Open Road Speed Limits? Time for a change?

[MarkB]

This article...

Police Slam Speed Stunt - Melbourne to Sydney in 6.5 hours has piqued my interest.

It opens with...

POLICE have slammed as "reckless" a magazine stunt that commissioned a foreign journalist to drive from Melbourne to Sydney above the speed limit at 130km/h - slashing more than an hour off the journey and completing it in less than six-and-a-half hours. In a campaign to increase the limit between the two capital cities, the latest issue of Wheels magazine boasts "we drove from Melbourne to Sydney at 130km/h, didn't die and didn't get booked".

It goes on to note:

Top Speeds in Europe
France - 130km/h
Austria - 130km/h
Bulgaria - 140km/h
Denmark - 130km/h
Italy - 150km/h
The Netherlands - 130km/h
Poland - 140km/h
Germany - Unlimited, on selected roads
Australia - 110km/h (130km/h on some sections of the NT)

I've long thought that our open road speed limits are out of date (especially since they were pretty much set 30+ years ago), and they largely reflect a time when:

• cars only had rack and pinion steering (ie. NO POWER STEERING)
• cross ply tyres
• no ABS
• Drum brakes
• poor suspension
• Driver education was minimal
• And you could get your licence simply by being able to drive safely around the block (and the coppers would type the licence up for you while you did - because it was a test you didn't fail)

Anyway, what I am saying is that I would be happy to see the 110 km/h limit increase myself...

Any thoughts?

 

[D.T.]

Only thing i have to add so far is road quality. This (negatively) affects speed limits.

 

[rowena]

There are definately some sections of the road that should be upped to 130k/hr +, there are also other sections that should be dropped too. I know qld has just asked for people to nominate roads which the speed limit should be looked at again, either up or down.

 

[MarkB]

@ Dave

Imo, almost all roads are better now (and I did specify "modern highway").

The old Hume Highway was a notoriously windy and dangerous goat track - the new one is nice.

Large parts of the Pacific Highway (motorway) are very good (and those bits that are not are slated for redevelopment).

 

[battler]

[*]cars had rack and pinion steering

What do they have now?

 

[MarkB]

What do they have now?

Well, sorry, poorly described... more to the point, cars didn't have power steering.... notwithstanding your 1980's or earlier era cars (some of which, particularly the bigger muscle cars, had very heavy steering) modern cars are are very easy to steer and driver fatigue is minimised and control is improved.

 

[The Fence]

Whats the hurry?

110 is plenty as most drivers are not able to handle anything going wrong at such speeds.

Might get you there just a few minutes earlier, big deal, leave a few minutes early.
Simple.

 

[rowena]

Whats the hurry?

110 is plenty as most drivers are not able to handle anything going wrong at such speeds.
.

If we do get a increased speed limit i think you should have to have done a skill driving course in order to drive above the 110km/hr mark otherwise your restricted to 110 just like the trucks are restricted to 100k/hr.

From being on the motorbike, and doing track days which are constantly above 110km/hr, i have found that you actually improve your riding and anticipation of what is happening in traffic 10 fold. I can see the chain effect of a car braking 800 meters in front of me, and have already anticipated the reactions by the time it comes down the line to the car in front of me and therefore have already re-acted such as just taking my foot off the accelerator and giving myself extra space between myself and the car infront of me.

The other thing is, a lot of drivers will still sit on 100km or even 90 due to fuel efficiency! A lot of cars may struggle to sit on 150km/hr. I know my mazda 3 would probably be struggling at anything above 130k/hr especially up hill!.

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

Higher speeds require better lane discipline and courtesy. Get these things sorted and it's no worry at all.

Driving in the US I have routinely cruised at 150km/h for hours at a time and never had a problem. Provided conditions are good and traffic is sensible, there's no problem. You cover ground very quickly at that speed, and over a long trip the difference can be huge.

Australians are conditioned to believe that speed is bad, because a lot of our road safety campaigns focus on speed because enforcement is easy and obvious. Unfortunately there is no political will to tackle the real causes of accidents, which relate more to driver attitude and skill.

 

[The Fence]

If we do get a increased speed limit i think you should have to have done a skill driving course in order to drive above the 110km/hr mark otherwise your restricted to 110 just like the trucks are restricted to 100k/hr.

Agreed, once people can handle speed and know how to react to scenarios that pop up then maybe increase the limit.

Unfortunately there is no political will to tackle the real causes of accidents, which relate more to driver attitude and skill.

See above.


I have been in a high speed crash and lucky to be alive.

The driver freaked and let go of the steering wheel because the tail end began to slide out a bit at 100klms.

If it was me driving I could have corrected it easily.

We ended up rolling over and landed upside down stuck in a culvert just a few feet from forest.
Inexperience/incompetence almost cost us our lives.

