Nt To Vote This Week To Adopt A 110km/h Speed Limit Maximum

[SKY031]

In order to find out if vehicle occupants are wearing seatbelts, or to breath test a driver, there has to be a Police officer available to stop and check each vehicle.

(Unless the vehicle is fitted with an interlock)

A vehicle doesn't need to be stopped to check the speed at which it is travelling.

[phee]

This sounds speed related? At a lower speed, he may possibly have been able to control the car and not kill himself and someone else.

Yeeeeeeeah cause we have open speed limits in our suburbs It was an 80kms limit in a suburban area, not the open highway.

There are NO speed related death in the open speed limit areas that I am aware of. As I said earlier, the only road deaths are from inner city road limited areas. I am not saying open speed limit everything, cause that's stupid. I am saying if something (open limits) aren't broken, don't try to fix them.

[Big Rizza]

Yeeeeeeeah cause we have open speed limits in our suburbs It was an 80kms limit in a suburban area, not the open highway.

There are NO speed related death in the open speed limit areas that I am aware of. As I said earlier, the only road deaths are from inner city road limited areas. I am not saying open speed limit everything, cause that's stupid. I am saying if something (open limits) aren't broken, don't try to fix them.

I read last year that the number of fatal accidents in the open speed area of NT where crash investigators consider speed to be a "contributing factor" is considerably less than in other states. So, yes, there are fatal speed related crashed in NTs open limit areas, but fewer than in the rest of Aus.

But, alas, they also said there are a lot of intoxicated drivers in rural areas in poorly maintained cars dying on NT's roads to make up for the lack of speed related deaths.

*sigh*.

The message behind that statement is... the faster you go, the faster things can get out of control.

You have less time/distance to react to an emergency.

The faster you're going, the harder you hit.

How hard you hit is a major factor when it comes to the difference between being able to walk away from the accident unharmed/with a few scratches & whiplash, or buying yourself a one way ticket to a box under a lawn somewhere.

(Or somewhere in between, where you get to have a set of wheels attached to your body for the rest of your life)

This sounds speed related?

At a lower speed, he may possibly have been able to control the car and not kill himself and someone else.

Isn't that 10 too many?

The point I was trying to make was that police crash investigators are very quick to tick the box on their reports that say it was a speed related crash. I read that something like 2/3rds of "speed related deaths" on our roads have other contributing factors, such as alcohol, drugs, unlicenced drivers, poorly maintained vehicles, passengers riding in the boot/tray, people not wearing seatbelts, running red lights, disobeying other road rules, dangerous driving (i.e. drifting etc, not necessarily speeding)... You get the idea.

Not blaming the police crash investigators for ticking the box - they're just doing their jobs. But politicians will spin the statistics to conveniently leave out other contributing factors to focus on the speed element in an attempt to justify their Big Brother watch over speeding motorists...

[phee]

I had a bit of a piss up last night and one of my good mates (who is a cop and races BTH - http://www.beattheheatnt.org.au/gallery/vi...s&id=Smokin ) told me that what he has been shown is only 18% of road deaths in the NT are caused by speed. Other fatalities involve speed, but usually involed drunk / drug driving, unknown road conditions, not wearing seat belts, fatigue etc etc and he thinks 18% is pushing it too...

There would have been deaths on the open roads, its just not a common occurance, so I don't remember any. I know 2 japs died when they brought their ferrari over for the Cannonball run, which is why it was cancelled. Tourists who aren't used to open flat roads have trouble avoiding the temptation of putting their foot down are the biggest problem. An open speed limit isn't an invitation to see how fast your car goes, it just means you can travel at a speed YOU feel is safe, and why take that away?

[$weetDreamZ]

So what was the outcome of the vote? Was it just a politician only decision or was the road going public actually involved in the decision? Don't you just love the way our 'democracy' works.

[phee]

Haven't heard of anything changing.

[MMM]

death tolls havent changed on our roads in 10years. these new laws around the country are doign absolutly f**k all.. you cant stop dumb people doing dumb things, thats why deaths/accidents occur regardless of speed limits in place and cameras

Edited October 8, 2006 by MMM

[DEVO R33GTR]

i find it fairly interesting that states (and countries) that have areas with open speed limits often have the lowest road death rates.

could be the fact that people no longer feel the need to open the taps on any old (and normally fairly shocking) road when they do it without reprecussions elsewhere.

when traveling on open road most people only travel at around 140 so your consentration levels are very high

when i travel in southern states at 100 i dont concentrate, have had more near miss down south

In the territory it about 300 kms between town centres so it will be hard 2 police