AA rejects report pushing for 70km/h rural speed limit
Simon Collins
A report recommending 70km/h speed limits on rural roads has been dismissed by the Automobile Association.
The report by the International Transport Forum (ITF) recommends a 70km/h speed limit on all rural roads, including state highways, without a median barrier.
It also proposes reducing speed limits to 30km/h in urban areas where cars share space with cyclists and other “vulnerable road users”, or 50km/h in other urban areas.
But NZ Automobile Association spokesman Dylan Thomsen said 87 per cent of AA members in 20 surveys over the past five years opposed reducing the open-road speed limit to 90km/h.
The ITF report says every 1 per cent increase in average speed increases road deaths by 4 per cent.
“Reducing speed by a few km/h can greatly reduce the risk and severity of crashes,” it said. “Lower driving speeds also benefit quality of life, especially in urban areas as the reduction of speed mitigates air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, fuel consumption and noise.”
The report is based on analysing the effects of changes in speed limits or introducing automated speed enforcement in 10 countries since 1993.
For example, Sweden cut deaths by 41 per cent on rural two-lane roads with inadequate road shoulders by reducing the speed limit from 90 to 80km/h in 2008.
At the same time it raised the speed limit on some motorways with high safety standards from 110 to 120km/h, with no significant change in road deaths.
Italy cut crashes on the 2900km A56 urban motorway network by 32 per cent by installing 320 cameras, allowing police to calculate cars’ average speeds between the cameras.
Thomsen said New Zealand speed limits were set by a guide requiring councils to identify the top 5 per cent and 10 per cent of roads in their districts with the highest crash risks, or biggest discrepancy between the speed limit and actual average traffic speeds.
For example, the Waikato District Council reduced speed limits on many rural roads yesterday.
Rotorua Lakes Council is proposing new speed limits on several local roads including Hamurana Rd along the northern edge of Lake Rotorua.
“They [councils] have the capability now to look at setting those speed limits, but there are guidelines and regulations they have to comply with.” Thomsen said.
But he said 87 per cent of AA members in recent surveys opposed a blanket reduction in the open-road speed limit to 90km/h, and 80 per cent opposed lowering the speed limit in urban areas to 40km/h.