residents of the Mount Lofty Ranges region have until October 23 to convince the Adelaide Hills Council to see reason in regard to proposed speed limit reductions.
Blanket reduction of the speed limit throughout the region is unlikely to reduce the road toll.
Idiots with lead feet and small gentleman's equipment are STILL going to go fast, no matter what. Threats of vehicle crushing, licence revoking and huge financial penalties have had no effect so far.
what WILL happen if speeds are reduced is that there will be more people driving more slowly on the already congested roads. It will mean that a return trip to Adelaide will take 4 hours out of my day excluding whatever business i may have there.
It will substantially eat into rest and recreation time for already tired commuters living in this region.
it will reduce fuel efficiency and increase air pollution.
it will probably increase accidents from drivers having to constantly watch their speedometer [the SA Police have zero tolerance limits] and certainly increase revenue from speeding fines.
but it won't stop the hoons.
If you live in or travel through the Mount Lofty Ranges of South Australia, write to the Adelaide Hills Council and tell them what you think.
here's the address
Without knowing the road and how built up it is i can't really comment - if there's lots of houses, regular pedestrian action etc then maybe road speeds do need to come down in appropriate places - as you have a better chance of surviving being hit at a slower speed, but if its open country???
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced that slower speeds will neccessarily lead to increased accidents and frustration and congestion - but there needs to be a wider scheme to tackle these problems. Why are we always in such a rush to get from a to b anyway?
we are talking about long stretches of straight and/or gently curved roads without pedestrians...and i have far better things to do than shuffle along at 80km an hour. i think the answer is not reducing speed limits, it's more in improving driver education.
ReplyDeletei'd happily walk but the 88km to town would take quite a while. and frankly, moving to the city isn't an option either. the maximum speed limit used to be 110km and guess what? the road toll was actually lower.
I got two speeding tickets within a month. Neither time did I feel as if I were driving dangerously, and simply wasn't aware of the speed limit. I seem to drive the speed limit in many places without being aware of the speed limit, because that is what feels safe. Still, I am now aware of the speed limit and set my cruise control for the limit. There are two places I travel that acually feel unsafe at the low speeds. In one place many cars pass me on a two-lane road because NOBODY DRIVES THAT SLOW THERE. I would think the comparisons between 110 km and the current speed would speak loudly to authorities, but authorities, they often just don't listen. Gook luck.
ReplyDeleteThey recently reduced the limit between us in Moreton in Marsh and Chipping Norton (where my daughter goes to drama group), to 50 MPH, placing 27 new signs along the 7 mile route, approximately one every 130 yards.
ReplyDeleteHow fast can you currently travel? it seems to me that 80 KMH, which is about 50 MPH is a reasonable speed.
much love Martine
martine i could put up with it [and do already] for seven mile stretches, particularly if there are schools, houses and dogwalkers about
ReplyDeletebut the limits they want to impose are on open country roads that go for miles and miles.
at present if i want to catch an early morning flight to teach interestate i have to get up at 3 am, drive 2 hours, check in, fly out at 6am
if they slap on this limit i'll be crawling slowly to the airport in the dark and having to get up even earlier. sigh.
our driving conditions are very different to those in Britain. those few single lane roads we have are gravel and nobody in their right mind drives fast on them anyway
Camellia, i feel for you. the authorities here in Australia would have us become a nanny state. you can't ride a bicycle without wearing plastic shell on your head and they even tried to make the jackaroos [that's cowboys where you are] up north wear plastic helmets when mustering cattle
until
they began fainting and falling from their horses because their heads were getting too hot.
go figure
soon they'll have us driving at a walking pace with a servant carrying a red flag in front, just as was done in the [very] old days...