Reducing speed limits in the country’s biggest city has just won Auckland Transport a global road safety award in London.
But the minister who pledged to reverse the slowdown nationwide has called the award “woke”, and says he has the support of most New Zealanders for his plans.
The Prince Michael International Road Safety Award is an annual award presented since 1987 to organisations which have helped to improve road safety.
Auckland Transport’s safer speeds programme was nominated for the award by a non-profit which has previously advocated against the Government’s speed limit changes.
Former assistant police commissioner Dave Cliff, who now heads the Global Road Safety Partnership, said the implementation of international best practices had been effective.
That’s the warning from experts just as the Transport Minister’s set to raise some speed limits nationwide in a matter of weeks. (Source: 1News)
“They’ve reduced speed limits to those that are in line with international best practice … and saved an enormous number of lives and serious injuries as a result,” he said.
He criticised plans to raise speed limits across the country, saying he was “flabbergasted” at the position being taken by the Government.
Govt determined to raise speed limits
But Transport Minister Simeon Brown remained unconvinced.
“Ultimately we were elected to reverse Labour’s blanket approach to slowing Kiwis down.
“Kiwis rejected that at the last election, and we’re delivering on reversing that,” he said.
The Government has plans to reverse the speed limit reductions brought in under the previous government, which saw speed limits on many city streets reduced from 50km/h to 30km/h. Some rural highways went from 100km/h to 80km/h.
Brown added, “There’s lots of woke awards out there, isn’t there?”
The University of Canterbury’s Simon Kingham and Transporting New Zealand’s Dom Kalasih discuss how we balance economic impacts with safety implications. (Source: 1News)
UK-based road safety analyst Richard Owen disagreed with that assessment.
“I don’t know if I can dignify with a response. They’re clearly not woke awards unless you think people’s lives and saving them is somehow woke,” he told 1News in London.
Owen said he was “astonished” at the Government’s changes — saying many had put “New Zealand road safety on a bit of a pedestal”.
The Government’s new Land Transport Rule for setting speed limits would see speed limits rise on some local streets, arterial roads and state highways by July 1, 2025.
It would also require reduced variable speed limits outside schools during pick-up and drop-off times by July 1, 2026.
Local streets outside a school would be required to have a 30km/h variable speed limit, while rural roads outside schools would be required to have variable speed limits of 60km/h or less.
The rule would also enable speed limits up to 120km/h on Roads of National Significance where it was considered safe.