LTNZ recommends lowering speed limit on rural winding roads

**riffer** · 16th October 2005, 21:52

stuff website reports:

Speed limit on rural roads to be lowered

16 October 2005

The 100kph speed limit on some rural roads will be lowered to 90kph in an effort to reduce New Zealand's road toll.

Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) has been working with local government on plans to drop the limit on some of the more dangerous stretches of country roads.

The new approach to speed is expected to begin in Wellington by the end of this year and if successful will spread to 40 other danger spots throughout the country.

Janice Rodenberg of LTNZ said today the new speed limit would apply to roads where conditions were not suitable for 100kph.

"(It's for) roads that are simply not engineered for speeds of 100kph – they are narrow, they're winding."

Ms Rodenberg said LTNZ was still in discussions with local councils in the greater Wellington area and was unable to specify which sections of road would be changed.

"We are talking to a number of local authorities about possible sites for these speed zones.

"We will be putting a few of the zones in place and we'll be monitoring them closely to see what impact it has and how it works."

She said if they are successful in reducing road accidents then the change in speed limit would be applied to other danger spots in the country.

Plans to increase the speed limit to 110kph on wider, longer roads were shelved when Transit engineers found none of New Zealand's roads were suitable.

Road surface, gradient, curvature, width and traffic are calculated when deciding which speed suits a road.

Transport Minister Harry Duynhoven said if the approach were successful it would correct the current situation where the 100kph speed limit for a four-lane divided motorway applied to a undivided rural road.

"Setting appropriate speed limits for the road will assist motorists who drive too fast for the conditions but are still under the legal speed limit," he said.

Acting national road policing manager John Kelly said police were happy to see the limit reduced on some of the more dangerous rural roads.

He said the new approach to speed might also see the limit rise from 50kph to 60kph on some roads, if the conditions were appropriate.

"If a road feels like you could drive 100kph on it but there is a hidden danger, then we have to set a lower speed limit so people will slow down," he told Herald on Sunday.

Mr Kelly said police did not expect to issue more tickets because of the speed limit reduction.

Plenty of notice of the speed change would be given and because of the nature of the roads concerned, drivers would naturally reduce speed anyway.

"We are not interested in revenue at all and in fact the number of tickets issued around New Zealand is steadily declining. If the speed limit is more appropriate to the road then there should actually be less tickets."

LTNZ said lowering the speed limit was a move to improve the safety for all drivers on New Zealand roads.

"We would urge all people to drive to the conditions, but this is another option we are looking at for improving safety on those roads."

**Jantar** · 16th October 2005, 21:58

Originally Posted by riffer

"We are not interested in revenue at all ."

Yeah, Right. As the revenue from speeding tickets declines at 100, the only way to increase revenue is to lower the speed limit.

If their argument was genuinely for road safety then the maximum permitted speed would be walking pace, and every vehicle would have to be preceeded by a man carrying a red flag.

**SPORK** · 16th October 2005, 22:27

Hmm, Whiteman's Valley, riffer?

**avgas** · 16th October 2005, 23:00

If a cop tries that in a twisty, im game......as i concerntrate so hard on the road at that point

**N4CR** · 16th October 2005, 23:26

We can't really complain as then we would be made to look bad like we have no regard for safety. Best leave this one alone and not highlight the fact that we;
A: Like to take some corners faster than we should eg 70+ round 25k bends
B: Ride at and/or exceed the speed limit in the country
C: Sometimes treat the roads as a 'track' for a few corners (or more) if the conditions are right.

And yes I'm generalising and I know some of you would 'never do that' (so don't flame me) but a fair amount of the people on here do at least one of those things.

Just my 2c.

I think this may help cages more than bikes, but the fact that if it is actually dangerous (and not just revenue gathering), you won't be driving/riding that fast. And signs etc warning of corners are usually in place in those areas, so I don't really get this proposal all too much.

Is 10kmh really going to make a difference? No.

**Karma** · 17th October 2005, 00:21

My view is that the speeding limits in this country are a complete joke, as anyone who has ridden or driven anywhere outside of NZ will know.

I'm from the UK, and on the motorways over there the official speed limit is 70mph... or around 105kph I think, but unoffically you can get upto 100mph before being booked... that means a rough speed of 150-160kph easily.

I did a long drive once down the M1 where I was doing at least 110mph the whole way... doing that in kph in this country would be considered speeding.

