A public health researcher is warning Transport Minister Simeon Brown’s plan to roll back blanket speed reductions could lead to more fatalities.
The government is asking for feedback on a new rule that would will reverse Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions over the next year and requre regulators to take into account economic impacts, travel times and the views of road users and local communities.
The draft speed limit for new and existing Roads of National Significance will be 110km/h and could even go to 120 km/h, and the 30 km/h limit for many urban areas will go back up to 50 km/h, except for streets around schools at travel time.
Jamie Hosking from the University of Auckland and the Healthy Auckland Together coalition says 30 km/h speed zones are being implemented in cities all over the world.
“There was a paper I looked at recently that looked just in Europe and found 40 cities where these 30 km/h zones have been put in place. That’s really where the world is moving to and this really feels like a big backwards step to reverse this. I haven’t found any other cities that are trying to take these things away,” he says.
Dr Hosking says Māori are over represented in death and serious injuries from road crashes.
