Increased speed means not only an increased risk of crashing but also increased severity if a crash occurs. A study undertaken for the Australian transport Safety Bureau found that travelling 10 km/h faster than the average traffic speed can more than double the risk of involvement in a casualty crash.
It is an offence for any vehicle to travel faster than the speed limit. The speed limit for heavy vehicles in NSW varies from the speed limit for other vehicles in three cases:
- The maximum speed limit that heavy trucks and buses are allowed to travel in NSW is 100 km/h. Even in 110 km/h speed zones heavy trucks must not exceed 100 km/h.
- The maximum speed limit for Road Trains in 90 km/h.
- Special truck speed limits apply at some locations, usually on steep declines.
What is speeding?
There are two types of speeding:
- Where a heavy vehicle travels faster than the posted speed limit.
- Where a driver travels within the speed limit but because of road conditions (eg fog or rain) this speed is inappropriate.
What Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) is doing to combat speeding heavy vehicles
Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) has and will continue to implement programs and countermeasures to discourage heavy vehicle drivers from speeding.
These include:
- Education, advertising and marketing campaigns.
- Enhanced enforcement targeting speeding trucks.
- Safe-T-Cam.
- Speed cameras.
- Speed limiters.