Open speed limits may be re-introduced in the Northern Territory if the Country Liberals win the election there next year.
Opposition transport spokesman Adam Giles has declared that a CLP government would scrap the 130 km/h restrictions as a road safety review had shown speed was not the cause of most accidents.
Indeed, Mr Giles said while 44 people died on Territory roads in 2006, some 57 were killed the following year after the 130km/h speed limit was introduced on the Stuart, Arnhem, Barkly and Victoria highways.
“Speed was never isolated as the sole cause of the majority of accidents,” he told the NT News.
The Country Liberals now says that within the first
100 days of it forming a government it would review the state of the Territory’s major arterial routes and identify safe locations for open speed limits to be reintroduced. It says it would work to repair roads deemed unsafe before introducing open speed limits on them.
Of course, faster traffic on roads such as the Stuart Highway will affect driving conditions and driving safety for all road users, and that includes most grey nomads who will not be inclined to test the upper limits of their rig’s speed.
Open speed limits in the Northern Territory were removed in 2007 by the Labor Government after undertaking a road safety review. That review found that tourists, young drivers and indigenous Territorians were over represented in the Territory’s road toll. It also identified drink driving and not wearing seat belts as the two main contributing factors.
“Driver education and training must be implemented for young motorists, indigenous drivers and tourists unfamiliar with our environment,” said Mr Giles. “Drink driving and seat belt laws must be enforced and this will help bring down the number of accidents and reduce the Territory’s road toll.”
