Half of Australians admit to speeding when driving

In a survey of 1000 Australian drivers, commissioned by Ford Australia, over 56 per cent of respondents believe drivers have become more erratic on our roads since COVID-19, with one respondent stating, “driving habits have become more erratic – like they’ve forgotten how to drive after being at home”.

Nationally, 45.5 per cent of Australian drivers admitted to driving over the speed limit with 14 per cent revealing there are other road rules they disobey when behind the wheel.

The nation’s biggest proportion of speedsters hail from the ACT and West Australia, with 18.8 per cent of Canberrans stating they believe driving 5km/h over the speed limit is acceptable. In WA, half of respondents admitted to driving over the speed limit.

Tasmanians admit to being the most law-abiding drivers, with 77.8 per cent of respondents claiming to always follow the road rules when behind the wheel.

Victorian drivers admitted to being the most nervous on the road, with 18.7 per cent claiming they drove more hesitantly due to other drivers’ erratic behaviour while 23.7 per cent said they noticed a difference in their own driving habits due to others’ driving actions.

It’s a similar tale in NSW, with 56 per cent of respondents stating they have noticed more erratic behaviour on the state’s roads. And when it comes to road rules, NSW fared the worst with 15.6 per cent of drivers admitting they did not know all the road rules in the city, that number growing to 16.8 per cent when asked about country road rules.

And Queenslanders are the most polite drivers on our roads, with almost a quarter of drivers (24.9 per cent) stating they reciprocate courtesies shown to them, such as a polite wave, when behind the wheel.

That’s up on the national average where 23 per cent of respondents admitted to giving a wave if shown courtesies while driving. Interestingly, 67 per cent of all respondents revealed that being shown courtesies by other drivers while driving would make them feel better when behind the wheel.

Around 1200 people are killed on Australian roads every year, according to statistics released by National Road Safety Week. A further 44,000 people are seriously injured. Road accidents are the biggest killer of children aged under 15, and the second-biggest killer of people aged between 15-24. National Road Safety Week strives to highlight the impact of road trauma.