This release was issued under a previous government.
During the month of April, Alberta Transportation is reminding motorists of the risky consequences of speeding. The faster you are driving, the less time you have to react to anything unexpected. Speeding also reduces the effectiveness of seatbelts and other safety devices such as air bags and side impact beams. By the time you realize you’re going too fast – it may be too late.
Demerits for speeding range from two points (exceeding the posted limit by less than 15 km/h) to six points (exceeding the posted limit by more than 50 km/h). Fines for speeding also double when workers are present in construction zones. This includes workers on or near the road who are operating heavy equipment or doing other work in the construction zone.
“Safety should be everyone’s priority on the road. We will continue to work with law enforcement and our traffic safety partners to prevent speed related collisions.”
“Leave sooner, drive slower, live longer!”
Speed facts
- Between 2010 and 2014, 451 people in Alberta were killed and 11,753 were injured in collisions involving unsafe speed.
- Motor vehicle collisions were the second leading cause (after falls) of head injury hospital admissions and accounted for 27
per cent of brain injuries, with an average of 602 hospital admissions each year. - In the past 10 years, there were an average of 1,165 convictions each year for speeding more than 50 km/h over the speed limit.
- Motorists must slow to 60 km/h, or less if the posted speed is lower, when passing emergency vehicles or tow trucks stopped with their lights flashing. Fines for speeding in these circumstances double.
- A vehicle travelling at 50 km/h takes 37 metres to stop, while one moving at 110 km/h needs 126 metres to stop, nearly three times the distance.