Speed demons have bulletproof attitude
02 November 2003
By MATTHEW LOWE
More than a third of Kiwi drivers say they enjoy speeding on the open road, many of them believing there's little chance of an accident when they speed.
The study published by the Land Transport Safety Authority (LTSA) today has transport bosses admitting road safety campaigns about speeding may need an overhaul.
Transport Minister Paul Swain says the results show many drivers think they're "bulletproof" while breaking speed limits and more work is needed to reduce the annual death toll to 300 by 2010. More than 450 people have died on the roads in the past 12 months.
A quarter of 1640 people questioned nationwide for the annual LTSA report, including 1450 holders of a driver's licence, believe most people who get caught speeding are just unlucky. Just under one in four admitted driving drunk in the last year - the same level as four years ago.
"In the old days people felt sorry for those caught drink driving but now they think they are a bloody idiot because they could be wiping out families," said Swain.
"But with speeding we haven't quite got the attitude that excess speeding can cause death. That group still has a bulletproof attitude and we are just going to have to work harder to point out to those people that's not the case. People are perhaps now saturated by the blood and guts adverts and we are seeing a shift to more educational and informative campaigns."
Swain hopes a shift in public attitude will come off the back of an innovative educational campaign being unveiled by the LTSA later this month. It would not release details of the campaign.
The minister is also due to announce a range of enforcement measures next month that will target repeat drink-drivers and speeding.
Dave Walden, who runs Auckland advertising agency Whybin/TBWA, said the focus of road safety campaigns needed to have a more positive emphasis to get the message across.
"We hear a lot about being a bloody idiot but do not hear a lot about the amount of money being spent by the government on improving roads and safety features.
"People always want to know what's in it for them and if the effect of previous advertising campaigns wears off then you need to look at it and modify it.
"With shock tactics the first time you shock people and the second time they turn off. The blood and guts adverts can be fairly negative and that turns a lot of people off and means they avoid the message. Therefore the money behind the campaign can be wasted."
LTSA spokesman Andy Knackstedt said despite the findings the organisation was happy with its progress as alcohol and speed-related fatal crashes had dropped.
In 1995 there were 182 speed-related deaths compared to 110 in the past year, a drop from 32% to 26% of the total road toll respectively.
Fatal accidents where alcohol was a factor fell from 162 to 95 during the same period, representing 36% to 30% of all road victims for those years.
"It's obvious there is still a group of people drinking and driving and if we are going to reduce that number further then we need to look at doing more to discourage that kind of behaviour," said Knackstedt.
Automobile Association spokesman George Fairbairn said people continued to speed because they felt increasingly safe in modern cars or were too impatient.
"Driving at speed isn't safe but we're all guilty of it. People take risks and some drivers aren't necessarily always keeping their speed at a safe level to the conditions at the time.
"While you may feel more safe because the cars are more safe and have more capabilities the road isn't necessarily forgiving."
Of those surveyed, 79% agreed enforcing the speed limit helped lower the road toll and nearly two-thirds supported the use of speed cameras to reduce the number of deaths.
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