Higher speed limit urged

Press, 24 October 1984, Page 8

Higher speed limit urged

PA Wellington The Defensive Driving Council wants the open road speed limit for cars and motorcycles raised to 100 kilometres an hour. The council’s national 5 resident, Major William amieson, told the Parliamentary Road Safety Committee that it was an established fact more than 70 per cent of drivers broke the present 80 km/h limit. “By exceeding the present maximum speed - limit in such high percentages, the New Zealand motorist is clearly demonstrating disapproval of the present regulation on maximum limit,” said the council’s submissions. “In a democracy the opinion of the majority, once established, should be the cornerstone on which good legislation is based.” The key to improving road safety was education, not keeping speed limits down, said the council. Asked if the council thought enforcement of the

present limit worked, Major Jamieson said, “In a word, no.” The Ministry of Transport view and other research on driver behaviour was sufficient for the committee to recommend an increase, the council said. It did not agree with the Ministry’s recommendation to increase the open road speed limit to 90 km/h. “There is clear indication that a 90 km/h maximum limit for cars and motorcycles would not be acceptable to the majority of motorists,” the council said. “Since 1973 — when before this the maximum limit was 60 m.p.h. (96 km/ h) — there have been improvements in the surface and engineering standards of both primary and secondary roads, safety features of vehicle tyres have improved and vehicle suspension and braking has advanced technically,” said the council. Motorists usually chose their speed limits independently of the legal limit, and Australian statistics did not indicate there would be a significant increase in the

numbers driving in excess of 100 km/h if the limit were raised. The council said that it believed there would be an increased level of enforcement acceptance if the speed limit was set at a level that the majority of people regarded as acceptable. Attempts to enforce rigidly a maximum limit of 90 km/h would be difficult. Major Jamieson said the council believed raising the speed limit was “likely to enhance road safety”. Accidents were often caused by frustrated drivers in long queues behind a slow vehicle. “The most dangerous feature on the roads is not speed but a mixture of speeds.” The council’s national director, Mr Jim McMillan, told the Road Safety Committee that the majority of New Zealand’s motorways were too short to warrant the introduction of a special limit. The council advocated a maximum speed limit for buses and trucks of 90 km/

h, although Mr McMillan said that the council could see the merit in allowing modern tourist coaches to travel at 100 km/h. Maintaining the lower limit for all trucks was “less than ideal but probably the best we can manage”. The council advocated a speed limit of 80 km/h for cars with trailers and caravans. “The recommendation for cars with trailers is primarily based on the knowledge that this speed limit is the most rational, when taking into account the increased risk of trailer-fishtailing at speeds over this limit, plus the limited braking capacity of the average towing vehicle.” In its submissions to the Road Safety Select Committee yesterday, Federated Farmers also supported increasing the open road speed limit for cars to 100 km/h.

The present limit was “too slow and is indeed not being recognised by the majority of the public”, the submissions said.