Speed kills. It’s the message that we’ve had driven home for decades by law enforcement and the government. But it’s time to have a serious discussion about speed limits in Australia without the hysterics and put some cold, hard facts into the debate.
As a motoring enthusiast, I love to go fast, but there’s a number of problems:
a faster speed limit will not result in more cars per minute on a given road. As speeds increase, cars have to be more spread out.
by no means are Australian roads are in a condition for ultra high speed limits. Our way of fixing pot holes is very touch and go. We have bumbs and undulations. On the Autobahn, they replace the entire tarmac, not just fill in a hole.
a lot of our car fleet is not safe or designed to go 130kmh. A lot of older 4wds with big tyres, these were never designed to go fast. They have tiny brakes. In Germany a roadworthy is massive, and older cars are taken off the road.
a faster speed will result in more CO2 emissions. Cars (especially SUVs), get worse fuel mileage above 100kmh as wind drag becomes a greater burden. EVs get exponentially worse range at high speeds.
a lot of our car fleet tows caravans. That are not designed for that speeds.
in NSW were their L platers can’t go faster than 90, this will be a massive speed differential.
we have unique hazards such as wildlife and unlit highways that makes fast driving extremely dangerous.
faster driving leads to more lethal crashes, especially in poor weather.