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Analysis shows increased fatal crash rates at higher speed limits in Australia, suggesting safer measures are needed.
Speed limits in Australia are not sufficiently matched to the risk to road users should a crash occur, with substantial increases in the fatal crash rate at speeds limits of 80 km/h and above. A uniform fatal crash rate equal to the fatal crash rate found in 50 km/h zones would halve the number of fatal crashes. Lowering the fatal crash rate in Australia could be achieved through improvements to the roads, improvements in the passive safety of vehicles, and the lowering of speed limits, or a combination of these approaches.
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Doecke et al. (2026) studied this question.
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