(SA) opinions of the 100km (formally 110km) speed limits

[Placey]

Post your thoughts of the drop in country road speed from 110 to 100..

How does it affect you.

How do you think this makes the roads safer or worse.


I for one think that it is very dangerous, as peoe are used to sitting on 110, if a caravan etc is infront on a long stretch of road and you do proceed to overtake the vehicle infront doing 90, the distances are different, and this causes frustration, in my opinion forcing people to "fly" past them at speeds of up to 120,130 etc. I don't see how this is safer.


On SIMPLE note from me.

Guns don't kill people, people do..
ROADS aren't unsafe, the people driving with lack of confidence are!

Bring in subsidized driver safety and awareness courses and have a physical driving and basic defensive driving courses compulsory upon completion of "L" plates..


Rant finished.

[poppa smurf]

I've travelled all over this country in many and varied machines.....I drove trucks for a while then did a stint on a motorcycle and then camper van and now caravan

speed limits vary greatly throughout the place from the sublime to the ridiculous and it's hard to keep a handle on what is what

here in south aussie we have a problem and one that is reflected in W.A. and the N.T........the tyranny of distance

in Vic you have a town every 10 feet and NSW is just one big town....Sydney to Brisvegas is just one big settlement.....the back blocks of Joe land is a bit more open up over the table lands so 100 k's is fine there

but in the big three states we have 100's of Km's between towns then some are only "use to be's"

what works in the occupied territories doesn't work here, they don't have the "big boys" triples and quads snarling and weaving along at 90 to 100 k's try passing them at the assigned speed limit when they are already doing the limit....hair raising enough with a run up

we have not got the finances to put in place the overtaking lanes that would be required to elevate the inevitable convoys that would ensue behind these leviathans never mind pop and his sharabang doodling along at 80 k's and refusing to yield

works in NSW, vic and banana bender territory but not here thanks.......my opinion anyway!

Oh! then theres Tassie,....I found there's not enough room to wind up to 100 km's over there!

[wrongwaynorris]

Its all about revenue , pure and simple .

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Its all about revenue , pure and simple .

^^^ yep!

[My poor XF]

Not happy about the change, might have only added a few extra minutes to my drive but I have noticed so much more traffic. People now sit on 90-95 and cars stretch out in great big lines.

It's a completely unnecessary change, most of the roads are in good condition and the rosd i use has recently had the shoulders widened and sealed. what's worse is I have only seen 1 police vehicle in the 2 odd months it's been changed.

The road up to the Clare valley used to be 110 and it has multiple overtaking lanes, now it's 100.

[EDManual]

I didnt know they recently did that! What a joke!

Have they also change the limit on the highways all the way to the Vic border?

Hope not!

Also these roads they are changing signs on are the most boring straight roads you have ever seen! Surely people die from falling asleep? Wheres the proof its from speed? It will only get worse. of course more people safely travelling along, not hooning, just going from a to b in a reasonable time will get massive fines and lose their licence for no reason at all.

[BENT_8]

Im not sure if the reduced speed limit had any relevance to the incidents, but since lowering the speed limit on the Copper Coast Highway to Kadina from Pt Wakefield, two fatalities have occured on a flat, straight stretch of road, less than 10k apart, in less that a month.
Prior to this, i am unaware of any other fatalities on that stretch and i've been driving it for 18yrs.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Im not sure if the reduced speed limit had any relevance to the incidents, but since lowering the speed limit on the Copper Coast Highway to Kadina from Pt Wakefield, two fatalities have occured on a flat, straight stretch of road, less than 10k apart, in less that a month.
Prior to this, i am unaware of any other fatalities on that stretch and i've been driving it for 18yrs.

seen that, know the stretch well......notorious for prangs.......folks not willing to just wait a little while.....had a few close calls on that part myself.....speed restrictions won't stop the impatient morons

trouble is they take the kids and others with them!

more coppers on the road might!

[EDManual]

Originally Posted by wimpy

seen that, know the stretch well......notorious for prangs.......folks not willing to just wait a little while.....had a few close calls on that part myself.....speed restrictions won't stop the impatient morons

trouble is they take the kids and others with them!

more coppers on the road might!

Do you have proof its these who are killed?> I would bet 99% of the time its the people travelling slowly who fall asleep who are killed.

Sure someone who speeds in a dangerous way makes the paper, but that doesnt mean its the case in all cases.

