Speeding away

I was recently in Indonesia watching a mass of humanity carrying out their daily business on motorbikes of all shapes and sizes.  I got to thinking about speeding laws and how they impact on us as motorcycle riders.

There are some who say that speeding probably isn't an issue for Harley riders as we ride slow, cruising bikes anyway.  Well, I have a recent model tourer that is capable of breaking speed limits in every gear, and cruising all day at 140 km/h - 30 km over the maximum speed limit anywhere in Australia.  So, I reckon it potentially impacts on almost every Harley rider in Australia.

In Indonesia, the traffic looks chaotic, but they’re not travelling at any great speed.  100 km/h is impossible and even 80 km/h is a challenge!  Their fatality rate is about double that of Australia, but, in general, speed is not a major factor in accidents, with officials instead citing poor road conditions and driver error.

Traffic statistics in Australia quote “speed” as a major cause of over 50% of serious accidents.  No break-up or analysis of what that really means.  Plenty of credible scientific studies suggest that road conditions – surface, confusing speed signs, camber, etc are possibly a greater contributor to fatalities and injuries than speed by itself.

Speed cameras have become one of the weapons of choice in the war on speeding motorists.  I’m sure they started out as a genuine, well-intentioned tool.  But then governments got hooked on the revenue to be squeezed from poor motorists.  This clearly does nothing to remove the perception that speeding fines are a type of unfair tax on motorists – cars and bikes.

Recently, the government in my state audited all its speed cameras to verify whether any change in accident rates had actually occurred as a result of their installation.  The audit identified that around a quarter of all speed cameras served no purpose other than raising revenue.  I wonder how many others were marginal.

Personally, what concerns me most about speeding laws as implemented in Australia is that, being "one size fits all", they are a very blunt instrument to manage/reduce road fatalities.  The arbitrary number of a speed limit does nothing to encourage riding to conditions, and does not reward experience or skill.  I’m sure we all know some people who are fabulous riders – highly skilled, very much in control of themselves and their bike.  Others, however, are unsafe at any speed, and a menace to themselves and others on the road.  And yet the law treats them both the same!

Although most of the discussion about speed revolves around cars, bikes add extra levels of difficulty.  Constantly worrying about speed limits and the possibility of a speeding fine, or even losing your licence, takes your concentration away from the road.  The same government that shut down speed cameras has also admitted that the complexity of constant speed limit changes is also a contributor to road accidents by constantly distracting the driver.

One of Australia’s leading race drivers, Mark Skaife, has argued that part of the solution to death and injury on the road is not more restrictive laws and increased enforcement, but a greater emphasis on driver education.  He advocates driver training in schools and greater expenditure on roads to provide better driving conditions and environment.  He cites the example of Germany, which has high speed roads, with minimum speeds, and yet a much lower traffic fatality rate than Australia.  What they do have is driver education as a key part of school curricula.

Are speeding laws a de facto government tax or are they a genuine measure to protect riders and drivers?  And more to the point, does a nanny state environment which takes away responsibility for driving from individuals, lead ultimately to better or worse drivers?

What do you think?