70 & 90 zones may be a thing of the past says RTA

[Ben73]

So apparently there was a fatal crash recently on a road that has multiple speed limits near nelsons bay. I heard on the news this morning in response to this incident the RTA is thinking of getting rid of 70 & 90 limits.
How will this prevent crashes?

Alot of roads I drive on are 70 & 90 zones so I am not looking forward to driving everywhere at 10kmh slower.
Newcastle inner city bypass will be pathetically slow at 80 when it seams to be good for 120

Does anyone think the rta will follow through?

[DJM83]

After traveling the east coast from Brisbane to Albury numerous times (as recent as this week) i can say that is i had a dollar for every 70/90 speed zone change i could probably pay for my fuel down to Albury. The way i see it, eliminating certain speed limits may reduce the amount of speed changes.
Yeah id say the 70kmh zones will most likely go to 60 and 90kmh zones go to 80 i couldnt see them going up.

[aussie muscle]

it makes sense to have fewer zone changes. it adds an unnecessary complication, especially when you can change zones 3 or 4 times in a couple hundred meters.

[kaniSS]

Knowing the RTA 70 will become 60 and 90 will become 80.

[hamoudy10]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

it makes sense to have fewer zone changes. it adds an unnecessary complication, especially when you can change zones 3 or 4 times in a couple hundred meters.

Exactly, people are too busy concentrating on what speed they should be going than on driving!

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Ben73

So apparently there was a fatal crash recently on a road that has multiple speed limits near nelsons bay. I heard on the news this morning in response to this incident the RTA is thinking of getting rid of 70 & 90 limits.
How will this prevent crashes?

Alot of roads I drive on are 70 & 90 zones so I am not looking forward to driving everywhere at 10kmh slower.
Newcastle inner city bypass will be pathetically slow at 80 when it seams to be good for 120

Does anyone think the rta will follow through?

Yeah, the bypass can easily handle the extra speed. It is built much better than many other highways, but is lumbered with a 90kmh limit. Hopefully it will go to 100kmh.

Reducing the number of speed zone changes is a good thing in my book.

Considering the new government has essentially scrapped the RTA by merging it with other bodies and reduced it's powers, plus got rid of a large number of revenue raising or non-performing (road safety POV) we can only hope that not all 70kmh/90kmh zones go down to 60kmh/80kmh respectively.

They have increased parts of the Newell Hwy etc back UP from 90/100 to 110kmh. SO, it isn't without precedent to raise some limits.

Certainly, it seems some in the Nationals would like to see 130kmh limits where appropriate.

[FPVGT500]

I wont be happy until we get unrestricted..........

[2011G6E]

Yep, they'll drop to the next lowest 10kph marker, bet on it.

Originally Posted by FPVGT500

I wont be happy until we get unrestricted..........

Really? Sit in traffic on the highway...look at the cars around you and the "typical" driving habits they display. Would you really be happy letting half those numpties know that they can drive as fast as they like?

Hell, we all know people who we'd happily fall asleed in the passenger seat with when they're barrelling along a winding highway late at night...the same as we all know people we wouldn't drive around a parking lot with at 10kph...

The Northern Territory is a perfect example of this...they imposed a speed limit of 130kph, and in the next 12 months thier road toll went up by 50%! One suggestion as to why this happened was that previously with no restrictions, people would drive to a speed they were happy with...sometimes well over 130kph, but usually around the 100 to 120 region, and to suit the conditions. Now you suddenly "officially" say it's perfectly OK to do 130kph morning noon and night, rain hail or shine, so people feel "obliged" to "do the limit", a speed they might never have dared drive at before the new limit came in. You had people who were inexperienced with high speed long distance travel suddenly doing this, with obvious consequences.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

it makes sense to have fewer zone changes. it adds an unnecessary complication, especially when you can change zones 3 or 4 times in a couple hundred meters.

I agree that a change every few hundred metres is stupid. But I can think of many 70 & 90 zones I use that go for few k's at a time. I don't see the need to change them all, just fix the areas that have too many limits.

New England Hwy from Hexham to Greenhills is 90kmh. It's a nice road with 2 lanes each way separated by a large medium strip. That road would be painful at 80kmh with little traffic around.
I think the RTA needs to review some roads with too many speed limits. It's just easier for them to do the knee jerk response and remove all 70 & 90 zones with no consideration for individual locations.

[JC]

Should just make it all 100, and let natural selection run it's course. OK, too harsh? Seriously though, people need to drive to the conditions, not just the posted speed limit. For example, in a 60 zone in torrential rain with water flowing over the road, 40 may be too fast, but some still try to do 60.

