Which makes sense because that's the speed your average driver drives at through that bit of road and with a speed limit it might make the fools who drive too fast slow down and stay on their side of the road - actually, stay on the road full stop.
But according to the local fire chief it has made absolutely no difference at all to the number of incidents on the road. In fact it might have made it worse.
There's a local truck driver called Owen who knows why. It's all down to impatience. He trucks through the section at 60km/h and most of the time it's fine but then there's some who scream up behind him, can't stand 60km/h so try to pass him on a windy road. He says they try to pass on blind corners. They scream past him at 20 and 30km/h over the speed limit.
So there are some they say this is proof that lowered speed limits don't work. To me it's proof not the speed limit's fault but the idiot drivers who flout the law and common sense.
I would like these guys to rein it in or stop driving but that's a forlorn hope. So there's a part of me that doesn't care if they hurtle off the road to their death as long as they don't take anyone else with them.
The Government is on a three-year mission to improve road safety.
Some $1.4 billion is being invested in improvements like new barriers, passing lanes and wider shoulders, with the hope of upgrading 870km of high-risk state highways by 2021.
I say hurry up and keep the idiots away from my side of the road.
Meanwhile, NZTA is expected to announce a list of areas for proposed lower speed limits in the next week or so, and the public will be consulted. I'm not opposed to this, theoretically, as long as the speed limits make sense taking into account the road and the risk factors.