Vehicle speeds in South Australia 2020

Abstract

A systematic and ongoing method of measuring vehicle speeds was introduced in South Australia in 2007 in order to assess the effects of speed reduction countermeasures and to monitor the speed behaviour of South Australian motorists over time. More than 100 sites around South Australia have speed measurements taken for a one week period at the same time each survey year. This Report summarises the data collected in 2020 and makes comparisons with previous surveys and partial surveys dating back to 2002. The following general observations are apparent when considering all the surveys and all the speed measurements: vehicle speeds have been trending down on all road types over the course of the surveys; the percentage of vehicles obeying the speed limit has been increasing; reductions in high level speeding are more pronounced than those for low level speeding; vehicle speeds appear to be stabilising in recent years on 50-80 km/h roads while continuing to decline on 100-110 km/h roads; speed limit compliance is lowest on Adelaide 50 km/h collector roads and rural 100 km/h arterial roads; and vehicle speeds in 2020 appeared to generally increase from 2018 especially on 50 and 110 km/h roads (this may have been COVID-19 related).