[ltd]

Can't see it. The Road Tax Authority will simpy make 70 60km/h, and 90 80km/h, then put up cameras to watch the behaviour of those who detest having one by one our freedoms restricted.
Welcome to George Orwells 1984, Govco is here to help just ask them.

[Angeldust]

whatever happened to drive at your own risk?

[prydey]

when it happens, if you drive at the old limit instead, all the experts will tell you that you are 4 times more likely to crash, even though the week before, it was perfectly legal to do that speed.

[xisled]

I do not think the RTA will change what is in place. They want everyone to go slow.

on a side note.
There is a road near my house. It is one of the main roads out of my suburb. For aws long as I have lived in the area, around 27 years it has been 80, then when approching the roundabout it drops to 60ks. Now just recently in teh last 6 months, all of a sudden they dropped the speed limit to 70ks. This has changed the way traffic flows. Instead of a decent flow it is now traffic jam. Plus over all my life I have seen 2 major accidents on this road.

[Brazen]

I dont see the problem with 70 and 90 if its appropriate, I would rather that than 60 and 80.

I think the limits should be 50, 70, 90, 110 and 130

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

The Northern Territory is a perfect example of this...they imposed a speed limit of 130kph, and in the next 12 months thier road toll went up by 50%! One suggestion as to why this happened was that previously with no restrictions, people would drive to a speed they were happy with...sometimes well over 130kph, but usually around the 100 to 120 region, and to suit the conditions. Now you suddenly "officially" say it's perfectly OK to do 130kph morning noon and night, rain hail or shine, so people feel "obliged" to "do the limit", a speed they might never have dared drive at before the new limit came in. You had people who were inexperienced with high speed long distance travel suddenly doing this, with obvious consequences.

Drawing valid conclusions from highly variable NT road statistics? you are not the first to attempt this;
see http://www.fordforums.com.au/showpos...6&postcount=77

[prydey]

Originally Posted by sudszy

Drawing valid conclusions from highly variable NT road statistics? you are not the first to attempt this;
see http://www.fordforums.com.au/showpos...6&postcount=77

and luckily, you were there, waiting, ready to pounce.... aaaaaand... voila, here we are.

by not adhering to the magical number in the red circle, you aren't necessarily driving dangerously or unsafely, but simply disobediently. camera's are there to try to make you obedient.

i do agree that there are too many speed zones though. i can travel 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 all on one road (obviously many km long) but its all these variations that catch out the motorist who is slightly inattentive for that split second they go past the sign hidden by the overgrown tree.

oh no, i'm building a strawman...

sorry, back on topic.

[SLO-04L]

if a section of rd has both 70 and 90 zones would it not make sense to just drop it to a flat 80 the whole stretch rather than swapping between 60 and 80 as opposed to 70 and 90???

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by sudszy

Drawing valid conclusions from highly variable NT road statistics? you are not the first to attempt this;
see http://www.fordforums.com.au/showpos...6&postcount=77

Seriously do you have anything better to do? I mean posting a link to one of your previous posts about some Govco rubbish.
This to me highlights that you are clearly not interested in this site and are just a troll here to create arguments, seriously live a little rather then trolling the internet looking for an argument.
As soon as someone posts anything against your someone elses info you get shirty.

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by JC

Should just make it all 100, and let natural selection run it's course. OK, too harsh? Seriously though, people need to drive to the conditions, not just the posted speed limit. For example, in a 60 zone in torrential rain with water flowing over the road, 40 may be too fast, but some still try to do 60.

I was doing about 50km/h (might have even been going slower, was concentrating on seeing the road) down the pacific hwy at one stage on Sunday the 25th..

The weather was insane....

[2011G6E]

Try the 70-odd kilometers of Highway One from down near Cooroy to north of Gympie that is now 90kph, with a wide dividing line and absolutely no overtaking allowed, and signs everywhere saying "high crash zone"...it was at one stage...only because of idiots pulling out in front of highway traffic and overtaking in heavy rain.

I was coming back from Maleny and got stuck behind a long string of cars doing 70kph...I call it "road safety by lowest common denominator"...if the idiot up the front decides he wants to sit on 70, he forces everyone else behind him to do likewise...for about 40km in this case...

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by prydey

did you get to see what sort of car sudszy was driving??

also, the dash on your g6e looks a bit dated. must be the pov pack

Nah, it's the "Back to 1982" pack...it's tucked away on the Ford Australia website where you can "build your own" Falcon...but it takes a bit of finding...only the truly dedicated can find and tick that option box...

