The Government is considering raising the speed limit on the best roads to 110 kilometres an hour.
Work is being done on raising the limit by 10 km/h, from the present 100 km/h, for high quality roads such as the forthcoming Transmission Gully highway.
The Minister of Transport Simon Bridges said any decision would have safety as its top priority but he would be open to changing the rules if this could be proven.
He said he did not know the answer to the question of safety and analysis is continuing but thought the real question was safety for the oldest cars in the fleet if a 110 km/h limit was introduced.
The proposal is understood to apply to motorways with a median barrier and plenty of space on each side of the road.