Re 80 kmkm speed limit change

[Dez Cross]

Fair suck of the sav!!!
Didn't our esteemed employees in the beehive, circa 1986 of the Lange
regime change the limit to the current level 'because everyone is
travelling over 80 kmh anyway"
I Hope this thread is a wind up!

[garethkemeys]

My opinion is, that i guess everyone including politicians would like obviously the road toll etc to be zero. i guess recently the polls are showing that kiwis attitudes to driving are changing ,the message is getting through and the toll is coming down. As the number approaches zero, it must be harder to find ways,on paper, to show ways of ruducing the toll even further so i,personally, expect more niff naff rules to come out that A. target the wrong cause/people or B. that are handy revenue makers.
Unfortunatly that will in my eyes just be part of our changing nation..about as sure as the fact that when i retire i wont be able to rely on the government to pay me a pension...

Just another footnote, I work with a pom who is amazed at our attitudes to drinking and driving. He cant believe at happy hours we have a couple of beers and jump in our cars-and drive home,he says that just doesnt happen in england, and we tell him that we are much better than 20 years ago...
[...]

[Janet & Jeff Curtin]

Yes I can see it now Trucks and Trucks and trailers may travel at 90 kmh because Mr Freidlander says they are much safer than before, {even though we have an under utilised Railway system running the length and breadth of the company and trucks should be kept to a minimum} but private cars must keep to a maximum of 80 kmh for fecks sake what a joke. { I hope).

[lou Girardin]

I'm not aware of a proposal for a blanket 80km/h limit. In fact, the LTSA is
proposing to raise the truck and trailer limit to 90km/h.
However, we are getting a lot of 80km/h limits by stealth, eg. Orewa to Puhoi.
In reply to Gareth, the message may be getting through. But is the message
correct? Do you really want to catch a cab if you've only had 2 glasses of
wine with a meal?
Kiwi's need to learn to think for themselves and not let a bunch of social
engineers in Government tell them what to think.
Lou

[Gareth]

I agree, but do you think you'll ever hear a politician say, to get the road
toll down, we all just need to think for ourselves a bit more.
won't happen.

However i do agree with you entirely.
Gareth.

[Bryce Pearce]

I wonder (quietly of course) if any of the persons responsible have actually
been overseas to see how other countries look at road safety. I luckily made
it to Germany last year and had a drive on the wonderful Autobahn system
from Frankfurt to Lucern. I made several observations:

1) The road was divided for the entire journey but usually only 2 lanes each
way (some sections of 3)
2) The condition of the road surface was not that much better than NZ
3) Trucks stay to the right (LHD) and at 80kph
4) Some sections of 80kph where required (well signposted)
5) Even though cars are able to go ballistic there is a 'recomended' speed
limit of 120 and most people are happy to stay around this speed. This gives
speed differences between tucks and cars of 40kph - must be safer.
6) They actually belive that training drivers properly is a good thing (as
opposed to common thought in NZ). If training a police officer makes him/her
safer on the roads then surely training the average driver would also
improve safety.
7) The motor vehicle is not just a means of getting from A - B, they
actually enjoy motoring.
Speed cameras (yes they have them) in 'real' black spots.

The list goes on but I'm sure I'm not the only one that has noticed these
things.

PS: If 80kph is safer then 20kph must be even safer - or maybe 5kph with
someone in front of the vehicle with a lantern would be the ultimate!!

Bryce