Speed Management Plan FAQs

Speed is an issue which is being addressed at a national level as part of the Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency “Road to Zero” Road Safety Strategy.

This strategy identifies areas for improved infrastructure investment and speed management – a Regional Speed Management Plan will be required by 2024. Our consultation is aligned with, but is separate to, the national Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency consultation you may have seen adverts about.

Here in the Clutha District, Council receives frequent service requests about speed limits and traffic calming. Reducing speed can help to make the roads safer. In urban areas reducing speeds can help reduce accidents involving people walking and cycling. On rural roads, reducing speed limits creates a safer environment, which will result in fewer motor vehicle deaths and serious injuries. It also has a secondary benefit of reducing dust suppression requirements.

Contrary to popular belief, the relationship between speed and travel time is more nuanced than it seems. Research highlights that driving faster doesn't always translate to significant time savings. Factors like traffic congestion, stoplights, and road conditions play a pivotal role in negating the expected gains of accelerating beyond speed limits.

The moments saved by driving a bit faster are often nullified by the need to slow down or halt due to various road dynamics. In reality, the time it takes to reach a destination is a delicate interplay of multiple variables, making the assumption that faster driving always equates to shorter travel times a less straightforward proposition.

A variety of road safety enforcement measures have been shown to improve road user behaviour and safety outcomes, including intensive policing programmes and the use of officer-issued infringements and automated compliance through safety camera technology.

Improving our road infrastructure, as well as setting and enforcing safe and appropriate speed limits, are key to achieving Vision Zero, where no one is killed or seriously injured on our roads.

Even the most skilled drivers make mistakes. Most drivers understand that New Zealand’s roads can be challenging. Good speed management gives drivers the cues they need to judge the safe and appropriate speed for the road they are on. Council is also actively promoting road safety with school children and through public education campaigns.

Road to Zero: New Zealand’s Road Safety Strategy 2020 - 2023 outlines that even if all road users followed the road rules, fatalities would only fall by approximately 50% and injuries by 30%. This is why reducing speed is important, in order to reduce the severity of crashes when they occur. Council has limited funds for road improvements and therefore invests these funds in high risk or high impact areas. To bring many of the roads up to a safer standard would be expensive and would need further funding from either central government or rates.

These reductions have been made in alignment with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s national strategy. Council often receives complaints that speeds are too high, especially in areas of rural roads. Many rural roads have become more densely populated since their current speed limits were set, and a lot of our roads and vehicle crossings now have significantly more turning movements, which increases the crash risk. Council will take into account the feedback from the community as part of this consultation in making its decision.

Once Council’s new speed limits are approved and implemented, the police will be enforcing them.