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Research reveals 37.9% of Australian drivers speed…

A new survey has revealed that 37.9% of Australian drivers knowingly exceed the speed limit, and that men are more likely to speed than women…

NEW RESEARCH FROM insurance comparison company, compareinsurance.com.au has revealed that 37.9% of Australian drivers knowingly exceed the speed limit. The survey of 500 motorists revealed that 21.9% of Aussies regularly drive up to 10km over the speed limit whilst a further 16% say they have driven 20km to 30km over safe speed limits.

And in confirmation of what we already know, 11.7% of male drivers admitted to driving in excess of 30km over the limit, compared to 5.8% of their female counterparts.

The survey data hasn’t revealed anything that we didn’t already know, but what the company did reveal, and something that many Australian drivers might not be aware of, is that ‘improper use of your vehicle’ can affect your insurance.

Speeding and recklessness: Plenty of drivers are unaware that their car insurance is invalid when intentionally racing and driving fast and furious.

Non-roadworthy vehicles: If your car is not roadworthy and is driven in an unsafe condition before an accident occurred your claim would be invalidated. It’s your responsibility to ensure that your car is free of any hazardous defects whilst on the road. 

Breaking the law: Car insurance will not cover you if you have an accident when carrying more passengers than you’re legally allowed to. It also doesn’t cover the costs for your car if it is towed away after being parked illegally, or for accidents caused while speeding or using your phone.  

Under the influence: You wouldn’t be covered if you or another person driving the vehicle at the time of an accident was under the influence of alcohol or any other drug.

Wrongful car use: As the ride sharing phenomenon continues to boom this one’s worth noting: If your car is used for purposes which you have not declared to your insurer, such as carrying passengers or other people’s goods for payment, you may not be covered. Additional improper vehicle use such as carrying explosives or using the wrong fuel type may also call your cover into question.


4 Comments

  1. Andrew Riles
    April 7, 2016 at 9:54 am — Reply

    I’m not at all surprised to read that…..a lot of people I know are happy to drive at a speedo indicated 5-10 kays over, on the premise they won’t get caught, and/or that their speedo over reads slightly….

    I wonder how many of those surveyed were basing their answers on the speedo indicated speed, rather than their actual speed??

  2. godafoss
    April 7, 2016 at 12:18 pm — Reply

    Only 37.9% exceed an arbitrarily generated number designed to cause frustration and encourage “so-called” speeding. The other 62.1% are asleep at the wheel causing most of the problems on the road. The sheep that think as long as they stick to the speed limit they can abrogate all other responsibilities as a driver. Too bad we don’t have moron cameras on the road. 99% of the insanity has nothing to do with speeding. But that’s harder to enforce and cameras are the gift that just keep on giving, like shooting fish in a barrel with a bazooka.

  3. Maggie Dee
    April 7, 2016 at 8:05 pm — Reply

    LMAO! his means at least 50% of Australians are outright liars!

  4. Daz
    April 8, 2016 at 5:23 am — Reply

    Despite what police/government/media propoganda spews out, speeding does not kill. It is the inability to cope with any given speed (not just one over some arbitrary posted limit) by either the car or driver which can kill. No law of physics exists to prove that a speed of, say 130km/hr, is dangerous under ideal conditions (Hume Hwy in the middle of the day with light traffic) even if it is illegal. Conversely, on the same road under adverse conditions such as torrential rain or dense fog, a speed of 60 may well be dangerously fast. And therein lies the biggest problem – people are not being conditioned to think about what is actually going on when they get behind the wheel, let alone travelling at 100km/hr or more. They are merely conditioned to obey an arbitrary law, like an open road speed limit, because they might lose money or their licence if they don’t.

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Isaac Bober

Isaac Bober