A day after Dubbo was ranked in the top-three for drink-driving offences over the past financial year, comes some further bad news from those that patrol our roads.
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Our city may figure prominently when it comes to DUI offences recorded, and on face value it seems that we get the message when it comes to speeding.
But according to Western Region Traffic Tactician Inspector Peter McMenamin that is far from the case.
Reports on Thursday outlined the top 10 sites in NSW for speeding offences.
The ‘winner’ was the south-western Sydney suburb of Wilton with 3066 reported offences.
No location within the western zone featured in the top 10, but Insp McMenamin said that statistic merely hides an underlying issue.
Figures from the Traffic and Highway Patrol show speeding offences in NSW are rising with 249,814 people booked in 2016-17, an increase of 25,661 on the previous year.
And we are not immune to that problem.
“We don’t really get a good look at overall statistics as such, more the figures from our peak operations during long weekends, school holidays and the like,” Insp McMenamin said.
“And from those operations there is a clear trend that our figures in the western zone are increasing. The trend varies from area to area of course, but it is rising unfortunately.
“The worrying thing from an overall perspective is that it’s a statewide trend as well, it’s happening everywhere.
“Speeding and seat belt offences are quite frustrating, and they’re both rising.
“These are two of the very basic road rules and people keep ignoring it for some reason.”
High-impact media campaigns and double demerit periods are two of the tactics being used to try and bring down the speeding rates, but they appear to have little impact.
But Insp McMenamin said all he and his officers can do is be out on the beat trying to stop people before accidents occur.
“Everyone knows that seat belts save lives, and everyone knows that every 5km over the limit you go increases your chances of being in an accident,” he said.
“We need people to start heeding these messages. You would think that during our operation periods the thought of a $400 fine or eight points off your licence would be enough to slow people down, but frustratingly that just doesn’t seem to be the case.