A new approach to setting open road speed limits and managing speed will be tested on about 40 sites around New Zealand from 2005, the Minister for Transport Safety, the Hon Harry Duynhoven announced today.

Sites for the speed zone tests will be identified by Land Transport New Zealand (formerly the Land Transport Safety Authority) following public and local authority consultation. The first sites are scheduled to go live in July 2005.

The speed zones are part of a new programme of speed management measures that include road engineering and roadside safety initiatives, community programmes and promotion.

“ Speed is our biggest road safety problem. To achieve the goal of no more than 300 fatalities by 2010, we need to focus more strongly on making our roads and roadsides safer and to refine how we talk with the community about speed issues”, Harry Duynhoven said.

“ Currently in New Zealand we have an open road speed limit of 100km/h. This can only be reduced based on urban development such as the number of houses or schools along a road.

“ The new approach will allow a whole range of safety factors such as whether the road is straight or curved, has wide shoulders or narrow verges, safety barriers or undivided lanes, to be considered in setting the limit. The record of speed-related crashes on a road can also be taken into account.

“ If the trials are successful, it will help correct the current situation where we put the same 100km/h speed limit on a four lane divided motorway as an undivided rural road with a high traffic volume.

“ Setting appropriate speed limits for the road, will assist motorists who drive too fast for the conditions but are still under the legal speed limit.

In the upcoming Christmas season I ask drivers to use good judgement and slow down for conditions such as winding roads, bad weather or heavy traffic, check their fatigue levels on long journeys and drive safely.

“ I wish all motorists safe and happy holiday journeys, ” said Harry Duynhoven today.

The speed management programme, which will complement existing speed enforcement measures, was developed by the National Road Safety Committee for the Government. Key features of the programme include:

·an evaluation of speed limit setting on about forty sites on open roads around New Zealand leading to a proposed change to the Speed Limits Rule (Land Transport NZ). In a related programme, sites on the State Highway network will also be tested (Transit New Zealand)
·more accurate and better placed advisory speed signs on the open road (Transit NZ)
·placing median barriers on 100km of highway over the next 3 years in high risk sites (Transit NZ)
·a $7.5 million programme in 2004-05 to make roadsides safer in high risk areas (Transit NZ)
·a Christchurch trial of an electronic sign capable of detecting the speed of cars and trucks and warning drivers who are approaching a corner too fast (Transit NZ)
·a pack of resources to help communities intervene in and resolve their local speed problems (ACC/Land Transport NZ)
·scoping an advertising approach to assist drivers to drive for the conditions under the speed limit (ACC/Land Transport NZ)
·continued emphasis on the skid resistance of State Highways and taking action as appropriate to improve sections of road identified as being below standard (Transit NZ)