What is Australia’s deadliest predator? The one that hits with more than 30Gs of force, strikes in under a second, leaves catastrophic injury in its wake.
You won’t hear it. You won’t see it. Not until it’s too late. Australia’s deadliest predator isn’t found in the wild.
It’s on our roads. Speeding is the killer.
Speeding caused 1 in 3 road deaths last year in Victoria and Australia - that’s 400 lives lost nationally in 2024 and 4,100 over the past decade.
This is 70 times more deaths a year than commonly feared animals such as sharks, crocodiles and snakes.
Despite this most people find sharks and crocodiles a lot more dangerous than going 5 or 10 km/h over the speed limit.
We often hear, ‘it’s only a little bit over’, but the stark reality is that about a quarter of deaths and serious injuries on our roads involve people travelling 1-10 km/h over the limit.
Going 5 km/h above the speed limit won’t save much time, but it will double the risk of a crash.
When we asked 1,000 people what they found to be ‘extremely dangerous’ 74.5% of people said venomous snakes, followed by crocodiles (68.8%) and sharks (61.8%).
Only 11.2% felt that driving 5 km/h over the speed limit was extremely dangerous. That figure rose to 29.8% when considering driving 10 km/h over the limit.
Each of us can work to make our roads safer, so that everyone can get home at the end of the day. Simple actions such as setting cruise control, regularly checking speed signs and allowing extra travel time can all contribute to safer driving behaviours on our roads.
For those already doing the right thing - be an advocate. Speak up if someone is speeding and be a voice for road safety in your families, workplaces and communities.
If you or someone you know needs support as a result of road trauma, please contact the Amber Community on 1300 367 797. You can also visit https://ambercommunity.org.au/
