Lower speed limit proposed

[trustme]

Impatience is the problem on that stretch of road. There is a huge variations in the speeds of the different road users , cars, trucks, campers , cars with caravans or boats. Frustration sets in & people do dumb shit. Lowering the speed limit simply shifts the pressure point.
More passing lanes & better drivers is the solution .

[avgas]

I used to do this route on a daily basis.

View Larger Map
Now I was young and stupid - so I used to average 140kph on that trip.

But long arm of the law said "This road is too fast - drop the speed to 80kmh".......that didn't fix it so they said "This road is too dangerous, lets improve the quality of it"
Ironically that also didn't fix it.

They failed to notice the fact that most of the drivers in this area:
- Are old and blind
- Have very little vehicle education
- Are pissed as a brewery
- Getting charged on this road meant you had to ring up your old/blind or pissed mate to give you a lift home......you drove the next day as there was f-all public transport

But no, lets slow down every road on the country, in fact lets fit training wheels to bikes and autopilots to cars.......and continue to ignore the obvious problems.

[cheshirecat]

Too little speed can be problem as well. Re the 30 kph limits which seem to be springing up left right and center.
Methinks there is more skill to controling a bike at 30kph (especially in gusty winds) than say 40 when gyro effects come more into play. Therefore the riders concentration is more focussed on control than people pushing prams into your front wheel. Euro Ped/vehicle accident rates are far less than Wellington, yet have you ever tried stepping out in a street in Milan, Paris, Munich or London let alone dawdling at the lights when they turn green.

[Edbear]

you could probably lower it to 50 & people will still die. There will be people who have driven that stretch for the last 40 years at the current limit & never had a problem with it.
Some people are just poor drivers (despite having a licence) & will always be poor drivers, unfortunately they will kill others.

Damn those figures are NOT good :

HIGHWAY TOLL

* 29 fatal crashes on SH2 since 2001

* 22 people were badly injured in those accidents

* 36 other smashes resulted in serious injury to 44

Something obviously had to be done
.....then again, if they stopped handing out license's so easily and actually "taught" people to drive safely (compulsory defensive driver course's?..I dunno..just a thought) -instead of the old "there ya go...good luck out there!" system that is currently in place, we might have (Slightly!) better drivers in this country ay.

Still, its way to many deaths on that road

That bit of road has been well visited by the Yellow Paint Monster and there are double yellow lines everywhere.
A road to be avoided at the best of times, but certainly not a dangerous road. There are some dangerous drivers who use it, however...

Speed limit reduction is something that can be done. It produces a result which is quantifiable, and easily enforceable, and quite often has the added benefit of actually working, albeit with an amount of frustration and irritation to competent drivers.

Education, on the other side, is something that is harder to quantify. Firstly, a lot of the population are actually borderline retards, imbeciles and morons (these are actually legal definitions which aren't used anymore - look them up).

Therefore we have to allow for this fact. It's a sad and unfortunate but until we lose the idea that we have a god-given right to drive or ride and actually make the license very very hard to get it will continue to progress along this path.

NZTA are in an invidious position but it's not really their fault.

Pretty well sums it up, really. That road is simply another proof that most drivers in NZ can't and are unsafe at any speed to steal a book title.

[Zedder]

Pretty well sums it up, really. That road is simply another proof that most drivers in NZ can't and are unsafe at any speed to steal a book title.

It probably wouldn't hurt to add in things like road configuration and surface though.

[DR650gary]

It's the Taniwha

[avgas]

It probably wouldn't hurt to add in things like road configuration and surface though.

Shhhhhhh
or else McSAC will have another reason to go tour the country on tax payer.....

[Zedder]

Shhhhhhh
or else McSAC will have another reason to go tour the country on tax payer.....

Mate, Gareth Morgan should be made to fund the whole thing since he's so rich and outspoken about it all.

[Edbear]

It probably wouldn't hurt to add in things like road configuration and surface though.

Granted, but I've been driving for 40 years over much of NZ on/in all manner of wheeled transport and despite the major improvements in most road conditions and the staggering advances in vehicle safety, relatively safe roads continue to attract high accident rates.

[Zedder]

Granted, but I've been driving for 40 years over much of NZ on/in all manner of wheeled transport and despite the major improvements in most road conditions and the staggering advances in vehicle safety, relatively safe roads continue to attract high accident rates.

Sure, I just like to list all factors and because I was involved in roading for a number of years on the technical side, I saw what it takes to attempt to reduce the idiot factor on roads through design and construction.

[Edbear]

Sure, I just like to list all factors and because I was involved in roading for a number of years on the technical side, I saw what it takes to attempt to reduce the idiot factor on roads through design and construction.

Interesting job!

[avgas]

Mate, Gareth Morgan should be made to fund the whole thing since he's so rich and outspoken about it all.

The day Gareth uses his own money for something would have to become a national holiday.
He is an economics major whom worked his way through the R.b. - which means he is a graduate in being cheap, and was personally tutored by scrooge mcduck himself.

IF YOU WANT TO SAVE THE PLANET GARETH HOW ABOUT SCREWING US LESS FOR A START!!!

That felt better.

[Maha]

Why people even use that road is beyond me..there are much better alternatives.
The irony of it all is that the speed is 80 or less anyway as it is..
Its an arse bit of road.. even with the upgrade.

[meteor]

Impatience is the problem on that stretch of road. There is a huge variations in the speeds of the different road users , cars, trucks, campers , cars with caravans or boats. Frustration sets in & people do dumb shit. Lowering the speed limit simply shifts the pressure point.
More passing lanes & better drivers is the solution .

Absolutely agree with everything said above. More and longer passing lanes is the cheapest fix. Education and enforcement can only do so much... engineering the roads properly should be the first step however that costs too much. As can be seen by the deviation, the road will only change when enough people die. It's a safety over cost equation as the bean counters play with our lives....

[Maha]

Impatience is the problem on that stretch of road. There is a huge variations in the speeds of the different road users , cars, trucks, campers , cars with caravans or boats. Frustration sets in & people do dumb shit. Lowering the speed limit simply shifts the pressure point.
More passing lanes & better drivers is the solution .

...add to that the endless kilometers of double yellow lines and I say...
choose another route.