Targeting Speed In Peak Hill

Parkes Shire Council has installed a speed monitor trailer in Caswell Street in Peak Hill to help prompt drivers to watch their speed and keep to the limit.

The speed monitor trailer contains a radar device to check the speed of passing traffic and research shows that they have a large impact in not just reducing the speed at which people travel but also increasing the driver’s awareness of their vehicle’s travel speed.

Parkes Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, assures drivers that the speed checks are a courtesy only and emphasised the importance of the speed monitor trailer in reminding drivers of the posted speed limit and prompting them to adjust their speed if necessary.

“We want motorists to realise that their speeding is part of a much bigger problem.

Every vehicle travelling over the posted speed limit poses a risk to other road users – especially the vulnerable such as child and aged pedestrians.

“Research indicates that reducing speed, even by just a few kilometres, makes a big difference to the outcome of crashes. If hit by a vehicle travelling at 60 km/h a pedestrian has a 15% chance of survival, this increases to 55% if the vehicle is travelling at the slower speed of 50km/h and 80% if the vehicle is travelling at 40km/h.

The speed monitor trailers will be in use for the next month in conjunction with regular Police enforcement.