In the Herald Sun the other day there were suggestions the speed limit in some streets could be lowered to 30kmh, down from 50kmh. The reason they gave it that it would reduce the number of accidents. The reason given for the accidents? The fact that people don't bother waiting for a safe time to cross. The fact that people walk against the red man and the fact they jaywalk. Gotta protect stupid people from the big bad cars!! What do you think? Should the speed limit stay the same, be lowered, or should it go back to 60kmh? Personally, I prefer it at 60kmh. If I had to go 30kmh, I think my car would stall.
I think the biggest problem is people who run across the road without bothering to go up to the lights and wait.
why would we want to save people like that? If they choose to be dumbass's then they should be removed from the gene pool.
Should increase it instead. Population control right there..lol dumbass's die smart people live..what more could we ask for?
I'm not too fussed about low limits in areas that are populated by stupid pedestrians , but here in Qld the limit changes for no good reason about every fifty metres. 50, 70, 80, no wait 70 for a bit, then 80, then 50, then.. ludicrous. Oh wait, the reason is ... to make revenue. And in so doing, make people watch their speedos so freakin' carefully their attention to the road is severely lessened. .. don't get me started.. PS, in case you think I'm a bitter-from-experience hoon, I haven't had a speeding fine for > twenty years. But I can recognise insane road laws when I see them. Speed don't kill, stupid does.
That's just too slow. 50 is fine. I'm on a 60 street and i wish it were 50. There's a lot of kids on this street and many people go 70. The extra 10k would be a big difference in their fine if caught (we have mobile cameras here occasionally).
Had to convert kph to mph to see what speeds you guys were talking about. 30kph is equivalent to 19mph. Way too slow, even for a residential area. 50kph is equivalent to 31mph, a good, safe speed for residential areas. 6j0kph is equivalent to 37mph, a bit fast if you consider their might be young children in the area. KPH MPH 30 19 50 31 60 37 80 50 100 62 120 75
There are a load of idiots out there (on foot and in vehicles) so speed limits and other road laws need to take account of them. The level of speed limits should be largely determined by the nature of the road. 30kph/20mph can be reasonable in narrow residential streets, around schools or other areas with lots of pedestrians. There needs to be a reasonable balance with traffic flow as well (though an stretch of road justifying such a low limit shouldn't really be part of a network with a lot of through traffic if at all possible). Incidentally, if anyone thinks they're incapable of driving consistently with any stated speed limit (within reason) without constantly staring at the speedo, they have no place driving a car in the first place.
It is possible to bicycle 30km/h on flat land. Who needs the car if speed limits are that low? The best thing about riding a bike is that road rules don't apply. Run through stop signs at will, drive on the pavement/sidewalk, go the wrong way on one-way streets. Blame car drivers when you eventually get hit. It's so much easier. Sarcasm aside, 30km/h speed limits are ridiculous. 50 seems to be a common urban speed limit in many of the countries I've been to. Unless the driving conditions are bad, the speed limit is fine the way it is.
Its so slow you could crawl quicker than that, lol! And it won't stop people from getting hit by cars. If they just stopped running into the roads without looking then that would prevent the accidents.
The speed limit around schools is usually 40kmh, even when the kids are still in school and won't be out for another hour. Some schools have a speed limit outside you have to follow even when its school holidays! I always have to check my speedo to make sure I am going the right speed. Not as often as I did when I first got my license, but I am still learning how to judge my speed without looking.
Exactly. Raise the residential street speed limit to 100 Kph* and be done with them. *That's 2.2439 millimeters per ounce for you non-metric Americans
It does depend on the road layout and surrounding area. There are places in UK cities with narrow roads and lots of parked cars where 20mph is perfectly justified. I quite like the idea of variable speed limits in circumstances like this though that involves some investment in technology and a level of acceptance by drivers (and there is a subset in the UK, fed by some in the media, who will present any proposal as an "attack on honest law-abiding drivers"). Obviously you check your speed intermittently, like you check your mirrors. I'm just challenging the frankly idiotic suggestion that people can only stay within lower speed limits by constantly staring at the speedo, to the point of not paying enough attention to the road ahead.
Too slow, we have enough changes in limits as it is. 40k's around schools. (*)(*)(*)(*) of out of our lives.
50 is slow enough. I have a 40 zone near me at its more dangerous!! You spend all your time looking at your speedo because you cannot go any slower without the car basically stopping. Someone even ran into a tree in that 40 zone last week. Highways need to be 120. Anything over that is starting to get a bit silly and whilst 140 is ok for straight highways its a bit risky for everyone to be doing.
You're either an incompetent driver or your car needs looking at. It is perfectly possible to drive within a 40kph speed limit without constantly staring at the speedo or the car stalling - people manage it all the time all over the world. If you're incapable of doing so, the problem is with you, not the speed limit.
A car with an automatic transmission should be able to travel at a speed of less than 5mph without stalling. Heck, one of my cars has a standard transmission and I can drive at 5mph without placing my foot on the clutch. Anyone who needs to go faster in order to keep the car from stalling is driving an unsafe car or is a horrid driver.
LOL go to the Gold Coast Pacific Mwy everyone goes 140kph anyway. Anything slower is dangerous. Or any other highway at 2am everyone goes 130. It's funny. Anyway, 30kph is slow. I would not even get out of second. How ridiculous. A snail on valium would get there faster. What needs to happen is for things to be consistent. Driving through arterials, especially in Sydney is beyond a joke. 70 then 50 then 40 then 60 then 70 then 50.... I think a lot of people choose 60 as their speed and slow for safety cameras. Brisbane is better. They may be an hour and 20 years behind up in Boganville but they have speed laws down pat, and far fewer speed cameras.
