Speed rise slight—survey

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 9

Speed rise slight —survey

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The average speed of motorists has remained about the same for the last four years, according to a Ministry of Transport survey released yesterday. In recent years there has been a “speed creep” of about 2 km/h, except for 1985, when the speed limit was increased from 80 to 100 km/h.

The Minister of Transport, Mr Jeffries, said these results were a clear sign that road safety policies were working.

The mean average speed was 102.7 km/h in 1986, 104.3 km/h in. 1987, 102.9 km/h in 1988 and 103.3 km/h in 1989. Mr Jeffries said this levelling-out was even more specific when measured against a corresponding 13 per cent drop in speed-related road deaths over the same period. If the “speed creep” had continued, the Ministry estimated that the number of reported injury accidents on rural roads, for example, would be 20 per cent greater than they were. Keeping injury accidents down 20

per cent represented an annual monetary saving to the country of about $lOO million, the Minister said, as well as the saving of pain and suffering by road users. The statistics also showed that cars were tending to travel within a small range of speeds. Mr Jeffries said when this happened there was a significant increase in safety because there was less need for vehicles to overtake. The figures were a vindication of the Ministry’s policy of continuing to target excessive speed in the face of some public criticism.