Speed Zones For N.Z. Roads Studied

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31441, 7 August 1967, Page 20

Speed Zones For N.Z. Roads Studied

(New Zealand Preu Association)

DUNEDIN, August 6.

A system of speed zones from 30 miles an hour to 60 miles an hour was being investigated for New Zealand roads, the Commissioner of Transport (Mr R. J. Polaschek) said in Dunedin yesterday.

The total abolition of speed limits was unlikely, Mr Polaschek told the conference of the New Zealand Auto Cycle Union.

In a country such as New Zealand with a high level of car ownership it was necessary to retain a maximum speed limit, even on the open road.

This was not to Say, however, that 55 miles an hour was the limit. Even now a system of zoning areas in 10 miles an hour sections from 30 miles an hour to perhaps 60 miles an hour was being reviewed.

He did not agree with those who thought road safety was synonomous with stringent restrictions and even prohibitions. To drive was a privilege and this should be deprived only where the licence holder had clearly shown he or she was not responsible enough for either their own safety or that of other road users, he said. There were some 8075 disqualified drivers throughout the country at this moment, he went on, and the majority of these were not young drivers, but those who had lost their licences through driving while intoxicated.