Always been my view... speeding doesn't kill... it's morons not knowing how to control it, after all, a fork in the hands of an imbecile can kill you.

**Two Smoker** · 17th October 2005, 05:51

With the speeds i do on widing back country roads, i dont think 10kmh is going to change very much...

**Storm** · 17th October 2005, 06:08

Be interesing to see if tickts take a sharp upturn after this little change comes into effect

**placidfemme** · 17th October 2005, 06:24

Do you think it will really make a difference? All road users will take those roads at excess of 100kph or 90 kph...

**Quasievil** · 17th October 2005, 06:32

Originally Posted by Weasel

My view is that the speeding limits in this country are a complete joke, as anyone who has ridden or driven anywhere outside of NZ will know.

I'm from the UK, and on the motorways over there the official speed limit is 70mph... or around 105kph I think, but unoffically you can get upto 100mph before being booked... that means a rough speed of 150-160kph easily.

I did a long drive once down the M1 where I was doing at least 110mph the whole way... doing that in kph in this country would be considered speeding.

Always been my view... speeding doesn't kill... it's morons not knowing how to control it, after all, a fork in the hands of an imbecile can kill you.

Yes this is true and Ive been all over the world, BUT NZ drivers are crap and have a very very immature attitude to speed , simply put most drivers in NZ have trouble handling a car at 90 kmph let alone 100kmph and thats the problem. For me I usually drive my car at around 90 kmph anyway so I really dont care.The bike is a different story.
FYI speeding does kill and ""the faster you go the bigger the mess" is very true and if you have ever witnessed a high speed car wreck you will know this.
Speeding in a safe enviroment doesnt kill, IE a one lane super wide straight piece of road with pillows on the sides but where have you seen one of those kind of roads ?

**eliot-ness** · 17th October 2005, 07:01

[She said if they are successful in reducing road accidents then the change in speed limit would be applied to other danger spots in the country.]QUOTE]

Does this mean that if there were more accidents the limit would stay the same or maybe increased???

It must be very frustrating for car and bike manufacturers who, after pouring billions of dollars into making vehicles safer, are being told that they are now apparently more dangerous than the were in the 1930s. Speed limits and the ever increasing number of hazard warning signs have become a cheap way of getting out of road maintainance. Until politicians admit this the accident rate will continue to increase.
Back to the future. The Morris Minor and the BSA Bantam.

**Ixion** · 17th October 2005, 07:04

You're a naive lot , aren't you.

Do you really think that this is just something affecting "dangerous" or "winding back country" roads ?. EACH section will be 10km minimum. So , even if we belive their criteria, that means that any non-motorway road within 10km of a "selected" spot will cop the new limit. It's 10km MINIMUM. Probably double that average. 40 "spots" means 800 km of road affected. And, any remaining 100km stretches must also be 10km minimum, or they TOO will cop the 90kph limit. So if there's two 90 stretches with 9km of "good" road in between, the "good" road will be downgraded too. That's a good chunk of the non major highway roads 9ie the non boring ones) affected.

And thats just what they're admitting to for a start. We all know that the LTSA works on the basis of sneaking accretion - 40 "spots" now, another 40 in 6 months, then another 40.

The reality is that this is the start of the policy that LTSA have made little secret of for a long time - to reduce the open road speed limit for ALL non-motorway roads to 90kph. For a start. Want to bet on 80kph soon after . "Only for selected dangerous roads" of course. Tui's anyone.

Doesn't matter cos you already go faster than 100kph anyway? Maybe not, but when you get pinged it's a bigger fine. And more demerits. And instant loss of licence speed comes down to 130kph.

(Anyone want to bet that SH22 and Scenic Drive will be 90kph by this time next year)

**James Deuce** · 17th October 2005, 07:17

They're trialling the limits in the Greater Wellington Region prior to Christmas.

I know what roads that will mean.

Is someone jealous at LTNZ that they don't have the skill to emulate our majestic progress through stunning countryside?

I'm buying a chainsaw and and I'll be doing some civil disobediance runs.

**spudchucka** · 17th October 2005, 07:26

Originally Posted by Storm

Be interesing to see if tickts take a sharp upturn after this little change comes into effect

Cops aren't going to suddenly target twisty rural roads. If they wanted to they could catch a shit load of people speeding now by simply concentrating on those roads, a 10kph drop in the speed limit on these roads isn't going to change the way they operate.

BTW I'm opposed to this idea.