Let communities have their say on speed limits: Minister urged to remedy unfair and dangerous speed rule
Living Streets Aotearoa has joined All Aboard, Bike Auckland, Brake New Zealand, and Walk Auckland in publishing a letter calling on Minister Chris Bishop to allow local discretion on speed limit changes that will make streets across Auckland less safe. In this case, Auckland Transport has proposed an approach to implementing former Transport Minister Simeon Brown's Speed Rule on roads that they legally don't need to raise the speed limit on. The rule will affect 1,500 roads across Auckland and is set to happen on 1 July.
There is growing alarm among communities in the area at the proposed rollout of unsafe speed limits, but it is slated to happen regardless of public support for safe speeds. The safe speed zones that have been rolled out across Auckland since 2020 have saved an estimated 80 people from serious injury or death. The evidence also suggests safer speed areas enable more children to walk, cycle or wheel to school.
“As locals we know our neighbourhoods and our streets best. We’re asking the Minister of Transport Chris Bishop to make it easier to consider local views before raising speed limits where we live, work, shop and go to school,” says Marie Guerreiro, Executive Director of All Aboard.
This group of leading road safety experts and transport advocates welcomes the Minister of Transport’s commonsense move to invite community views on some State Highway speed changes around the country, and urges him to apply the same reasonable and fair approach to our largest city.
Read the full letter to the Minister here