Brakes on rash moves

Once again the road toll is unacceptably high, and the police are suggesting lower speed limits are the way to limit further carnage.

has no quibble with the facts — 14 deaths in five days is atrocious — but even the police are not advocating a blanket reduction in speed limits.

Instead they take the reasonable line that speed limits should be lowered where the road conditions are unsuitable for travel at either 100km/ h, or at the recently agreed 110km/ h.

The problem is the risk of politicians, anxious to respond to the rising toll, wanting to be seen to be doing something rather than standing on the sidelines.

The pre- election decision to allow drivers to travel at 110km/ h on suitable stretches of freeways and expressways should not come under threat, because most of our main road infrastructure is of dubious quality.

When Driven went to press it was too early to say whether speed was TONY VERDON a factor in the tragic accident that killed four people and injured a further eight north of Taupo on Tuesday. But it has been obvious for some time that much of State Highway 1 struggles to cope with the volume of traffic using it. Excessive speed plays a part in many fatal accidents, but the state of the roading network must also be taken into account when considering what to do about the soaring road toll.

Far too much of our state highway network cannot cope with traffic volumes using it, or it fails to provide a safe enough road to drive fast on. Hopefully this subject was touched on during coalition talks in Wellington this week.

This week the road toll stood at 296, an appalling figure. Lets respond effectively and resist blanket speed restriction. ABOUT US