NT to get Speed limits, demerit points and cameras

Well if you didn't come to Alice Springs for the Exotics in the Outback I am betting that next October you will be greeted with the 110 signs.

This is going to State Government this session and the writing is on the wall. A really sad sad day for everyone that enjoys driving fast.

If you came last year you experienced something that was very very special.

At least I can say is my Murcie ran the way the it was designed to run for two years and I enjoyed every time.

 

Road safety drive to set limits on Territorians
Email Print Normal font Large font Fast track: unrestricted speed, slack road laws and a culture of speeding and drinking have made the NT the riskiest place for road deaths in the developed world.

WHERE can you speed past a police car as fast as you like? Where can you run a red light and get away with it? Where can you drink and drive and still keep your licence even though you repeatedly get caught exceeding .05?

Where else but the Northern Territory, one of the few places in the world where there is no speed limit on open roads.

Most drivers you speak to in pubs here will tell you that having the slackest road laws in the country is part of the uniqueness of living at the edge of the vast outback.

But they are in for a shock. A study released yesterday shows Territorians are at greater risk of being killed in a road crash than people in the rest of the developed world. Per capita, there are three times the number of road deaths in the NT than in the rest of Australia.

Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin, who admits she likes to drive at up to 130 km/h, says her Government will not back away from recommendations that include imposing a 110 km/h speed limit.

"We have a shocking and appalling record," Ms Martin said. "We do need to change the rules and we need to change the culture."

Territory drivers have mounted a campaign to protect what they claim is their right to travel at whatever speed they like on open roads.

They are also protesting at the almost certain introduction of a demerit point system similar to those in place elsewhere.

Their publicity unit (www. no-speedlimit.com) says taking away unique driving will bring down the Government.

But a NT Road Safety Taskforce, set up eight months ago, has given the Government overwhelming evidence to back 21 recommendations to overhaul NT traffic laws.

Its report reveals that one person is killed and nine seriously hurt on the roads every week, costing the NT $210 million a year. It also reveals that:

■ 48 per cent of NT fatal crashes are alcohol-related.

■ One driver in every 42 tested in the NT is over .05, compared with one in 314 in Victoria.

■ 28 per cent of all drink-drivers are repeat offenders. (Drivers caught with readings between .05 and .08 receive only a $100 infringement notice and keep their licences no matter how many times they are caught.)

■ The NT has Australia's highest use of cannabis, amphetamines and opiates but police have no powers to test drivers for drugs.

■ Road deaths fell by 37 per cent on a highway where a 110 km/h limit was imposed in 2001. Serious injuries fell 44 per cent.

■ The NT has the lowest traffic fines in the country.

■ Half those killed in NT crashes were not wearing seat belts.

■ Most NT crashes are single-vehicle accidents, with fatigue a factor in up to 30 per cent of fatal crashes.

■ In 2005, 4332 drivers were caught more than once for speeding. The worst offender received 24 fines in one year.

Ms Martin said she felt sick when she saw statistics showing that drivers in Darwin were chronic runners of red lights.

At 11 intersections in the city, 2613 drivers ran red lights in 24 hours, despite the presence of metal boxes for cameras. Tropical heat and bugs such as cockroaches made cameras unworkable.

WORLD LIMITS

■ AUSTRALIA States have a speed limit of 110 km/h. The ACT has a 100 km/h limit. The NT has no top limit.
■ GERMANY No national speed limit on autobahns; advisory speed limit of 130 km/h.

■ ITALY 130 km/h; 150 km/h limits on newer autostradas.

■ JAPAN 100 km/h limit on national highways.

■ NZ Open road limit 100 km/h.

■ US 105-130 km/h on rural interstate highways.

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

 

No Speed Limits for NT Highways



Bureaucrats imported from draconian southern states are trying to destroy the Northern Territory’s unique lifestyle and heritage.

They come to Darwin for a few miserable years with no intention of staying or making innovative and intelligent decisions.

Their aim is to implement the laws that have already been imposed on states that have no relationship or understanding of our truly unique part of Australia.

Here are some facts that they should discuss with permanent NT residents:-

The scariest place to drive in the NT is anywhere between Darwin and Palmerston. Strange that it already has speed limits.

During the last few years under the current Police Commissioners rule we have seen a big increase in deaths of Territorians on roads that already have speed limits. This is particularly evident in Darwin.

NT residents who regularly drive from Darwin to Alice at anything under 120km/h complain that they get drowsy and are less alert than at the 140km/h speed that they travel at.

Do the statistics stating that the NT has the worst record in Australia include the 900,000 visitors/travellers that we get each year? Does our low per capita base treat the NT unfairly?

A high proportion of accidents/ deaths on our roads are attributed to inexperienced tourists driving rental vehicles. Speed limits wont save them but speed limiters fitted to all rental cars probably will.

Demerit points wont apply to international visitors who are major contributors to our road toll.

NT has the highest incidence of unlicensed drivers in the world. There will be more with the introduction of demerit points.

The Lasseter Highway should have the 110km/h limit lifted back to unlimited. The restriction has not reduced the number of serious accidents on this road and policing it is actually a financial burden on the government.

Indigenous Territorians also record high levels deaths on our roads. Unroadworthy vehicles, insufficient driver training, poor license testing and alcohol are the main contributing factors. So how would demerit points or speed limits reduce the incidence?

Penalties and punishment for driving under the influence of alcohol in the NT are a joke. We continually have the nations highest blood/alcohol readings and the most repeat offenders on earth. The government wants to confiscate the cars of hoons but drunks will get to keep their keys.

The voting intentions of the attendees of the V8 Supercars at Hidden Valley would be enough to bring down the Clare Martin Government.

Nearly all the global car manufacturers come to the Northern Territory every year to test prototype vehicles purely because there are no speed limits. Companies such as Porsche, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Mercedes Honda, Range Rover, Hyundai, Sang Yong, Proton and a huge contingent of burgeoning Chinese car manufacturers have been and injected a lot of cash into the NT economy in recent years. The logistics involved to bring cars and teams of engineers from the other side of the planet is huge. These companies have budgets in the millions of dollars to undertake this type of work. Their drivers are all professional and often test at speeds greater than 200km/h. There has never been a fatal accident in the 25 years that they have been coming to the NT. Speed limits on our highways would wipe this industry out in one hit.

 

LP640 was put on hold as I bought Adelaide Hills Property.

I agree with Mark as I said for a long time the NT was a place where you could live without the stress of do gooders. Unfortunately they now have just decided to turn us into a another Vic.

 

Let hope it is not another Victoria!!