Subj : Govt to pull handbrake on blanket speed limit reductions
To   : All
From : News
Date : Thu Jun 13 2024 12:48 pm

By 1News Reporters
11:04am

The Government says it will reverse blanket speed limit reductions by July 1,
2025 in a new Land Transport Rule released for public consultation today.


In a statement, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the draft speed limit
rule will deliver on the National-ACT coalition commitment to reverse the
previous Labour government's blanket speed limit reductions.


"The previous government's untargeted approach slowed Kiwis and the economy
down, rather than targeting high crash areas of the network," Brown said.


"Our draft speed limit rule will require speed limits that have been reduced
since January 1, 2020 to be reversed on local streets, arterial roads, and
state highways. It will also require variable speed limits outside schools
during pick up and drop off times to keep young New Zealanders safe."


Brown said it will ensure that when speed limits are set, economic impacts -
including travel times - and the views of road users and local communities
are taken into account, alongside safety.


Streets outside of schools would be required to have a 30km/h variable speed
limit during school travel times and rural roads outside schools would be
required to have variable speed limits of 60km/h or less under the new ruling.

Regulation Minister David Seymour said that blanket restrictions forced on
communities made it harder for people to get where they wanted quickly and
safely.


"Worse still, people ignore rules that don't make sense and once the habit
forms, they ignore rules that do make sense. Sensible lawmaking is important
for respecting the rule of law," Seymour said.


Brown said the draft speed limit rule will enable new and existing Roads of
National Significance to be travelled on at 110km/h where they are built to a
high safety standard.

The Government is also seeking feedback from Kiwis on enabling speed limits
of up to 120km/h on Roads of National Significance that are built and
maintained to safely accommodate that speed.


"I encourage New Zealanders to submit feedback on our draft speed limit rule
to reverse blanket speed limit reductions across the country," Brown said.

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