Road to Zero road safety campaign

[Kenj]

We folk here in Hawke's Bay have suffered having the speed limit on Highway 5 Napier to Taupo section, officially reduced to 80KPH. Reason being, to many accidents, so cutting the speed limit will solve the problem. People say how terrible the road is to drive on. I first drove it in 1960 in a side valve Morris Minor. I must say it was not the best of roads then. The Napier/Taupo road was reconstructed from the early 60's onwards and from memory the M.O.W. said it was designed for an 80K average speed. It has deteriorated somewhat but that's the way with roads. The last time we went to Taupo it didn't seem too bad. Definitely not justifying the speed reduction.

However, it seems to me that very few people stick to the 80K limit and there seemed to be some crazy bar stewards the time we used it. No problem, even SWMBO who drives now got up around 100K when coming up to one of the steep climbs. Then one gets passed by someone going at 120K.

Ken