Plus what has being impatient and passing badly got to do with speeding safely anyway? Nothing.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by EDManual

Do you have proof its these who are killed?> I would bet 99% of the time its the people travelling slowly who fall asleep who are killed.

Sure someone who speeds in a dangerous way makes the paper, but that doesnt mean its the case in all cases.

Plus what has being impatient and passing badly got to do with speeding safely anyway? Nothing.

I was once told by a long serving officer that there is no such thing as "accidents"....every "incident" has a cause as in both of these cases,

it's left up to the people who clean up after the incident to decide what mistake from which driver created this particular one..speed, inattention, stupidity, arrogance,

from what I seen on the news, it was overtaking manoeuvres incorrectly judged by one of the drivers on both occasions that led to this point....

not speed but a silly mistake...which we all make from time to time.....wouldn't have mattered if the limit had of been 130

most of the time we get away with a silly mistake, but every now and then one turns around and bights us

the biggest problem is we won't "share".....everyone is in our way and slowing us down

unfortunately the statistics show that speed and inattention are the biggest killers on our road

judging when it is safe to speed and when or what is a "safe" speed is beyond most of us, we are all formula 1 drivers and all perfect......just ask us

so we have officials to put guidelines in place for our own protection and of course revenue raising

I've driven these roads since childhood and know them like the back of my hand and to me 100 k's is a bit silly but the speed must be set at the lowest driver capability denominator

I don't mind too much as it is all pretty country on the back roads, our highways are still 110, so I just doodle along

[66FAIRLANE]

Absolute aarse paper! Most of our country roads are easily capable of supporting 130kmh, which I feel alot more comfortable at. It just seems to highten your concentration a bit. People get bored and loose concentration at 100kmh and I believe this contributes significantly to accidents. Look at the NT since lower limits. In fact if the truth be known, disregarding the government BS that tries to list every accident cause as speed, (which technically it is because if all cars were stationary there would be no accidents) the major cause of all accidents would be inattention.

Don't get me started

[dylby1]

Originally Posted by EDManual

I didnt know they recently did that! What a joke!

Have they also change the limit on the highways all the way to the Vic border?

.

No they haven't

[EDManual]

^^ falling asleep I guess?! A few extra km a hour makes all the difference in an interesting drive and a boring dangerous fatigued drive.

[JK1]

feckin unbelieveable

[landau5.8]

its only a matter of time before these do gooder imbeciles have us all in a horse and carriage again....the greens will love that,

[Placey]

The two wells to gawler road and the gawler to roseworthy road is shocking now it is lowered to 100kmh. All the people who used to sit on 100 in a 110 zone now sit on 90 in the 100 zone..

THE ROADS HAVEN'T CHANGED! why can't you do the speed you USED to do?!?! So it causes people like me and many others to overtake.. Through anger.. When your angry you will take chances. There is NO proof that this has lowered fatalities, and as harsh as it sounds, people die everyday on the road. A minimal amou t as compared to cancer etc. It's just a joke. I don't speed, and that's not because I don't feel safe.. Its purely because I can't afford the extreme fines for doing so. And you guys are probably the same.

Bloody nanny state.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by Placey

The two wells to gawler road and the gawler to roseworthy road is shocking now it is lowered to 100kmh. All the people who used to sit on 100 in a 110 zone now sit on 90 in the 100 zone..


.

Gawler to Roseworthy road shocking because they've lowered the limit. WTF. I recently travelled that road, towing a couple of cars and it was bloody shocking. I'm glad they've lowered it. (Travelled it 2 weeks ago)

Then we move further north, heading towards Hamley Bridge. I nearly got seasick when towing the cars. That many ups and downs, it nearly made me throw up. Go hooting along there at 130 KPH, hit a bump the wrong way and see how far you end up in the paddock before you stop rolling.

[Brazen]

The Copper Coast Highway had one fatality in 6 years when the limit was 110kmh.

Since they have changed it to 100kmh, there has been two fatal accidents within 4 weeks of the speed limit decrease.

It has been a debacle, and Yorke Peninsula Mayors have called for the 110kmh limit to be reinstated.

[EDManual]

Speed is not the problem, you've been brainwashed ^^
Has nothing to do with it.

Its everything else you mention.

