http://www.caradvice.com.au/118766/responsible-drivers-cause-more-accidents-than-hoons-report/

Responsible drivers cause more accidents than hoons: report

By Brett Davis | May 16th, 2011

According to Professor D’Arcy Holman of the Road Safety Council of WA, hoons cause less crashes compared with more responsible, low-risk-taking drivers. He says it’s the majority that matters when it comes to the road toll and says the majority includes drivers that take low-risks on the road, such as those who frequently exceed the speed limit by only a little bit.

Prof Holman says it’s a myth that hoon drivers cause the worst havoc on the roads. He says general drivers who go over the speed limit on a regular basis cause around 3000 fatalities and serious accidents every year, whereas hoon-related accidents account for a smaller number of the overall road toll. He said in a recent The West Australian report,

“We certainly don’t want anti-social hoon behaviour on our roads but it’s the less conspicuous speeding behaviour of the general public that really matters in terms of safety outcomes. We need to target not so much the high-risk behaviour by a few but go after the majority.

“Hoon drivers massively increase their risk of a crash but the bottom line is not many people do that whereas you have many drivers going over the limit, which even by 5km/h doubles the risk of a crash.”

It’s certainly an interesting angle, especially as hoon drivers are typically regarded as the biggest contributor to the road toll as they are the easiest to target.

Prof Holman says figures from Main Roads show drivers have slowed down in the past ten years. In 2000, around 13 percent of drivers frequently sped by 10km/h or more. Last year, that figure was six percent.

He says the speed camera was probably the main cause in the reduction of speeders as motorists eventually got tired of paying fines.

Solution: more speed cameras. 1-10km over is lethal!!! Though we'll only ping you a few bucks and let you do it as many times as you like, instead of doling out demerits. Makes sense to me...

I'm sure 90% of accidents are not caused by speeding, drinking, drugs OR hooning but by people with HUAS (Head Up Arse Syndrome). They should just drag those people out of their cars & shoot them at the nearest tree on the side of the road. Our road laws are made by n@zis (why does this site *beep* that word out?) anyway so they may as well go the whole hog & start popping them off before they kill sombody else.

(ends rant to rush off & recalibrate speedo which could be reading a potentially fatal 1-2km/h out)

Just my 2c!

To bad research like this is just ignored and regarded as extremely bios by the media!

I've been driving from Wannanup (south of mandurah) to Perth for the last 6 months 5 days a week. I'm more worried about the old couple, middle aged man / women in a sh*tbox and dick-head p-platers crashing into me then guys with performance cars. Generally we are the people who are taking it easy on the road since A. We appreciate our cars and B. There is a time and a place.

Out of all the acidents on the road I see on the way to perth and back, its always the average joe. Not some 600hp street warrior out hooning lol.

Edited May 16, 201115 yr by Tully

What a complete crock, this is just another fool in the seemingly endless line of academic idiots trying to justify their own existance . The cut 5 was the greatest farce ever foisted upon any driver anywhere and some dickheads were gullible enough to beleive it. Anything or any pack of trumped of lies to hand over a fine for any speed over the posted limit.

Going 5 k's over doubles the chance of a crash? By that logic going 10ks over is a certain accident. That means doing 10ks under I'm guaranteed to never crash? And 15ks under and I disturb the time/space continuum

From antilag where this same story was discussed, but a related comment was posted in another thread about the cop who got pinged on his motorbike at 148 in an 80 zone...

http://www.perthnow.com.au/cop-fined-banned-over-148kmh-motorbike-blitz/story-fn6mh7kp-1226056830897

Since 5km/h over the limit doubles your chance of crashing, his chances of crashing were multiplied by over 8192 times. Lucky to be alive.

Edited May 16, 201115 yr by -SteveR-

The cop was from Rockingham. Surprise!

All the fools who do 80 in the 90 zone along Wangara Rd should be safe , right?