Speed Limits on Country Roads - Question Time - Wednesday 30 November 2011

SPEED LIMITS




The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:40): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure questions relating to the proposed reduced speed limits on some of our rural roads.



Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Members would no doubt be aware that the government has recently announced that it will be seeking to reduce the speed limit from 110km/h to 100km/h on 45 roads within 100 kilometres of Adelaide and on Yorke Peninsula. Many of these roads and, in particular, the Copper Coast Highway, are vital not only to the tourism industry but also to our industrial and agricultural industries.



According to the minister, the reason for the speed change is that 'reducing average travel speed is the most effective way to reduce trauma and produce significant and immediate road safety benefits'. I do not quibble with that assertion from the minister, but I bring the minister's attention to the latest research by the Centre for Automotive Safety, which shows that serious injuries and fatalities can be reduced by up to 50 per cent through safer roads and improving infrastructure, such as sealing the shoulder of roads, which can reduce crashes by up to 40 per cent; and by adding rumble strips, which has been identified as one of the most effective road improvement tools, with the potential to reduce fatal crashes by somewhere between 20 and 45 per cent, according to the KiwiRAP report of 2008.



It is argued that changing the speed limit without changing these environmental factors is doing only part of the job. My questions are:



1.Is the government aware of how many accidents are caused on rural roads as a result of the poor quality of those particular roads?



2.What is the government intending to do in these particular areas on the roads where the speed limit will be reduced in order to fix those roads so that they can also help reduce the road toll?



The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (14:42): I thank the honourable member for his questions, and I thank him for his interest in the government's efforts in relation to reducing the road toll and serious injuries and fatalities on our roads.



I am advised by the Minister for Road Safety that the Commissioner for Highways has recently approved the reduction of the speed limit from 110km/h to 100km/h on 45 sections of roads within approximately 100 kilometres of Adelaide and Yorke Peninsula. I am advised that, by reducing the speed limit on these roads, we could save 12 casualty crashes per year. Importantly, these changes will be in place before the busy Christmas holiday period.

The Weatherill government is taking immediate action to achieve the community's target to reduce the road toll by at least 30 per cent by the end of the decade. This is outlined in the new road safety strategy Towards Zero Together and features prominently as part of the State Strategic Plan. I am also advised that, over the past five years, more than $110 million has been invested in arterial roads. In addition, around $371 million has been spent on road maintenance over the same period in rural South Australia, using a combination of state and federal funding.



Road safety infrastructure improvements are an integral part of our road safety strategy but must, of course, be complemented with other measures. Reducing average travel speed is the most effective way in which to reduce trauma and produce significant and immediate road safety benefits.



I understand that there has been some criticism in relation to these changes and that claims have been made that it is not necessary and that casualties can be avoided through greater investment in road infrastructure. I am advised that, over the past five years, $17 million has been invested into the 45 roads through road safety improvements, such as the installation of safety barriers and shoulder sealing.



Regardless of a lower speed limit, the government will continue to invest in these roads through the Rural Road Safety Program, the Shoulder Sealing Program, the Responsive Road Safety Program and the State Black Spot Program. The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure will be moving swiftly to change signs on the roads under its care and control by Christmas. We are confident that this measure will reduce the unacceptable burden that road trauma imposes on the South Australian community.



In 2003 the speed limit on about 1,100 kilometres of rural arterial roads was reduced to 100 km/h. Research by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research shows that this reduced casualty crashes on those roads by up to 20 per cent. The roads included in this announcement are undivided rural roads. The Northern Expressway, the Port Wakefield Road, the South-Eastern Freeway and the Sturt Highway are divided roads with controlled access and will retain their higher speed limits.



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