Speed limit cut for many SA roads

Updated

The speed limit is to be reduced to a maximum of 100 for many roads within a 100-kilometre radius of Adelaide and on Yorke Peninsula.

The limit will still be 110 kilometres per hour on major arterial roads heading out of Adelaide.

South Australian Road Safety Minister Jennifer Rankine says the change can help reduce fatalities on country roads.

"Last year, 64 per cent of all fatalities occurred in the regions, a trend that has continued throughout 2011 with 51 people already dying on rural roads this year," she said.

"In the past five years, almost one fifth of all fatal and serious injury crashes in South Australia occurred within a 100-kilometre radius outside of metropolitan Adelaide."

Ms Rankine says many roads will still have a 110 kph limit.

"The new speed limit changes will not apply to national highways or freeways such as the Northern Expressway, Port Wakefield Road, South Eastern Freeway and Sturt Highway," she said.

She says changes to signage will be swift.

"Starting this month, changed speed limit signs will be progressively rolled out, with 723 kilometres of state roads having the new 100 kph limits in place in time for the Christmas-New Year holiday period," she said.

Education phase

Assistant Police Commissioner Tony Harrison is backing the change.

"It will be up to the discretion of individual officers to take action during that education phase (of three months)," he said.

South Australian Farmers Federation president Peter White says he is not convinced the reduction will save lives but says it will raise revenue through speeding fines.

"It doesn't matter what the speed limit is, whether it's a 110 or 100, you have to actually get people to drive at that," he said.

"[For] those who choose not to, it doesn't really make any difference to them whether it's 100 or 110, they're still going to exceed that speed limit.

"It's driver attitude that is the real difference."

Mr White thinks the reduction is unproven as a road safety measure.

"I guess if it can be shown that it actually does reduce the road toll I guess it's a good idea, but I think we're a long way from actually proving that at this stage," he said.

Opposition frontbencher Mark Goldsworthy says better roads would reduce accident rates.

"Instead of lowering speed limits, Labor should be addressing the state’s $200 million road maintenance backlog," he said.

The motoring organisation RAA is backing the lower speed limits.

But it agrees with the Opposition on the need for better road maintenance.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Speed limits to be cut (7pm TV News SA)

Topics: road, accidents, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, safety, rural, sa, adelaide-5000, mount-gambier-5290, port-augusta-5700, port-lincoln-5606, port-pirie-5540, renmark-5341, port-wakefield-5550

First posted