Speed is one of the top three crash factors in fatalities on Tasmanian roads. Between 2004 and 2008 inclusive, speed was a factor in 155 fatalities.

Speeding is commonly defined as driving faster than the posted speed limit, but it also refers to driving faster than what is appropriate for the road, weather and traffic conditions.

Speeding increases the risk and severity of a crash. A recent study in South Australia found that in 60 km/h zones, the risk of being involved in a crash in which someone is injured or killed approximately doubles with each 5 km/h increase.

A key issue in speed-related crashes is that most motorists underestimate the distance needed to stop. A car travelling at 60 km/h in dry conditions takes about 38 metres to stop. A car travelling at 80 km/h needs an extra 20 metres.

Speed limits establish the maximum speed limit. You don't need to be driving over the posted speed limit to be unsafe. Adjust your speed according to the weather, road and traffic conditions in order to allow for unexpected hazards.

Conditions are rarely perfect and a safe driver needs to constantly be on the look out in order to drive accordingly. A two to three second gap is recommended to be left between your car and the vehicle in front to allow for a safe response to hazards or unexpected events. In wet conditions, this distance should increase to three to four seconds.

One of the Road Safety Task Force's main aims is to make speeding both morally and socially unacceptable, much like drink driving.

A driver with a blood alcohol concentration of over 0.05 has double the normal crash risk. A driver who is travelling at 65 km/h in a 60km/h zone has exactly the same crash risk. Therefore speeding is just as dangerous as drink driving.

Police issued 10,584 speeding infringements during the 2007/08 financial year, which equates to over 200 people detected for speeding every week.