Is there a 10 percent tolerance on speed limits?

Holiday periods mean double demerits for driving offences including speeding, but the limits of these limits are not as clearly cut as some think.

“Is it safe (ie. I won’t get booked) to go 10 per cent above the speed limit?,” NRMA members Alicia C asked the Open Road. 

The simple answer is that it’s not safe for a number of reasons and that there is no official 10 per cent tolerance. If you are caught going over the speed limit, you should expect to be punished.

Cameras play an important role in supporting speed enforcement conducted by NSW Police. About 60 per cent of fines issued in NSW in the 2025-26 financial year were for exceeding the speed limit by 10km/h or under. If you are driving faster than the speed limit, you are speeding and can be penalised. 

“If you are over the prescribed speed limit for a section of road, you are speeding,” former NSW Police Assistant Commissioner John Hartley told the NRMA when previously asked about speed enforcement.

“That said, a police officer in NSW has a level of discretion and can take a number of matters into consideration at the time of the offence”.

The key factors NSW Police take into account when enforcing speed limits are driving style, relative speed, traffic behaviour and road conditions.

For example, an aggressive driver who is tailgating at slightly more than the legal speed limit will almost certainly to be booked for both offences.

Police will also enforce limits more strictly if conditions are compromised, such as in roadworks zones.