[mik]

myself, i`d rather the powers that be lose the multiple speed limits on some roads, even if it means in some cases a slight drop in speed, it`s a much nicer drive if the traffic is`nt slowing down and speeding up for the whole trip and it`s flowing nicely .

[AWD Chaser]

Originally Posted by prydey

also, the dash on your g6e looks a bit dated. must be the pov pack

Or the first FG2 spy shot

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

I was coming back from Maleny and got stuck behind a long string of cars doing 70kph...I call it "road safety by lowest common denominator"...if the idiot up the front decides he wants to sit on 70, he forces everyone else behind him to do likewise...for about 40km in this case...
image

If that was in Europe the first car driver would be checking his/her rear vision constantly to see if they are holding up anyone behind and would move as far as possible onto the sealed shoulder (now a European-style feature added to many Australian highways in recent years) so that following cars could overtake - even on a single lane road such as this. The overtaking cars will go slightly over the centre line but oncoming vehicles will see the situation and also move over onto the shoulder so that there is not a head-on collision.

Shift to Australia and the driver inattention to anything going on in the world beyond a ten centimetre radius from the centre of his skull (including using the rear view mirrors), together with the nanny-inculcated belief that the lines on the road (either side) must not be crossed under any circumstances and we get the above most-typical Australian country highway scene. Any changes to any speed limits are nullified by stupid driving in a large enough percentage of the population to make a difference.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by new2ford

If that was in Europe the first car driver would be checking his/her rear vision constantly to see if they are holding up anyone behind and would move as far as possible onto the sealed shoulder (now a European-style feature added to many Australian highways in recent years) so that following cars could overtake - even on a single lane road such as this. The overtaking cars will go slightly over the centre line but oncoming vehicles will see the situation and also move over onto the shoulder so that there is not a head-on collision.

Shift to Australia and the driver inattention to anything going on in the world beyond a ten centimetre radius from the centre of his skull (including using the rear view mirrors), together with the nanny-inculcated belief that the lines on the road (either side) must not be crossed under any circumstances and we get the above most-typical Australian country highway scene. Any changes to any speed limits are nullified by stupid driving in a large enough percentage of the population to make a difference.

The problem is no one uses thier horn over here, beep your horn until they move over or speed up. My wife who is European leans over and beeps the horn for me sometimes ha!

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Brazen

I dont see the problem with 70 and 90 if its appropriate, I would rather that than 60 and 80.

I think the limits should be 50, 70, 90, 110 and 130

They are the limits I would prefer too!

[XRGhia]

It'll be a variable kind of setup to get rid of these multiple speed zones within a few km of each change...

Not all 90/70kmh zones will go, some will stay if the local council wishes to keep that speed zone, BUT the RTA will not allow for more than 2 speed changes (unless roadworks) within 5km's of each other... Any application by local councils will be seen by the RTA, but then it's just up to the RTA to approve/deny the applications for the speed limit to be kept in that area....

[AWD Chaser]

Originally Posted by Ben73

So apparently there was a fatal crash recently on a road that has multiple speed limits near nelsons bay. I heard on the news this morning in response to this incident the RTA is thinking of getting rid of 70 & 90 limits.
How will this prevent crashes?

Alot of roads I drive on are 70 & 90 zones so I am not looking forward to driving everywhere at 10kmh slower.
Newcastle inner city bypass will be pathetically slow at 80 when it seams to be good for 120

Does anyone think the rta will follow through?

This must be the article they are talking about:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/loc...r/2311743.aspx

for this accident:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/loc...d/2314790.aspx

Apart from the fact that the NRMA has called for the duplication of Tamago road to ease traffic on Richardson road, and the fact that they just recently downed the speed limit from 100 to 80 on the dead straight parts in Campvale (away from the dam) (some stretches over 1000m long), the fact that they redid the Grahamstown Dam Park turnoff, but didnt put in any sliplanes, and they even redid the Medowie turnoff, right near the dam, but didnt change it - just new concrete and line - should be a roundabout, or sliplanes installed - The Hunter RTA has been putting off a total review of this section of rooad for some time - it is not simply solved by ANOTHER speed limit decrease - they need to fix the design of this road - overtaking lanes, clearing roadside bush, northbound/southbound road dividers, upgrading both intersections, install siderails to stop going down the dam face, or to stop going into the dam... A speed limit downgrade is a knee jerk reaction and will only congest the road and frustrate drivers further - even the official calling for another downgrade recognises this already!

[Feathers]

There are electronic signs up around King Georges Road in Sydney as of today, advising of speed limit changes as of October 14th.
Goes from 70 to 60, back to 70...I mentioned to a workmate today that I bet it'll all go down to 60 now. He didn't think so, but it won't be going up....