Speed camera alerts train drivers to speed up when the app goes silent
Drivers slow down for speed camera alerts but learn to speed freely in unmarked areas, a pattern researchers call punishment avoidance.
Researchers parked an unmarked car at 33 Queensland roadsides and measured traffic speed before and after Waze flagged them as police. Before the alert appeared, 55% of drivers were speeding.
Once the warning went live, only 26% were. In 100km/h zones the drop was dramatic: from 64% speeding down to 12%.
Even in school zones, two-thirds of drivers were over the limit before alerts. More than a third still sped after warnings appeared.
The research reveals a problem: drivers learn that no alert means they have the all-clear. Each time they speed, get away with it, then slow down for a camera, they learn the app controls their risk, not the speed limit itself.
Criminologists call this punishment avoidance. Speeding plays a role in roughly one in three fatal crashes in Queensland.
Why it mattersApps that warn of enforcement can paradoxically make roads less safe by training drivers to see speed limits as a game they can win if they stay alert to cameras.
AustraliaMore than one in three Australian drivers use these apps. If drivers speed more often in unmarked areas, crash risk rises, especially in school zones and residential streets without posted cameras.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 3 h ago
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