13 June 2013

Safe Speeds on Rural Roads

Waikato and Waipa District Councils and the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) are again joining forces on road safety at this year's Fieldays event, with the councils highlighting the need for drivers to slow down on rural roads.

“Drivers need to understand that while 100 kilometres per hour is the maximum legal limit for many rural roads, it is often not safe to drive at this speed,” said Megan Jolly, Road Safety Co-ordinator for the two districts.

"Rural roads are often narrow, with little room each side and loose surfaces. They can be undulating with limited visibility." Ms Jolly says rural roads also feature hazards such as slow farm vehicles, ditches, stock and power poles. "They are quite different to a motorway, so often 100km/h will be too fast."

New bright blue and yellow billboards strategically highlight a number of identified 'high risk' rural roads in the two districts. In the Waikato district these have been placed on Highway 22 between Tuakau and Raglan, the Tuakau-Port Waikato road and Hakarimata Road. Messages include ‘This is a rural road, Slow down’, ‘Rural road, Slow down for bends’ and ‘This is a rural road, Concentrate’.

Crash statistics for the Waikato region show just why drivers need to slow down. Between 2008 and 2012, 21 per cent of injury crashes in the Waikato region involved drivers travelling too fast for the conditions. These crashes resulted in 116 deaths, and 370 serious injuries.

The councils' Fieldays display will also provide an interactive exercise to identify hazards on rural roads and demonstrate how these roads differ to highways.

The aim is to get motorists thinking about what they need to do to deal with the different conditions.

"The message to motorists from this campaign is clear: Slow down on rural roads – even on straight stretches."

ENDS

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