Home > Legal issues > Traffic > Driving over the speed limit

Driving over the speed limit

Speed limits in Victoria

Victoria has:

  • a variety of speed limits (as you may have seen on road signs)
  • speed limits on roads that have high traffic flow (such as the Burnley and Domain tunnels in Melbourne)
  • a speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) in built-up areas, if there are no speed limit signs
  • special speed limits for areas such as school, shared and shopping zones.

You need to pay close attention to road signs to avoid going over the speed limit.

Speed cameras

Road safety cameras (speed cameras) detect how fast you are travelling when you pass the camera or between two points monitored by the camera. If a speed camera detects that you are driving over the speed limit it takes a digital image of your car.

In Victoria, three types of road safety camera are used:

  • combined speed/red light cameras – these detect both your speed and if you travel through a red traffic light
  • point-to-point cameras that record the average speed of a vehicle between two points, not just the speed recorded in one location
  • speed cameras – these can either be fixed, which means that they stay in one location that is made known to the public, or mobile, which means they change location regularly and their location is not made public.

See the Department of Justice’s 'Cameras cut crashes' website (link below) for more information about road safety cameras. The site also has a map of the locations of fixed speed cameras in Victoria and you can download the compliance certificate of each camera if you want to see when the camera was last tested to ensure that it is operating correctly.

Speeding and drivers licence suspension

Your licence will usually be suspended if you are detected going over the speed limit by 25 km/h or more.

Your vehicle may be immobilised or impounded if you are travelling 45 km/h or more over the speed limit, or at more than 145 km/h.

The police may give you a warning if you are doing less than 10 km/h over the speed limit. See ‘Police action’ in ‘Possible outcomes for traffic offences’ (link below).

All excessive speed offences attract demerit points. See ‘Demerit points’ (link below).

Can I stop my licence from being suspended?

Your licence can be saved if the magistrate believes you were driving less than 25 km/h over the speed limit, at a speed less than 130 km/h. Otherwise the magistrate has no choice and must suspend your licence.

If your licence is suspended, the minimum suspension period depends on how much over the speed limit you were driving:

  • 25 to less than 35 km/h over the speed limit – one month
  • 35 to less than 45 km/h over the speed limit – six months
  • 45 km/h or more over the speed limit – 12 months
  • any speed of 130 km/h or more that is not covered above – one month.

Note: this suspension period is in addition to any suspension period due to demerit points.

Disagreeing with the charge

You may have a defence for driving over the speed limit in some cases. For example, if:

  • the speed limit sign was covered up or removed
  • your vehicle cannot travel at the speed the police said you were going at
  • you were not speeding
  • you were speeding but you had to do it to avoid urgent danger
  • the speed measuring device was not used or not working properly
  • the police did not follow the right procedures in detecting the speed or charging you
  • you were driving but you could not help it – for example, you had a seizure at the wheel.

If you have been caught speeding, your case has to be filed with the court within 12 months of the date that the offence happened. Check that all of the details on your charge are correct.

Being honestly mistaken about the speed limit or the speed you were travelling at is not a defence.

This area can be complicated. Talk to a lawyer about the defences that may apply to your situation.

More information

Demerit points

Fines

Possible outcomes for traffic offences

Related publications

Road to court

Related websites

Department of Justice – Cameras cut crashes (new window)

How we can help

Call Victoria Legal Aid’s (VLA) Legal Information Service for free information over the phone about the law and how we can help you with your legal problem. You can speak to a legal information officer in English or ask for an interpreter. Phone (03) 9269 0120 or 1800 677 402 (country callers), Monday to Friday from 8.45 am to 5.15 pm.

If you have to go to court and have not been able to get legal advice beforehand, our free legal services include lawyers who are on ‘duty’ to help at many courts and tribunals.

To find out more about any of our legal services see What we do.

Who else can help?

Your local community legal centre (CLC) can give you legal information and advice. Most CLC services are free. See the Community Law website (new window) for more information and CLC contact details.