaking.