John MacDonald: Tinkering with speed limits not the answer

Police want the speed limit set at 80km/h on open roads that don't have median barriers. Photo / Michael Cunningham

OPINION:

It's school holiday time again and the police are doing their usual "let's be careful out there" thing, which, as we know with some people, falls on deaf ears and the last thing some motorists are when they're behind the wheel is careful.

In the last week alone, eight people have died on the roads here in New Zealand. And there'll be countless others who have been injured over the past week - we just don't hear so much about them but, in some cases, the injuries can be life-changing.

So Police want those of us driving over the holidays to do everything we can to avoid becoming another statistic - like those eight people in the past week. Eight people who - a week or so ago - were with us. Eight people who - today - aren't.

But Police also think we need to go a step further than just playing it safe - and they're calling for a significant change to the speed limit.

It's been revealed that Police think that if we're serious about reducing the road toll, we need to reduce the speed limit everywhere. And they're saying that on open roads that don't have median barriers - which is most roads - the speed limit should change from 100km/h to 80km/h.

It is something that's already happening in some parts of the country.

Now this is not something Police have come out with and announced. It's come from an Official Information Act request for a briefing document that went from Police's national road safety manager to the Police Minister.

The gist of what Police are saying is that current speed limits - or what they call "unsafe speed limits" - are contributing to 60 per cent of all deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

So they want it to go to 80km/h on open roads where there are no median barriers. And on windy or unsealed roads, they want it to go down to 60km/h.

Now I know Police have got the stats to back this all up. And who would argue that the faster you go, the more likely you are to be injured or worse if you have a crash? That all makes sense.

But I think expecting people to drive at 80km/h - or 60km/h in some places - is a recipe for disaster.

Like I say, it's already happening in some areas. But can you imagine what it would be like if this was done pretty much everywhere? And it would be pretty much everywhere because, unfortunately, median barriers are few and far between in this country.

I see one long-time firefighter is saying he doubts it would work. He says people driving slower do have more time to react if something goes wrong but, like me, he thinks the frustration thing would be a real issue.

Motoring commentator Clive Matthew-Wilson is someone you're possibly familiar with. He's saying it would be "madness" to expect people to drive 80km/h on long, straight, relatively safe highways. And I couldn't agree with him more.

State Highway One from Christchurch to Ashburton is a prime example. Can you imagine what it would be like on that stretch of road if the speed limit went down to 80km/h?

But that is exactly what Police think needs to happen, everywhere.