Speed is not the biggest killer on the road, far from it. Most actual stats from other states and other countries where actual "speeding over the speed limit" is the definition of 'speeding' has the % at under 2%!!!! And that 2% includes dangerous driving which may be someone racing, or in a police chase or something just as rediculous!!

When the Govt and Cops say "Speed" is the biggest killer on the road, they mean, contributor, and can be and most of the time is UNDER the posted speed limit.

[poppa smurf]

ah! well you see I wasn't aware that it was a debate,

I thought it was simply my thoughts...well in that case I will bow out

I seen a lot of nonsense on the road including aggressive, impatient drivers.......100KPH, I consider is doodling along,

pull up behind me with an angry/aggressive attitude then I really hope you get well clear of me before you take yourself and some other poor buggers out....I'll even pull over to get you out the way

speed is relevant to road conditions.....you don't have to be "speeding" per say merely speeding in the given circumstances....on some roads 60 KPH is too fast

[BENT_8]

Like i said i've been travelling the roads of the Yorke peninsula since i first moved there and met my now wife some 20 years ago at age 15.
I still travel to Maitland Fortnightly and have done for 18 years as a driver.
In that time i've lost many, many friends to those country roads, but very few speed related.
If anything it is indeed inattention, fatigue and alcohol.

The stretch of road from pt Wakefield to the sub station at the foot of the Hummocks has seen very few accidents over the years.
I do agree however that from Kulpara to Kadina is another story, however, this stretch is lined with tree's, undulating and heads directly into the late afternoon sun, its a recipe for disaster and should have wider shoulders and overtaking lanes.
The problem is funding, or lack there of, however, as anyone who has lived on the Peninsula will attest, any repair job resembles a patchwork quilt and some of these roads do indeed need speed reduction until resurfacing can be undertaken. The worst being the stretch from Weetulta to Maitland which has been a problem area for 15yrs.

As for the accidents i referrd to previous, dont believe evrything you hear in the media, quite often they are way off the mark and will print anything to get an audience, very rarely do they recant when facts are established.

By all means have an opinion, share it with us and debate your views, but dont expect people who have intimate knowledge of these topics to just accept the easy, well publicised answers/excuses.

[johnydep]

Don't know if the idea is just plain stupid, or greedy.

I remember hearing a science report (ABC I think) that stated that slow highway speeds (less than 110kmh) causes more accidents due to driver drowsiness. Higher speeds (about 120 - 130 from memory) was safer because drivers were more alert.

We live in a broke nanny State.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by johnydep

Don't know if the idea is just plain stupid, or greedy.

We live in a broke nanny State.

Most accurate post in this thread to date.

[290v]

All it has done is created more fatigue on the roads

[kyro_02]

I'm not sure about SA, but in vic as far as I am aware, over taking another car doing below the speed limit does not require you to obey the speed limit.

for example, the car in front of you is doing 90 in a 100kph zone, you cannot premeditate the overtaking manure, but you can pull out and if its safe you can pass the car in front exceeding the posted limit.. IIRC, common law may say you're breaking the law on a technical basis, but you won't get booked for it..?

that is what I've been told by someone who has completed the police law exam studies.. whether or not they meant _they_ won't get booked, but the average Joe would, I'm not exactly sure

feel free to correct me..

edit: and if I ever come to SA, I would drive to the conditions of the road/weather.. most of the time is 20 over.. try drive from QLD to VIC or to SA on 130-140 most of the way, and slow for towns at 50kph, feel's like you're not moving at all.. :P

[davenl5l]

i would comment as i live on yorke penninsular but my angry rant would involve so much typing that i would ware out my fingers

[svo supporter]

I have travelled plenty of country roads in this state and all I can say is, some need the limit dropped and some need them increased.

Fair enough getting frustrated with idiotic motorists, but deciding to go like a maniac because of them can put you in a world of hurt.

2 classic roads that spring to mind are the road from Sandy creek through to Tanunda. Always strike tourists, putting along at 50 KPH, on the 100 KPH limit. With some of the blind corners, there is a great chance of punting one of them off into the paddock and you taking a nice trip to the hospital.

Another bad road, is from Strath to Milang. The road has a 100 KPH limit, but it's a sheet of a road. Then compound it with grandma and grandpa putting along at 30 KPH (yes I've struck them doing that speed) it can be a receipe for disaster, getting frustrated.

So changing the limit. Depends on the road