Rural speed limit overhaul sparks backlash as farmers and operators push back

Australian Community Media

Road safety experts have urged Australia to rethink high rural speed limits as part of a national safety plan, but regional transport groups have criticised the proposal citing concerns about longer travel times, road repair and heat stress for livestock. The Land's Eliza Spencer explains.

Transcript

00:00I'm just outside the small town of Lagan in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands and I'm about

00:05to hit an unsealed road. Now the state speed limit for roads like these is 100 kilometers an hour.

00:11You drive to the conditions so sometimes that means I'm hitting 60 to 70 k's to dodge some

00:16potholes but in a new review presented to the federal government roads like these could be

00:21limited to 80 kilometers an hour. It's a move that road safety experts say will save lives

00:27particularly in isolated country towns but by shaving off 20 kilometers an hour local residents

00:33are concerned that this may become an excuse to not maintain these roads a band-aid solution that

00:38won't address the key issues that can lead to deaths on our country roads. When you're navigating washed

00:44out turns and shoulders that have eroded and potholes that are big enough to take out a tire or throw

00:50someone off a motorcycle there are huge concerns at play for safety. When you can't call 000 because

00:56there's no reception or when there's one ambulance in town that may be on another job during a time of

01:00an accident residents have spoken to us at the land about how taking off 20 kilometers an hour and

01:06adding on a few extra minutes to a commute every day will not make a difference in rural communities

01:12but instead could actually exacerbate issues that we've already seen across underfunded and severely

01:17damaged country roads.

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