Road safety measures confirmed

Local Government Minister Paula Bennett and Transport Minister Simon Bridges are clarifying the power that local councils and other road controlling authorities (RCAs) have to set speed limits through their bylaws.

The Land Transport (Speed Limits Validation and Other Matters) Bill will be introduced and passed through all stages today, retrospectively confirming that local councils and RCAs, such as the NZ Transport Agency, have the legal power to set speed limits.

“After it was brought to officials’ attention that some councils failed to renew their speed limit bylaws, the Government was made aware of a potential problem with some speed limits set from 2004 onwards,” Mrs Bennett says.

The potential issue was initially raised by the Kapiti Coast District Council, which was concerned its speed limit bylaw may have expired and other councils may well have been in the same situation, but this is now resolved by the passing of this Bill.

She says confusion amongst some councils - and other RCAs - about the legislative framework arose after changes were made to local government legislation in July 2002 and June 2006, as well as transport legislation in April 2004.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this retrospective legislation validates the speed limits set by councils and other RCAs since 2004,” Mrs Bennett says.

The Bill also confirms that all enforcement actions taken under those bylaws are valid.

“While it’s not known exactly how many drivers or infringement notices may be affected, this is a moot point given that the notices – which were issued in good faith for speeding offences at the time – are now confirmed as being valid,” Mr Bridges says.

“My priority is to ensure public safety through the maintenance and enforcement of speed limits. For that reason, the Government has moved swiftly to eliminate confusion, protect the public and fix the potential problem.”

“No matter what causes a crash, speed directly affects the force of impact and sometimes, whether there is an impact at all. In 2014, speeding was a contributing factor in 78 fatal crashes, 357 serious injury crashes and 995 minor injury crashes. These crashes resulted in 84 deaths, 455 serious injuries and 1,468 minor injuries,” Mr Bridges says.