'Speed kills' message still has not reached selfish drivers

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driversBy EditorialDecember 11 2017 - 6:00amBy EditorialDecember 11 2017 - 6:00amFacebookTwitterWhatsappEmailCopyMessage still has not reached selfish drivers What more has to be done to get

the message to sink in?

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50% off EOFY SaleAll articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperCrosswords, Sudoku and TriviaAll other regional websites in your areaContinue Tasmania Police must be

feeling less like a broken record, and more like a scratched CD that has been skipping for eternity.

The road safety message that speed kills has been pushed out through police and the media for years.

We’ve had slogans, roadside signs, television advertisements, appeals – but drivers just don’t seem to be listening.

Or worse yet, they’re listening, but they think they’re above speed limits.

On Friday, Tasmania Police caught a motorcyclist riding almost twice the speed limit – 158km/h in an 80km/h zone.

People caught at these sorts of excessive speeds can’t claim they didn’t know they were over the limit.

Many of these speedsters don’t think the limit applies to them, because they believe they’re good drivers.

They’re in control of their vehicle, they drive this road every day, they’ve lived here all their lives.

Why can’t they travel at 130km/h?

Newsflash, speedsters: it’s not just about you.

Your excessive speed is placing others in danger. It is selfish behaviour.

Tailgating a driver doing the speed limit and overtaking them without indication or warning is brutish and intimidatory behaviour.

Coasting around a blind corner and crossing onto the other side of the road is just plain stupid.

Sure, you might know the corner “like the back of your hand”, but what if the person on the other side of the corner doesn’t?

Your excessive speed spells a collision for both parties, even though only one is at fault.

Here’s another newsflash: it takes more than vehicle control and reverse-parking skills to be a good driver.

Being a good driver means that your actions make you, your passengers and your fellow road users feel safe.

So what’s the solution? Do we continue on the path we’re on, continue to push that “speed kills” agenda?

Maybe we need to crack down more.

Should the fines for speeding be bumped up a notch? Should we trial the double-demerit point system that NSW employs for holiday periods?

Whatever it takes to get the message to sink in.

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