30429 (2023). Hon Julie Anne Genter to the Minister of Transport

30429 (2023). Hon Julie Anne Genter to the Minister of Transport: What is the risk to children, elderly or other vulnerable road users when struck by a motor vehicle travelling at each of the following speeds: 30kph, 40kh, 50kph, 60kph, 70kph? Please display as a graph in addition to reporting the risk levels.

Hon Simeon Brown: I am advised that the International Transport Forum (ITF) states that safe impact speeds and fatality risk curves typically “represent some form of population average over a sizeable number of cases but there is considerable variability in outcomes, and hence risk, among individuals due to uncontrollable factors such as the type and size of the vehicle, the age and health status of the road user, the point of impact, etc. … Because of this variability in the incidence and circumstances of real-world crashes, a conservative position should be adopted concerning risk to account for a broad range of population, vehicles and conditions."" While I have instructed transport officials to commence work on changes to the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits to stop blanket speed limit reductions, I have asked them to ensure changes to limits are measured, reasonable, evidence-informed, and developed in genuine consultation with communities. It is important that economic factors, including travel times, and community views are taken into account by road controlling authorities in setting speed limits.