The speed limit is set to be increased on Napier-Taupō Rd SH5. Photo / Warren Buckland
Reverting the speed limit for most of Napier-Taupō Rd (State Highway 5) back to 100km/h from 80km/h is “reckless and will unquestionably lead to more deaths”, a leading road safety advocate says.
However, the boss of a trucking company says the main problem on that road is not the speed limit but “idiots” driving dangerously, and large sections of Napier-Taupō Rd should be 100km/h “all day long”.
In February 2022, 76km of Napier-Taupō Rd was dropped from 100km/h to 80km/h between Rangitāiki and Eskdale to improve safety, including over the mountain range.
Last week, Transport Minister Chris Bishop reversed that decision and also overturned dozens of other speed limit changes made under the previous Labour government.
He stated increased speed limits would help motorists and freight get from A to B easier, and support economic growth and productivity.
The vast majority of Napier-Taupō Rd will return to 100km/h by July 1 without public consultation.
Three small sections at Tarawera, Te Haroto and Te Pōhue (totalling about 3.6km) were open for community consultation regarding whether they were to remain at 80km/h.
An independent study released after the drop to 80km/h concluded the lower speed limit on Napier-Taupō Rd prevented 34 crashes in the first 12 months following its implementation.
Crash data also showed there had been fewer crashes on Napier-Taupō Rd since the drop to 80km/h.
For the 76km stretch that was dropped to 80km/h, there were an average of 54 crashes per year during the five years to February 2022, according to New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) data.
There were seven fatal crashes during that time.
Comparatively, that dropped to an average of 33 crashes per year during the two years following the speed limit change (which included an extended closure after it was severely damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle).
There were two fatal crashes during those two years.
The figures for 2024 are incomplete. However, there were no fatal crashes on that road in 2024.
NZTA said the road had not been at 80km/h long enough to provide a clear snapshot for robust crash analysis.
Global Road Safety Partnership chief executive David Cliff, who is based in Geneva but grew up in Hawke’s Bay and previously worked for NZ Police, said he knew SH5 well and it was a poor decision to increase the speed limit.
“[It] is reckless and will unquestionably lead to more deaths and serious injuries on this road.
“The evidence on this is irrefutable – global research consistently shows that when mean vehicle speeds rise, more people are killed or seriously injured in crashes.
“Conversely, when speeds are reduced, road trauma decreases.
“There is no debate on this internationally.”
He said “increasing speed limits in New Zealand is pure insanity” and would result in more critically injured crash victims requiring care from the overstretched health system.
“The Government must abandon its grossly irresponsible policy of increasing speed limits and instead follow the evidence.”
Self Loader Logging owner Bryan Smith said his Taupō-based fleet of forestry trucks often travelled that road between Taupō and Napier.
He said he supported the move back to 100km/h, saying it was needless to keep it at 80km/h.
He said the real problem was “idiots” driving dangerously, who can cause crashes “no matter what the speed limit is”.
“I’m not arguing that speed doesn’t matter in a crash.
“If you are going fast and make a mistake, you will pay a higher price.”
However, he said there were large sections of Napier-Taupō Rd that should be 100km/h “all day long”.
He said his truck drivers had observed increased frustration on that road since it was lowered to 80km/h, some of that due to longer queues of vehicles being unable to legally pass one another at more than 80km/h.
“We did not see that level of frustration when the speed limit was 100km/h.”
Smith said he had no problem with parts of the road remaining 80km/h, such as the area passing through Waipunga Gorge.
“That should be 80km/h but [sections like that] are 80km/h by default because they have 30km/h and 50km/h corners.”
He said it was fine if some motorists felt safer travelling 80km/h along the entire road, as long as they pulled over where it was safe to do so (such as on straight stretches) to let people pass, particularly when there were two or more vehicles behind them.
He said “meatheads” who drove dangerously should stay off the road.
Following a string of fatalities on that road in 2019 and 2020, a “Stay Alive on 5″ road policing campaign was launched, which helped bring down the number of serious crashes.
SH51 between Napier and Hastings is also set to have its speed limit increased to 100km/h.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.