More than half of all Queensland motorists are happy to break the law and warn other drivers of speed traps, according to research.

A SURVEY BY RACQ Insurance revealed that 44% of all Queensland motorists flashed their headlights on a regular basis to warn others about speed cameras in the area.

“Many motorists may not realise flashing high beam lights at traffic is an offence and dangerous, as it can be distracting for oncoming drivers,” said RACQ Executive Manager Insurance Communications Mike Sopinski.

“Although motorists who flash their lights may think they’re acting in good faith or exhibiting a type of motoring fraternity – they’re clearly preventing the law from taking its correct and proper course.”

But it’s not just drivers flashing their lights, indeed one quarter of all those surveyed said they alerted other drivers of speed traps by either texting or phoning.

“More than one quarter (27.9%) of motorists say they regularly phone friends, family and colleagues to let them know about the location of speed cameras,” Sopinski said.

Indeed the survey revealed the following statistics around drivers warning other drivers about the location of speed traps:

•More than half (53.9 percent) of drivers said they relied on others flashing their headlights

•One in 10 people said they used social media sites

•Almost one in five (18.4 percent) relied on phone calls from others

•Nearly eight per cent (7.8) regularly used mobile apps.

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4 comments

  1. I have no issue with fixed speed traps, it is the mobile speed traps that are used in dubious situations that irk me.
    We’ve all seen them, parked immediately behind a lower speed limit sign, where they get people that haven’t slowed sufficiently, or at the base of a hill aiming their radars up the incline at cars descending, and even on major roads that go past schools, so we are expected to reduce speed to 40, even though there are crossings and the median strip is fenced to prevent high school children from running across roads.

  2. If people slow down when they see a vehicle flashing their lights, isn’t that a good outcome? Or is catching people and fining them more important than speed compliance?

    1. Good point Johnny7.

      It seems the government would rather collect some revenue than prevent an accident.

      Persecuting the average motorist for doing a few kmh over the limit, has meant I spend more time watching the speedo than watching the road and the traffic around me. The reduced situational awareness is frightening.

      There should be a great deal more focus on the real idiots who:

      – fail to stop at red lights
      – turn suddenly without indicating
      – talk and text on phones while driving
      – drive at grossly excessive speed
      – drive at night with no lights on (increasingly common these days)
      – disobey the “keep left unless overtaking rule” on 2 lane highways
      – refuse to get out of the way of ambulances and fire engines with sirens/lights blazing
      – cause traffic congestion by driving excessively slowly (at massive cost to the economy)

      As an RACQ member I am angry that the RACQ has, over the last few years,
      become just another submissive mouthpiece of the government and its conveniently
      misleading police propaganda.

  3. l found buying a cruise control save me heaps !! and all so you have the alarm on your GPS too !!
    between the two of them they have pay for them selves time and time again

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