Aotearoa / New Zealand

1618 readers

83 users here now

Kia ora and welcome to !newzealand, a place to share and discuss anything about Aotearoa in general

For politics , please use [email protected]
Shitposts, circlejerks, memes, and non-NZ topics belong in [email protected]
If you need help using Lemmy.nz, go to [email protected]
NZ regional and special interest communities

Rules:

Don't be a dick

FAQ ~ NZ Community List ~ Join Matrix chatroom

Banner image by Bernard Spragg

Got an idea for next month's banner?

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

National to spend at least $30m to reverse speed limit changes if elected (www.1news.co.nz)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

76 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Alternative headline: National to spend $30m to sacrifice some of your lives so our trip is slightly faster.

The changes have been endorsed by transport researchers and street safety advocates as effective measures to help reduce the number of Kiwis killed and injured on the roads.

That's all there is to it.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I personally have not noticed significant changes in travel times due to the reduction in speed limits, which may just be because of where I live (Transmission Gully and the Kāpiti Expressway have definitely cut travel times, more than offsetting any difference in speed changes on other roads).

I found it hard to get recent data, but found this interesting (vs National's claim that Road to Zero isn't working):

graph showing reduction in fatalities vs vehicle kms travelled

Deaths peaked in 2017, but really dropped in 2020 and 2021 (presumably COVID related). Then we have 2022 which was 374 deaths, the highest since 2018. But what was the rate compared to the distance traveled? I haven't found a 2022 VKT number, but it would be interesting to see. Also, one off blips in data don't mean that a programme with a 30 year plan isn't working. In fact, given COVID, I don't think you could judge the programme at all for at least another few years.

Now if someone says "we shouldn't spend this money on X because it could save even more lives spent on Y" then ok cool. But I think we all know if they cut Road to Zero it will be to pay for the lack of money they allocated for their promised road projects.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Given how many things have happened regarding our roads the last few years, such as new motorways and expressways opening and safety upgrades to existing roads, as well as modern cars getting constantly safer, I don't think we have enough evidence to say lower speed limits did anything conclusively.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I'd agree, but ultimately lower speed limits aren't about reducing the number of crashes caused by excessive speed. It's about accepting crashes will happen, and reducing the damage when it does happen.

It's a broad brush and we may never be able to tie one thing to the outcome.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think this is an important point that is missed a lot. The reduced speed limits aim to reduce the harm of serious crashes. Any data needs to include the number of crashes to the number of crashes that have serious harm and death, then compare these to other years.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Fatalities per distance travelled is a good way of looking at that though.