Driver clocked at 240km/h, speeders still not getting the message

A probationary Victorian driver will be without his car after police clocked the novice motorist speeding at more than double the legal limit.

Victoria Police allege the Volkswagen Golf was detected speeding at 240km/h on a signposted 100km/h along the Western Highway – a 258km freeway connecting Melbourne and Adelaide.

Authorities claim the 23-year-old driver evaded police at 8:40pm, with officers intercepting the vehicle half an hour later at Nhill – a town located approximately 373km northwest of Melbourne.

The suspected offender has been charged with multiple offences relating to two counts of speeding, failure to follow police directions, driving at dangerous speeds, reckless conduct endangering life, as well as breach of licence conditions.

Victoria Police said the young driver had his car impounded for 30 days, costing him $1675.

In a separate incident, two New South Wales drivers have been recorded speeding in one night in Camden – a town approximately 65km southwest of Sydney.

A 23-year-old driver in a Mazda 3 was detected by police allegedly driving at 132km/h along Camden Bypass, which has a legal limit of 80km/h.

NSW Police say the alleged offender recently worked on the vehicle and “gave it a bit to try it out” – with the speeding motorist losing his licence for six months.

Later that same night, officers from NSW Highway Patrol clocked a Subaru Liberty travelling at 126km/h along the 80km/h signposted Camden Valley Way.

The 38-year-old alleged offender was handed an infringement notice and a three-month licence suspension.

In South Australia, Data obtained by the Royal Automotive Association (RAA) showed South Australia Police issued a total of 202,358 speeding fines in 2023 – a 3458 increase from 2022 and the highest recorded amount of road offences since 2020.

A total of 46,307 speeding offences were identified in South Australia by police in 2023 – the highest recorded number since 2013.

Additionally, mobile cameras issued 96,438 fines and 59,613 offences were clocked by fixed cameras.

Since 2019, the RAA said South Australia Police have issued more than a million speeding infringements worth approximately $417 million.

“Inappropriate speed continues to be a major contributing factor to serious and fatal crashes,” RAA Senior Traffic Engineer Matt Vertudaches said in a media statement.

This news comes NSW had the largest increase in road fatalities in February 2024 at 39.7 per cent (from 267 in 2023 to 373 in 2024) – followed by South Australia at 30.1 per cent (83 to 108) and Victoria at 11.9 per cent (252 to 283) – per Drive reports.