My wife has done a extreme drivers course and reckons its most valuable as she learned how a car reacts to different scenarios etc. She is now a more confident driver.

We bashed around the paddocks as kids trying all sorts of manoeuvres and even trying to roll a car but couldnt because not quite game to let it go all the way and knowing how to stop it. Those experiences and close calls through driving history has me well prepared when on the road.

I wonder if most drivers are well prepared for what may happen at high speed?

 

[Crabnet]

Yep, I love driving in the NT. Look forward to it in fact.
There are plenty of regional roads where 130km/h is the norm now for a lot of drivers anyway. The temptation is too high when driving hours on end with sparse traffic on the road.
I suppose if you made the limit 130 people would do just that little bit over.
One thing I notice is a lot of the RV type 4 cylinder vehicles run out of legs at higher speeds. Nothing left for a burst of acceleration to overtake road trains.
That's why I like to drive a big 6 in the country. Still plenty of acceleration at 110k.

 

[mrsdawnrazor]

Higher speeds require better lane discipline and courtesy. Get these things sorted and it's no worry at all.

.

Amen to that

Keep left unless overtaking!
And when I see driving school cars in the right lane when there is nothing to overtake - makes my blood boil

 

[Lil Skater]

Higher speeds require better lane discipline and courtesy. Get these things sorted and it's no worry at all.

Agree as well.

As someone that does the Mel-Syd trip fairly regularly it would be nice to get it over and done with much quicker, but I've also had quite a few friends pass away due to doing 80km/h and being inexperienced.

I've also witnessed first hand how reckless and inconsiderate other drivers are on the open road between the two points, I hate doing it for fear some idiot is going to lose control or someone who is in too much of a hurry takes out someone going too slow and then we're taken out through no fault of our own.

I'll fence sit on this one.

 

[Rolf Latham]

Im a German that doesnt mind driving on autobahns at moderate speed

Moderate speed means driving to the quality of the road conditions generallly.

On my last big trip in winter that varied between 40 kmh and 180 kmh

Certainly the higher quality motorways may accomodate a higher VARIABLE speed limit to say 130 km/h..........

ta
rolf

 

[vaughan]

People cannot use fog lights correctly. Expecting them to be able to drive safely at speeds that require a high level of expertise and rapid reaction times is IMHO unreasonable.

 

[Macca]

Firstly, I love driving in the country, I would rather drive than fly

To adjust the speed limits it would have to be Very road specific and have national signage on each highway.

Multilane new stuff could easily be 130km in today's cars and on today's tyres, in my younger days I used to do this speed on single lanes and cross ply tyres so with the boring multilanes we have in many places, 130 is good.

Then we have the situation of single lane highways and B roads. I driven on country goat tracks that are 100kph and I have driven on the Pacific Highway, smooth dual lane that is 100kph and I believe that this encourages people to treat the speed limit as a joke. I would have decent, wide single lane, good surface roads at 100kph and then 80kph on B roads.

Places like Nullarbor and the outback where roads are very straight then 110-120 for cars is reasonable, I do think that road trains and B doubles should be 100 because those trailers are scary when they start whipping around. It is too hard to pass them when number 3 is snaking around the place and by doing 100 it may be less whippy and we can zoom past and stay within speed limit

I think we need different coloured signs for different speed limits and also have the roads monitored by the police. We should have higher speed limits but if something deteriorates then allow the police to alter the limit to something that is safe.

It seems to me that city drivers are locked into the speed limit and simply refuse to go slower even when the conditions of the road or weather are bad. They don't seem to understand that we need to drive to the current conditions, particularly in the country areas as roads quite often only get fixed once year (if they are lucky)

City drivers quite often don't realise they are fatigued and push on to reach their destination, even at the risk of dying. This is obvious between the capital cities, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The number of accidents on the Pacific Hway between Sydney and Brisbane about 5-6 hours after leaving the city is amazing.

By country standards the sections where these accidents are is quite a good road, yet through inexperience and fatigue people die regularly.

We will never stop road accidents as people are people and lose attention or get tired and then crash, just a pity that quite often the innocent victims are the ones who suffer

 

[Ausprop]

kangaroos also pose a problem here

 

[Ideo]

I do 50,000kms a year, nearly all on freeways and country roads (New England, Barrier, Mitchell Highways)

130 makes sense given all the factors at play.

 

[The Fence]

130 on the New England Hwy....are you serious?

What factors at play make sense?

Im incredibly curious.

Disclaimer: I have travelled the NE Hwy for 30 odd years between Tamworth and Newcastle on a regular basis.

 

[robbiejuve]

Most of those roads in Europe where you can do that speed are seperated and have a barrier on the outside and generally surface quality is good.

Most of Sydney to Mlebourne is not seperated, if you come off you are going into a tree and road surface is rubbish.

If those safety conditions were met I believe there shouldn't be a limit on straight roads in fine conditions.