Tesla driver slapped with $1,800 fine for 'inexcusable' road act
An electric vehicle (EV) driver has been slapped with a $1,854 fine after getting caught going twice the legal speed limit in a school zone last week.
Police described the act as "inexcusable" and thrust a six-month driver's licence suspension along with eight demerit points, pointing out the "crucial reason" for school zones is to keep children safe from speeding cars.
The incident occurred last Wednesday in Southport, in Queensland's Gold Coast, with the 38-year-old man immediately pulled over by police. He was clocked driving at 92 km/h in a 40 km/h, with footage of the Tesla speeding captured on a police dashcam.
Garrath Channells, Queensland Police Service Chief Superintendent said an incident like this is a perfect example of the kind of excessive speeding that prompts fatalities on the road.
"School zones exist for one crucial reason—to keep our children safe," he said. "Speeding reduces reaction time and makes it harder to stop quickly if a child crosses the road while entering or leaving school.
"We must all play our part in protecting the most vulnerable road users, especially our children."
As of Monday, 37 lives have been lost on Queensland roads this year and the number of road deaths has risen nationwide in the last few years.
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Speeding continues to be the top cause of road fatalities in the country and the death toll has steadily inclined over the last few years. During the last 12 months ending in January, there were 1,324 deaths on Aussie roads — an increase of six per cent compared to the previous year, according to the National Road Safety Strategy.
"Speed is the key factor in 99 per cent of crashes," Dr Chris Stokes, road safety researcher at the University of Adelaide previously told Yahoo. "The faster you hit an object, the harder the impact is going to be."
Driving less than 5 km/h over the speed limit is enough to double the risk of a casualty crash, with extreme incidents like the one in Southport viewed by authorities as an accident waiting to happen.
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