Media Release 1/8/08
13O Limit - Road Toll UP 58%
The NT Labor Government massaged road safety report findings to justify the application of the open road speed limit, according to unrestricted speed proponents www.KeepNTLimitFree.org
Spokesperson Robert Atkinson said, “the report contained no evidence that driving at more than 110kmh or 130kmh has been the cause of any accidents on Territory highways and the Territory has the lowest speed related fatalities in Australia of 17% compared to 40% in NSW. In fact only two people died on sealed roads between 2000-2005 with speed cited as the sole cause.”
“The speed limit at 130kmh after one and a half years has boosted the road toll to 39 compared to 26 at the same time last year, and 57 in 2007 the highest this decade compared to 44 in 2006 before limits were introduced. Now there are moves to enforce a 100kmh limit, further compounding the problem,"
“Fatigue, not speed, is the leading cause of car crashes proven by Mercedes Benz and backed by The American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.”
“The average Territorian covers more kilometres per annum than any other road user in Australia which is not surprising given the NT is the third largest state/territory yet has the smallest population.”
“Speed restrictions just keep Territorians driving into the night when they are most likely to succumb to micro sleeps or collide with animals.”
“It takes twice as long now to pass road trains. Often there are 20 cars banked up at a time it’s just so dangerous.”
November 2004 ALP Transport Minister Chris Burns said, “Speed is not a dominant factor in the Territory's road toll. Rather, it is a combination of alcohol and a failure to wear passenger restraints that is the root cause of most fatalities on Territory roads. Even ALP Chief Minister Clare Martin was seen to support open-speed highways as late at 6/10/04.”
“It suits the Labor Government now to use speed to apportion blame in accidents because they raise so much money from speeding fines,” Mr Atkinson said. “They also know people will fall into the penalty trap of speeding to cover large distances quickly. In 2007 they received an extra $1 million in traffic infringement revenues,"
“Safety, not tax, should be our primary concern. Our police are now diverted from priority areas to police large expanses of open roads in the pursuit of raising revenue.”
"The Labor Government needs to repeal its speed limit legislation immediately and develop better driver education policies if the road toll is to be significantly reduced.”
I travel the Stuart Highway between Mataranka and Darwin and other roads in the NT almost every day.
I am shocked by the behaviour of many drivers. Most are the ones that seem to travel at outragesly fast speeds, in cars simply not designed to travel at excessive speeds. I thank the god's that smile upon me everytime I get home safely.
The majority of cars travelling the Stuart H/W travel at or well under the 130 limit, simply cos' thye realise that it just ain't safe. It's the impatient one's that think 150-160km/h plus is OK. They are the one that cross double white lanes, overtake on bends, tailgate slower vehicles and generally drive without any respect for any other road users. Wake up to yourselves NT drivers. Were lucky we have 130 limit and not 110, like WA which is just as remote as us.
And before you all start. I am NT born and bread, not a southern w**nker.....
OK MPSOL
If this is the case there should be a higher percentage of speed related accidents on the Stuart highway. Can you explain why this is not so.
I only know what I see and experience every day on the roads and Highways of this great NT.
Maybe because I'm not travelling at 160km/h plus, I have time to see the danger ahead and react in time to avoid disaster. Luck plays a huge part too.
This is a complex issue and has lot's of related factors, speed limits is not the only part in this. Road maintanence (or lack of), drink driving, traffic volume etc.. all play a part.
No one can convince me that a Hyudai Getz, rented from Avis or whoever, hurtelling down the road at 155km/h is a safe thing for anybody.
At 130km/h a vehicle travels at 36.14 meters per second
at 150km it's 41.7 m/s 160 it's 44.48 m/s
MPSOL, are you sure you're not one of those brainwashed, brain dead people from Victoria?
The facts are these mate, and I know because I do the research for KeepNTLimitFree.
Fact: The NT has the lowest incidence of speed related fatalities of any state or territory in Australia at 17%. NSW is the worst at 40%, WA at 34% and Vic at 30%. Q: If speed cameras save lives then why do these three states have much higher incidences of speed related fatalities.
Fact: Between 2000-2005, the reported period in the NT Governments Taskforce Report on road safety, only 2 people were killed on NT sealed highways with speed as the sole factor. Q: If people are so irresponsible as you say then why aren't more people dying on the Stuart Highway.
