With National Road Safety Week just around the corner, alarming new research from car insurance comparison site Compare the Market has found that as many as one in five drivers have received a fine in the past 12 months.
The most common offence was speeding, with 10.1% of drivers admitting to being caught having a lead foot. The next most common fine was for parking, while not wearing a seatbelt was the third most common reason, people were shelling out hundreds of dollars.
| Most common reason for a fine | Reason for fine | % of drivers who admitted to being fined |
| 1st | Speeding | 10.1% |
| 2nd | Parking | 8.2% |
| 3rd | Driving without a seat belt | 2.1% |
| 4th | Failing to stop at a stop sign/red light | 1.9% |
| 5th | Use of mobile phone | 1.7% |
In a state-by-state breakdown, speeding is the most common fine people have received, bar New South Wales, where parking fines were the most common. Looking at a number of speeding fines, though, Queensland claimed the crown for being the most lead-footed state.
| State | Most common fine | Second most common fine | Third most common fine |
| New South Wales | Parking (10.3%) | Speeding (8.5%) | Use of mobile phone while driving (2.5%) |
| Victoria | Speeding (11.2%) | Parking (10.0%) | Seatbelt (2.0%) Failing to stop at a stop sign/red light (2.0%) |
| Queensland | Speeding (12.7%) | Parking (5.6%) | Seatbelt (3.0%) |
| South Australia | Speeding (7.2%) | Parking (4.3%) Failing to stop at a stop sign/red light (4.3%) | Seatbelt (2.9%) |
| Western Australia | Speeding (8.0%) | Parking (3.4%) | Driving an unregistered vehicle (2.3%) |
Due to lower sampling, the Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, and Tasmania have been excluded from the above table detailing road fines. However, those responses have been included in all other breakdowns in the media release.
Commenting on the findings, Compare the Market’s Executive General Manager of General Insurance and car insurance expert, Adrian Taylor, warned that fines might affect more than just your hip pocket.
“You shouldn’t be reenacting Ford vs Ferrari on the streets. Not only is it putting everyone else near the road in serious danger, but you are also breaking the law,” Mr Taylor said.
“A road fine, especially for speeding, could be a blemish on your driving record and could cost you more than you think. By racking up demerit points your car insurance premium could also increase.
“Given the current cost of living pressures, it could cut deep to not only pay the fine for reckless behaviour, which can range up to hundreds of dollars but also have to bear longer-term financial implications.”
*Compare the Market surveyed 1,010 Australians aged 18 and over in March 2024
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For interviews and more information, please contact:
Noémi Hadnagy | m: 0433 377 252 | e: [email protected]
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