TRAFFIC SPEED LIMITS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27439, 27 August 1954, Page 10

TRAFFIC SPEED LIMITS

NO RECOMMENDATION ON ENFORCEMENT

DECISION OF ROADS COUNCIL “Do you want to do anything about the speed at which traffic is travelasked the chairman (Mr A. E. Clark) at yesterday’s meeting of the No. 13 District Roads Council at Cheviot. The council made no recommendation that the snagd limit of 25 miles an hour for traffic should be enforced. To enforce a limit of 25 miles an hour for trucks carrying lambs or timber was stupid, said Mr A. A. Macfarlane (Amur! County). Service buses, which were as heavy as loaded trucks, maintained a speed of 50 miles an hour to keep to their schedules. The roads in his county could take a good pace. The question of speed limit enforcement arose when a letter was read from the National Roads Board confirming the road classifications to the existing maximum loadings. Any relaxation was the sole responsibility of the reading* authority. The classification could be varied from time to time, said Mr Clark;

Mr R. C. Neville (road operators) said the variations at periods would not be confusing to operating organisations, so long as the Transport Alliance was give notice at the time of the change.

Mr Macfarlane said the road classification was governed by the bridge carrying capacity. Mr F. D. Grant (Assistant District Commissioner): The matter of classification is what the roads can carry. Some roads in other districts could not carry loads in the winter. “If counties do not put up road classification signs, we cannot get a conviction in court,” said Mr E. Wilson (Transport Department). “If they want road classification enforced, they must put the discs up.” Mr W. C. Prosser (private motorist): The “miles an hour’ should be enforced. That will save our roads more than anything else.