30kmh limit plan to cut toll

A plan to slash speed limits on hundreds of urban and rural Auckland roads will have road users stirred up.

has obtained a list showing nearly 800 roads across the region will be affected if the Auckland Transport (AT) proposal is approved following consultation, which starts today.

As well as a blanket 30kmh limit in the central city, it includes 30kmh speed limits in several town centres, as well as widespread speed limit reductions on roads in the Rodney and Franklin districts.

But the Automobile Association (AA) is calling on AT to opt for a 40kmh central city limit.

AT chief executive Shane Ellison yesterday declared Auckland was experiencing a ‘‘road safety crisis’’.

‘‘In 2017, over 800 people were killed or seriously injured on Auckland roads – these are real people and the human cost of these tragedies is real as well.’’

Sixty-four people died on the region’s roads in 2017, up from 36 in 2014, while serious injuries skyrocketed from 447 to 749.

Last year, AT network management and safety group manager Randhir Karma told that of the 64 deaths, 29 resulted from crashes where speed was a major contributor.

Ellison said AT was targeting a 60 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries on Auckland roads over the next 10 years.

The speed reduction programme would cost about $24m.

‘‘One of the advantages of reducing speed limits is we can do it quickly – as I say, we have a crisis [and] we can’t hands,’’ Ellison said.

AT’s analysis of research showed speed was a major factor in determining the consequences of a crash.

Ellison said a 30kmh speed limit in Queen St, in place since

2008, had led to a 36 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries in the city centre.

‘‘Global and local examples and evidence shows that reducing speed works,’’ he said. While it supported bringing down speeds on high-risk Auckland roads, the AA said its members felt AT’s proposal was a step too far.

Sixty-two per cent of 14,000 responders to a survey of Auckland members were opposed or strongly opposed to the extended

30kmh central city limit. Just 16 per cent were in favour.

AA spokesman Barney Irvine said: ‘‘A blanket 30kmh limit just doesn’t pass the credibility test. sit on our Auckland Transport chief executive Shane Ellison

‘‘On top of that, the Transport Agency and its Speed Management Guide recommend 40kmh for most roads in the central city, and AT has shown no evidence to say we need to go below that.

‘‘Without it, AT risks ending up with low compliance, high public frustration, and a future situation where speed limit changes become a no-go zone politically,’’ Irvine said.

Most of the proposed changes were actually in rural areas, Irvine said, and many Franklin and Rodney residents were in for a shock.

‘‘The big concern for us is the number of roads that are being reduced from 100kmh down to

60kmh, or even 40kmh, when the Transport Agency recommends

80kmh would be safe and appropriate,’’ he said.

AT chairman Lester Levy said: ‘‘We cannot let complacency trump safety – we have to work to get people to understand that nobody should be going out on our roads and getting killed or seriously injured.

‘‘But for us to stop that happening we have to take many steps, and speed management is just one of those steps.’’

However, Irvine said : ‘‘Trying to get people to drive at slower speeds is likely to be an exercise in futility – particularly if the new limit is 30kmh.

‘‘The only likely way to get compliance would be relentless enforcement, and that’s not the outcome anyone wants to see.’’

‘‘We have a crisis [and] we can’t sit on our hands.’’