The Green Party has launched a petition urging the Government not to push ahead with blanket speed limit increases that will come at an incredible cost to our communities.

“The Government is ignoring the emphatic evidence that safe speeds save lives,” says Green Party Transport Spokesperson, Julie Anne Genter.

“Our streets should provide a foundation for everyone to access their communities safely and sustainably. The safety of our people has to be at the heart of our transport network.

“However, the Minister of Transport is raising speed limits and jeopardising community safety without any credible justification. Applying blanket speed limit increases will result in more deaths and serious injuries, which come at an enormous cost to our communities.

“We have very clear evidence of the benefits from the early evaluations of speed limit reductions on our most dangerous roads since 2020.

“For example, we see from the safer speed limit on the Nelson to Blenheim road that there has been an 80 percent reduction in deaths and serious injuries - and it’s only been going for two years.

“The safer speed limits instigated by the previous government added an increase of around two seconds per kilometre to the average journey time. That’s not something most people will notice at all. What they will notice is if a loved one doesn’t make it home because of a car crash.

“We are calling on people to make their opposition to this reckless policy heard by signing our petition and sending a clear signal to the Government.

“We’ve seen widespread opposition to this policy from medical professionals, councils, schools and road safety experts. This is something that would have a significant impact on our communities - that’s why we’ve launched this petition.

“We will continue to fight for sensible policy that puts priority on the safety of our people,” says Julie Anne Genter.

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