Welcome to Queensland Road Safety Week – a joint road safety initiative of the Queensland Police Service and Department of Transport and Main Roads, with stakeholders from RACQ and road user groups. Queensland Road Safety Week is an opportunity for all Queenslanders to be directly involved in making our roads safer.
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Each day of the Week will focus on different road safety issues.
Here are a few facts around each of our daily topics:
‘Speeding’ doesn’t only refer to driving faster than the posted speed limit. It also means driving too fast for the prevailing conditions without thinking about the vehicle’s condition and capabilities or the driver’s skill and experience. Around half of all serious speed‐related crashes happen at less than 10km/h above the speed limit.
In 2015, drink driving contributed to almost one in every four fatalities. Drinking alcohol affects judgement, vision, coordination and reflexes, and increases the risk of crashing.
The unexpected can happen at any time – so even the smallest distraction can be deadly. Using a mobile phone when driving means taking your eyes and mind off the road – which can have serious consequences.
Even when your eyes are off the road for just two seconds, a vehicle moving at 60km/h travels more than 33 metres. The average person’s time to react to an event is 1.8 seconds.
This means nearly four seconds can pass before the average distracted driver can react to a hazard, increasing their risk of a serious crash.
Drivers and passengers are around eight times more likely to be killed in a road crash if they are not wearing a seatbelt. A crash at 40km/h has the same force as falling from a two storey building onto concrete.
Fatigue doesn’t only relate to falling asleep at the wheel – even brief lapses in concentration can have serious consequences. Being awake for about 17 hours has a similar effect on performance as having a blood alcohol content of 0.05.
Fatigue-related crashes are often severe and frequently occur when the driver is alone. Most sleep-related vehicle crashes happen between 2am and 6am, and between 2pm and 4pm.
- For more information, visit https://jointhedrive.qld.gov.au and learn how you can help keep our roads safe.