Motorists pushing past speed limit
MORE than half the nation’s motorists are routinely flouting the 50kmh speed limit.
The Ministry of Transport’s annual speed survey has revealed 56 per cent of motorists had lead feet when driving on urban streets last year.
Drivers in Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Southland were the worst offenders, travelling at an average of just over 54kmh through 50kmh zones.
Wellington, Taranaki, NelsonMarlborough and Gisborne were the only parts of the country where motorists, on average, actually obeyed the 50kmh limit.
The ministry monitored vehicles in areas where they were unimpeded by other vehicles, traffic lights, intersections, hills, corners or road works, so the driver’s choice determined speed.
That a majority of drivers were choosing to break the law was a concern, said national road policing manager, Superintendent Carey Griffiths. ‘‘The limit is the limit. It’s chosen for safety reasons and the more people who exceed the limit, the more we’re all exposed to risk.’’
Motorists were much better behaved when driving through 100kmh areas. The survey showed only 25 per cent broke the law in those zones, with the nation’s average speed being 95.7kmh.
Griffiths speculated that drivers were less inclined to obey the 50kmh limit because they did not perceive themselves to be in as much danger.
The majority of risk at 50kmh was to pedestrians rather than drivers, but when added up across ‘‘hundreds of thousands or even millions of drivers’’ that risk was substantial.
‘‘The evidence we’ve got is that people don’t perceive they’re speeding when travelling at what they see as quite low levels over the limit.’’
Police were working with the ministry and other partners to look at new ways of managing speed through the Government’s Safer Journeys strategy, Griffiths said.
Recent moves to lower the speed tolerance level to 4kmh was one initiative. Other options were road design and improved vehicle technology, including cars that automatically slow down when they enter a slower speed zone.