A massive new speed trial is set to be introduced in a grey nomad hotspot in WA, with authorities hopeful it could lead to major improvement in road safety.
The three-year trial will use a holistic, area-wide approach to test speed limit reductions on 1,250 local government roads across the City of Busselton, and 550 local government roads in the Shire Augusta Margaret River, to help prevent serious injuries and deaths on the roads.
This trial is different because the authorities have reviewed the speed limits for the entire road networks managed by the two local governments. In most local governments across Western Australia, speed limits are changed on a case-by-case basis, when a submission is made by a local government to Main Roads WA.
Will lower speed linits help make all road users safer? PIC: CIzza
The trial is proposed to start in early 2025, with new speed limit signs being installed throughout the trial area over approximately six months.
The Safer Speeds Trial is a partnership between City of Busselton, Shire of Augusta Margaret River and RAC, with support from Main Roads WA. Comprehensive evaluations would take place 12 months after the trial commences and then after three years. The results would determine the trial’s success and whether the proposed speeds should be retained, returned to their previous speed or a combination of both.
The City of Busselton and Shire of Augusta Margaret River were chosen for the trial as they are home to key tourist destinations and population centres within regional WA. The South West region has experienced significant growth in its population, and its popularity as a tourist destination, and the roads there are busier than ever.
According to the WA Road Safety Commission, speed continues to be a leading factor in WA road trauma and there is strong evidence from Australia and around the world that speed limit reductions typically lead to a substantial decrease in road deaths and serious injuries.
Between 2019 and 2023, 136 people were killed or seriously injured on roads in Busselton and 59 in Augusta Margaret River.
To ensure safety improvements for users of different road types, five different road environments would be included in the Trial: Rural roads west of Bussell Highway; residential roads on the outskirts of town; urban major roads; town centres (main streets through town centres and streets with high pedestrian activity); residential streets.
To show how the Safer Speeds Trial might impact journey times, a transport consultant drove 16 of the routes across the Trial area earlier this year. This real-world assessment found the average increase in driving time was 62 seconds. In almost all cases the increase in journey time was less than two minutes.
The authorities say the facts on safer speeds are clear:
Further information on the Safer Speeds Trial can be found here.
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A compressive speed limit reduction Australia wide would definitely be a good idea.
We’ve never understood why retirees would need to rush anywhere, they’ve got nothing to do & all day to do it.
That’s what being retired is all about, taking your time.
Do they really think, that a 10kph reduction will help, youngsters will still speed. They should instead improve roads. In Germany the autobahns have no speed limit and they were being built in in the 1930’s and no great road fatalities. Just another case of the WA Labour Government covering there arses. Same as rifle licences laughable again, illegal firearms doing the damage.
I lived a time in Spain a while, and the highways are magnificent, built by the European unions, and the minimum is 120. Beautiful. Ferraris go past at 200 something!
Another example of catering to the lowest common denominator. What next?
Not using mobile phones, concentrating solely on the driving task, and learning to actually drive a vehicle, not simply steer it, would be of greater benefit.
The lower your speed the more likely you are to be not fully concentrating.
Still, at least the “do gooders” will be happy, I guess.
No brains, and happy without them.
Ditto
Folk should be aware that the signs suggest the MAXIMUM speed for that section of highway, street, a venue, etc …. It is NOT mandatory to travel at that speed.
In my opinion … after a trip from Victoria ( the pothole state) and back (unfortunately) my observation would suggest that large trucks, road trains, et el should be speed restricted to 80kph and the 110 and 100 limits should be reduced to at least 90 Kph or even less …. No truck, caravan, road train, car, motorbike needs to travel at 100+kph at anytime.
Catch the train!
I feel for the truck and commercial drivers who will incur additional hours (read cost) to arrive at their destination.
It seems a knee-jerk reaction that will affect many people when just a few can’t travel within the law.
I suppose it is cheaper for the government to bring in these changes than to put more police patrols on the road or improve road conditions.
Having travelled around Australia several times, WA roads are far superior to any other state or territory so putting more police out on the roads seems an obvious solution.
Just another opportunity for the government to make more money from speed cameras.
I wonder if we will be told how much extra revenue was generated by this “safety initiative”.as well as the accident statistics.
Its quite easy to lower the general speeds people travel at. Simply set up hidden speed traps! People will all start going the speed limit rather than 10km over the speed limit! It happened in Canberra many years ago, but they had to start identifying the speed cameras, so people only slow down near the camera now. It was a very weird few weeks for us as cars usually sped away from us, as we do the limit!
The statistics quoted all rely on the assumption that all vehicles were at or about max. posted speeds. Responsible, but not all, RV haulers generally drive at sensible speeds and still have accidents for many varied reasons. There are statistics, damn statistics & lies in the real world.
I really don’t think that authorities have factored in the fatigue factor, especially if they intend to eventually do this across regional WA. For example, I live in Exmouth and know that people travel from here to Perth in one day making it a 12 hour drive. Reducing speeds from 110kph to 100kph will simply add another hour and a half to the journey and I know that they will still do it in one day.
Excessive speed is not the only factor contributing to motor vehicle accidents, as this proposed “trial” wrongly assumes. Fatigue is a significant factor, as is inattention, indecision (e.g. missing a turnoff point), overloading vehicles and inebriation. You cannot legislate for those issues, only educate. Reducing the speed limit will slow down trucks that need to keep to a certain speed to get a load safely to its destination. No amount of statistics about percentage reductions in probability of accidents is a valid argument, when you consider other factors contributing to accidents. The local governments and traffic engineers have it wrong with blanket bans, as it shows they haven’t tried to determine specific causes of accidents at specific locations – it’s a really lazy and unprofessional approach to traffic management.
As maric wrote, the problem is not the limits, it’s that many, and not just the young (!), will simply not bother to obey. In WA part of the problem is that police presence is very poor except perhaps at night where they are after the true crazies. Long weekends and of course prangs, also get the cops away from the station. A while ago in my area, an 80 km/hr stretch was reduced to 70. It annoyed most, even me because it’s a reasonable distance of open road. Most drivers can’t hack that and many do 80, sometimes more, anyway. That’s what will probably happen down south. I try to be good but the reaction of those who think they are above the law is ‘Bugger that. And stay out of my way!’
Ironically many unsealed roads that wind through the countryside are also signposted at 110 and a sealed highway is 90. Go figure?
No. They too slow already, except down mountain passes where they are ridiculously fast ! Who governs this?
Hopefully it helps saves lives.
However, people, mainly men of ALL ages, can’t keep to the posted walking speed speed limit in caravan parks, so what chance have we got
The only way to stop accidents is to stop traffic. Won’t happen. Slow speeds lead to fatigue and frustration, adding a dangerous mix to the other hazards out there. Throw in a dawdled and people are forced to overtake, in sometimes not optimum conditions. Speed limits can be dangerous.