In news that will likely reinforce any number of narratives, Tesla and Audi drivers are being caught speeding in South Australia more often than any other motorists.
The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia, better known as RAA, published new data on Wednesday that it believes to be an Australian first, revealing which car brands boast the most speeding offences.
RAA compared SA Police data showing the number of speeding offences committed by drivers of different car makes against state government registration data to show the worst speeding offenders on a per registered vehicle basis.
The analysis showed that Tesla and Audi drivers commit the most speeding offences per registered vehicle – though the number of offences is much higher for Audi drivers, because there are more Audis on the road.
Looking at data between July 2024 and June 2025, RAA found that approximately 1 in 6 Tesla, Audi, and Ram drivers committed speeding offences.
Matt Vertudaches, senior traffic engineer for RAA, said the results indicate that some modern vehicles can accelerate very rapidly and in some instances their design “can mask a driver’s perception of speed,” especially where other crash factors such as inattention are involved.
“EVs like Teslas are very smooth to drive so there’s a potential these drivers could be getting complacent and creeping over the limit – knowingly or unknowingly.
“It is ultimately a driver’s responsibility to maintain a safe and appropriate speed, taking their vehicle’s capabilities into account. Speed is a killer on our roads – and motorists should adhere to the speed limit no matter what vehicle they’re driving.”
It does beg the question if the use of the newly introduced FSD Supervised might change that data.
In the 12-month period analysed, 986 speeding offences were recorded by the 5,936 Teslas registered in South Australia – which works out to 0.166 speeding offences per vehicle. Close on their tail were Audi drivers, with 2,181 speeding offences committed by the 13,224 registered Audis, equating to 0.165 per vehicle.
Interestingly, Audi drivers were also the worst offenders among car drivers for recording higher-range speeding offences, speeding offences that exceeded the speed limit by at least 20km/h – though only 162 of these offences were recorded for a rate of 0.0123 per vehicle.
Ram drivers had a similar occurrence of offences, but the only 1,001 Ram cars on the roads meant that only 159 speeding offences were recorded.
RAA’s data showed that Toyota drivers racked up the most number of speeding offences with 35,079 but given there are 333,245 Toyotas driving around South Australian roads, the offence rate is only 0.105 per vehicle.
Mazda drivers in South Australia appear to be the most law-abiding, with 133,658 registered Mazdas on the roads committing only 12,951 speeding violations, a rate of approximately 1 in 10 (0.097 per vehicle).
The top 30 offences by vehicle make are listed below.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.