Speed limit proposals need to match the look and feel of the road to be most successful, according to the AA.
The organisation has spoken out as Auckland Transport (AT) launches a consultation on proposals for speed limit changes on 600 kilometres of roads in the city.
The AA’s position reflects feedback from members that many of the changes rolled out last year in AT’s first round of speed limit reductions don’t make sense to motorists.
“The AA supports common sense in safety and that means speed limit changes need to match up with the design of the road to be most effective and have good public support,” said AA Senior Advisor – Infrastructure, Sarah Geard.
“Feedback from AA Members suggest that many of the speed limits rolled out last year aren’t ticking these boxes.
“The best road safety result will be where speed limit reductions are common sense to motorists because they’ll naturally comply. If the limits don’t make sense, the risk is you end up with people driving above the limit most of the time unless you have constant enforcement. That’s not a good outcome for road safety.”
The latest proposals continue the previous approach – with speed limits reduced to 30 km/h in urban areas, and predominantly 60km/h and 80km/h on rural roads.
The consultation is underway until 14 November.
