Transport Minister Simeon Brown raises road incident risks

Sent today regarding changes to reverse community consulted speed limit reductions:

From: Robin Capper
Sent: Tuesday, 1 October 2024 7:08 AM
To: Simeon Brown <[email protected]>
Subject: Regarding speed limits and safety

Dear Minister,

I live in West Auckland and mostly commute to the CBD, if drive at all, or adjacent suburbs. My average speed over 401.4km (tank brim/brim) driving Auckland suburban/motorway/CBD (West, City, North Shore, Panmure) in a mix of on and off-peak traffic? 34km/h... (1).

I'm sure bumping that average up to maybe 36-39km/h, raised limit - traffic/intersection time lost, will be transformative. 

You demand Local Authorities provide evidence to retain their current lowered limits, citing 'it doesn't make sense to slow the tradie heading to work at 5 o'clock in the morning, to have to crawl around at 30 kilometres per hour.' (2)

Beyond anecdotal 'reckons', the hallmark of this coalition, what was your evidence for the removal of blanket limits?

Do you accept personal responsibility for the excess deaths that transport experts say will result? (3)

Does this mean as a cyclist I can look forward to ignoring red lights that don't detect me, rolling stop signs (that are only needed because of the limited visibility that motor vehicles have at intersections), and left turns on red? All of those are evidence-based ways to increase my 'productivity', with no decrease in safety, which I look forward to you implementing. (4-8)

Yours Sincerely,

Robin Capper

1. https://flic.kr/p/2qj38Ks & https://flic.kr/p/2qiXwRo 
2. Government signs off on new speed limit rules reversing blanket speed limit reductions | RNZ News
3. Why the case for higher speed limits is fatally flawed | RNZ News & Experts oppose speed limits increase | RNZ News
4. Why cyclists should be able to roll through stop signs and ride through red lights | Vox
5. Minnesota just made it legal for cyclists to go through stop signs without stopping - Bring Me The News
6. All about the Colorado Safety Stop — Colorado Department of Transportation (codot.gov)
7. Washington State’s new bicycle “Safety Stop” law allows people biking to treat stops signs as yield signs with some exceptions. - SDOT Blog (seattle.gov)
8. Montreal proposes allowing cyclists to treat stop signs as yields, turn right at red lights - Canadian Cycling Magazine