There is nothing wrong with driving a car at 160kmh, 200kmh or even 250kmh so long as the driver knows what they are doing. It is not irresponsible to drive fast. The fact is that Labor state governments around this country have brainwashed people into believing that speed kills. If driving at such speeds is so dangerous as you make out, then why do we let people buy cars that go that fast?
For the record, the 100 and 110 kmh speed limits were set in 1974. A modern car has tyres that have much better sidewalls and levels of grip than in 1974, they have much better suspension, they have a myriad of safety measures like airbags, electronic stability control and anti skid brakes, yet, we are stuck with these ridiculous speed limits set 34 years ago. I have driven the route between Sydney and Newcastle on many occasions and in a modern car, which also has soundproofing, it is boring. On many parts of this route you have three lanes and plenty of space and we're made to do 100 or 110 if we're lucky. It is so slow and boring I could read a book while I was doing it, not that I actually did that, but I could, I am just trying to reinforce how dull it is.
The fact of the matter is that most fatalities and injuries on the road occur in urban areas, not the highways, and this makes perfect sense. If you speed, drink drive or not wear a seat belt in an urban area you have a much better chance of hitting something.
Europeans are not anywhere as controlling when it comes to speed limits on their highways because they give the driver a bit of credit. Did you see the Tour de France this year? Notice how during the mountain stages there were hardly any crash barriers beside the road? If it was Australia there would be barriers the whole length of the mountains, but the French and other European nations instill some trust in their drivers.
The fact is this, and you cannot argue against it. Since the introduction of a raft of new road laws, which included introducing demerits, and increasing fines on every type of road infringement, the road toll has gone up. These measures to save lives were introduced on the 1st of January 2007.
In 2007 the road toll was the worst this decade at 57 and 30% higher than 2006. So far in 2008, the road toll is 65% higher than the same time last year at 43. A link to the police website is provided below:
http://www.nt.gov.au/pfes/PFES/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=148
When the NT government introduced all these measures they did not do anything revolutionary or clever, they just wacked a speed limit on the highways which will not solve anything, introduced demerits and increased fines.
Why not a bit of thought? For example, did you know that demerits were introduced in 1968-1969 in all states, then the ACT in 1993? Really, what chance does a modern driver have with 12 points given that:
1. They have a much better chance of getting caught now than then, what with fixed speed and red light cameras everywhere; and
2. The list of demerit point offences is as long as your arm whereas back in the late 60's the list was quite short. It is totally ridiculous. Some of the demerit offences are not even dangerous!;
3. Double demerits at holiday time. The situation is so bad now that many people simply refuse to go on holidays for fear of losing their licence and who can blame them. Has anybody ever thought that the number of people that get killed on the highways at holiday time sort of makes sense? Think about it. How many people use the highways during non holiday periods. Bugger all I suppose. How many people use the highways at holiday time? Much more, exactly how many I don't know, let's say a factor of 10. Well, if the number of people killed on the highways at holiday time went up by a factor of 10 then this should be expected.
But the idiotic Labor governments don't think of this. They think that people are being irresponsible at holiday time. No they're not, there's just much more of them on the highways, that's all.
So, the whole issue of double demerits is a non sense!
The NT Government could have introduced a system whereby drivers get 20 points for 12 months, and professional drivers get 100 points for 12 months.
But if you want my opinion, I really don't know why they have demerits at all. Given that all these governments thrive on drivers as their sacred cash cow it doesn't make any sense to me to get people off the road. If we applied the thinking of your average, scumbag politician, they should be thinking,"hang on, if people get their licences taken off them we miss the opportunity to catch them for other offences. Let's not have a demerit system and fine the living hell out of them!".
Anyway, I digress. The only benefit from the new road safety measures has not been a reduction in the road toll, but an extra $1M in traffic infringements.
Their policies are a complete failure and they have blood on their hands. I just hope that somebody has the guts at some point of time to sue the NT Government for the death of their loved one on NT roads by laying the blame at them.
I leave you with this Mr MPSOL. If a state goverment somewhere introduced some new laws that allowed people to smoke when and where they want without persecution, what do you think would happen? People would be up in arms because the laws would lead to more deaths.
