Comparing provisional and unrestricted licence holders on speeding offences and crash rates

Speeding is the single largest behavioural factor contributing to road trauma, and is estimated
to be a factor in around 40% of fatal crashes in NSW. Age, driving experience and gender,
are well recognised as predictive factors in speed-related crashes. The present study
examined the interrelationships of these factors and speeding by interrogating the RTA?s
licence, offence and crash data, to compare provisional and unrestricted licence holders on
speeding offences. The data showed that speeding offence rates are much higher amongst
provisional drivers than unrestricted drivers, especially at extreme levels of speeding. Males
tend to speed more than females, again especially at excessive speed. However, male to
female ratio of unrestricted speeding offenders is similar to or slightly higher than that of
provisional speeding offenders across all speeding ranges. Hence, being a novice driver also
seems to add independently to the tendency to speed at high ranges regardless of gender.
Overrepresentation of high range speeding offence rates amongst provisional drivers also
appears to be a major contributor to their overrepresentation in serious crashes. Examination
of crashes in NSW over the last five years reveals that speeding is more likely to be a factor
in the fatal crashes of provisional drivers than unrestricted drivers. Results are discussed in
terms of psychological factors in speeding and road safety countermeasures. The automatic
licence suspension for P1 drivers caught speeding being introduced in NSW is likely to
produce road safety benefits.