Lower speed limit cuts accidents

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33985, 28 October 1975, Page 16

Lower speed limit cuts accidents

The 50 m.p.h. speed limit — now in effect for nearly two years — has helped cut the accident rate and has had a dramatic effect on vehicle operating speeds.

These are the main conclusions drawn in a frpnistry of Transport traffic research report on the effects of the Government’s fuel conservation measures and the 50 m.p.h. limit. A 9 per cent drop in the accident rate — only the second in 30 years for New Zealand — was recorded in the 12 months after the introduction of the 50 m.p.h. limit, the report says. Ministry of Transport studies had shown a reduction in average speeds of between 8 m.p.h. and 10 m.p.h., representing the greatest behaviour change in the history of New Zealand motoring This was achieved, the report says, mainly through a radical change in the attitude of motorists towards any driver who exceeded the limit. “Even a person travelling

|at 51 or 52 m.p.h. was labelled greedy or anti-social and liable to get disapproving signs from other drivers he passed. “It was almost as if every motorist had become a hypercritical traffic officer.” the report says. However, the Ministry had found that the “dramatic reduction” in operating speeds was not permanent. Over the last few months average speeds had gradually increased, to stabilise at 2 m.p.h. to 5 m.p.h. below prefuel crisis levels

The report also emphasises that the 50 m.p.h. limit was not solely responsible for the reduced accident rate The total number of accidents has dropped by 9 per cent under the 50 m.p.h. restriction, according to statistics contained in the : report. December 1973 — when the new limit was imposed —was the only month to show an increase.

Fatalities were down by 29 per cent in 50 m.p.h. areas, and by 15 per cent in areas with lower speed restrictions.

A drop of 2 per cent occurred in the number of casualties an accident

| All classes of road users Ishowed a reduction in acciIdent injuries. The greatest was to passengers in vehicles (15.5 per cent); followed by drivers (12.1 per ;cent); pedestrians and cyclists j(8.2 per cent); and motorcyclists and power-cyclists (1.8 per cent). These gains were achieved through several factors apart from the lowered speed limit, the report says. They included a drop ,in over-all fuel consumption, a reduction in the volume of recreational or non-essential traffic, and the compulsory wearing of seat belts and motor-cycle safety helmets. Fuel consumption — the most accurate predicter of accidents — had increased annually in New Zealand from 1948 to 1973, the report says. I In 1974 this trend was reversed and a small decrease in fuel consumption was recorded.

Ministry of Transport checks confirmed that the reduced fuel consumption had slowed the growth of traffic volume, and that weekend traffic volumes in some areas had decreased.