Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
A coalition of leading academics, health professionals and road safety experts from New Zealand have issued an open letter to the Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, urging them to reconsider plans to increase speed limits.
The letter is co-authored by Dave Cliff, chief executive of the Global Road Safety Partnership, and Professor Simon Kingham of the University of Canterbury, who is the former chief science advisor to the Ministry of Transport.
Kingham told Midday Report the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown has been consulting on speed limits as he wants to raise the previously lowered speed limits around the country, but most experts and academics and researchers in the road safety community told him it was a really bad idea.
Experts oppose speed limits increase
"He seems to not be listening to that," he said.
"So this is kind of a last attempt to say, look, we need to do something about this. We can't raise speed limits because we will see people die and a load of other disbenefits. This is, I guess, a last attempt to try and hopefully change his mind."
Kingham said there was overwhelming evidence vehicles travelling at higher speeds cause more people to die on the roads.
He added the benefits of increasing speed limits were very, very marginal.
"So the argued benefits are that you save people time, it's good for productivity, but actually there's virtually no evidence to suggest that."
They also lead to increased NOx emissions, Kingham said. And 2000 people a year die from nitrogen dioxide pollution from vehicles.
"There's very little benefit, a huge disbenefit."