Well, in the NT, the government has introduced a new set of road rules and more people are dying on the roads as a result. Therefore, don't you think people should be up in arms about it? You cannot introduce laws that lead to more people dying.
Sorry Mr MPSOL
Road traffic patrol is the reason why there are no problems on the Stuart hwy. Evertime I head sth out of Darwin I come across at least one patrol car every 10k.
I was such a fool, please accept my apology.
Mr Geko.
Statistics can be manipulated to show what ever point of view the person is trying to convey, or political point they are tying to score. CLP/Labour/Democrats/Republicans/Communist. They are all full of crap if you ask me.
My comments were merly based on my own experience of 25 years of driving on NT roads and highways almost every day with literally hundreds of trips up and down the track between Darwin and Katherine.
To race on a race track, you must qualify for a CAMS licence, yet in the NT, prior to the loss of open speed limits, you could go to the MVR, do a licence test in your chosen foreign language, pass a short driving test and 'bingo', you got a licence to drive as fast as you want down the Stuart Highway regardless of your skill, experience or type of vehicle.
All the enforcment, fines & demerit points in the world will never replace common sense. Will demerit points make any diference, time will tell ? Personally I think not. On that point we agree.
I take no offence on being called a Mexican, I'm territorian through and through....
Drive safe and live long
You must be a Labor apparatchik, even though you say all parties are crap, because it is impossible to defend the indefensible, and that is, that the new road laws in the NT are a complete failure.
With regard to your insinuation that I manipulated the statistics I take offence. I used the goverments very own Taskforce Report and a bunch of statistics from the Australin Transport and Safety Bureau ("ATSB").
The stats do not lie, I have checked and double checked everything, and the irrefutable fact is that the NT has the lowest rate of speed related fatalities than any other state or territory in Australia at 17%.
Therefore, in answer to your accusation that Territorians are a bunch of speeding degenerates is totally without any basis. Futher, 62% of all speeding fatalities occurred in urban areas, not rural.
The real problems on NT roads are alcohol, non wearing of seat belts and fatigue. And FYI, the NT has the highest rate of both alcohol, and non wearing of seat belt fatalities than any other state or territory in Australia.
But, if you are the supposed Territorian you say you are you would already know this. Go back to your Labor lackies and tell them to get their act together.
Let's make a quick analogy about what NT Labor has done here. As I have spent so much time doing all this research I delved into a couple of other road issues and came across something interesting.
As you are aware, we now have 40KMH zones around schools to protect the kids and on face value it makes sense. The whole thing started in Sydney with a school on the North Shore by an idiot named Harold Scruby. I tried to find evidence that kids from this particular school were getting injured or killed and there wasn't any. It just so happens that Harold had been trying for years to make it hapen to make a name for himself despite there being absolutely no evidence that kids were being run down in great numbers.
I delved deeper and looked at the number of pedestrian deaths in the years prior to this new rule. Nothing, they had been flatlining for years, so no problem. I then looked at the number of pedestrian deaths in 60 kmh zones and again nothing, there was no trend at all indicating that pedestrians anywhere needed any special protection. Lastly, I looked at the number of children being run down and came up with nothing. In fact, the numbers were so low that you could not read anything into them - 1 death one year, 2 the next.
So basically, what has happened is that these 40KMH zones have been implemented because people believed they were necessary when in fact they were not necessary at all. They have tried to fix something that did not need fixing. The whole 40KMH fiasco was purely an exercise in building up the esteem of one very sad man named Harold Scruby who is an insignificant person. Harold is a meglamaniac.
Just as a matter of interest you know what happened once they implemented these 40KMH zones? The number of pedstrian deaths in 60KMH zones went dramatically down, the number of deaths in 40KMH zones went up as did the number of deaths in 50kmh zones. In fact, the number of pedestrian deaths in 50kmh zones went up 11,000 %.
Similarly, in the NT, the government has done a 'Harold Scruby' and tried to fix something that did not need fixing. There never was, and never has been, a problem on the previously unrestricted Stuart Highway.
http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nt/content/2006/s2363411.htm
Missed that one.
Brilliant television! (Quite please).