INFRINGEMENT NOTICES

187 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (21 October 2008).

1. How many infringement notices have been issued in each of the post code areas: 5040, 5044, 5045, 5046 and 5048 for exceeding the 50kmh limit, what was the average fine imposed and how much revenue has been raised since 1 March 2002?

2. How many road accidents have occurred on 50kmh roads in the above post code areas since 1 March 2002 and what was the fatality and injury rate?

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT (Lee—Minister for Police, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing):

Part 1.

Part 2.

The Minister for Road Safety has provided the following information:

Since the introduction of the default urban speed limit of 50km/h on 1 March 2003 there have been 3 fatal crashes to 31 December 2008 and 302 injury crashes to the 30 September 2008 on roads with a 50km/h speed limit in the postcodes areas of 5040, 5044, 5045, 5046 and 5048. (Please note detailed injury crash data is only available to the end of September 2008.)

These 305 crashes resulted in 3 fatalities, 49 serious injuries and 291 minor injuries.

A study by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research has shown that state-wide on roads where the speed limit was reduced from 60km/h to 50km/h the number of casualty crashes fell by 23 per cent in the three years after the introduction of the 50km/h default urban speed limit. This is estimated to have saved the South Australian community over $43 million per year.

Travel speeds affect the severity of crashes as well as the risk of involvement in a crash. A wide range of research has shown that even small reductions in vehicle speeds results in a marked reduction in the number of road fatalities.