Western Australia's Police Minister says she can not understand the mentality of motorists caught speeding excessively on the same stretch of road where three people died last week.
An 83-year-old man, a 38-year-old woman and her six-year-old son died in the head-on crash on Indian Ocean Drive north of Perth.
While authorities have not suggested speed was a factor Ms Roberts, who is also the Road Safety Minister, said she could not believe the tragic event had not deterred people from driving at very high speeds in the area.
She said a number of people have been caught driving at speeds of up to 44 kilometres over the 110 kilometre-per-hour speed limit since the triple fatality.
"I can't understand the mentality of someone driving at 154 kilometres per hour, as someone did on Monday, on a road that they surely knew that three people had been killed on the previous week," she said.
"I also can't understand the mentality of someone driving with two kids in the car at 147 kilometres per hour.
"These people need to be dealt with because they're risking their lives, their children's lives and other families who are also sharing the road with them.
Speeding penalties could be reviewed
Ms Roberts said the man caught travelling at 154 kilometres per hour told police he was in a rush to get home so he could pack for a holiday.
He was fined $1,000 and lost seven demerit points, but Ms Roberts said if incidents like these continued it might be time to re-evaluate if existing deterrents were working.
"I think we'll potentially have to look at putting up penalties if people are going to drive at these truly excessive speeds," she said.
"They're not only a hazard to themselves, they're a hazard to every other road user and it could be anyone's family that's taken out."
'Risky' road needs upgrades
The stretch of Indian Ocean Drive between Lancelin and Dongara, just north of where the fatal crash occurred, was named as one of the 10 most risky stretches of road in the RAC Risky Roads 2016/17 study.
Ms Roberts said she agreed with this assessment and upgrades to the road were already being planned, but drivers needed to take responsibility also.
The RAC is quite right ... that's why we're giving this and the other roads extra attention," she said.
"Different agencies including Main Roads, police and the Road Safety Commission, are working together to see if we can make the road safer and they're looking at measures like increased overtaking lanes, rumble strips on the middle of the road and so forth.
"But road improvements can only do so much if people are going to continue to speed at 140 and 150 kilometres per hour."
