General speed limits in New Zealand are set by the New Zealand government. The speed limit in each location is indicated on a nearby traffic sign or by the presence of street lighting. The limits have been posted in kilometres per hour (km/h) since 1974. Before then, when New Zealand used imperial units, maximum speeds were displayed in miles per hour (mph). Today, limits range from 10 km/h (6.2 mph) to 110 km/h (68 mph); in urban areas the default speed limit is 50 km/h (31 mph).
A 30 mile (48 kilometre) per hour speed limit was imposed in 1930. The limit was raised as vehicles became more powerful. [1] Emergency legislation during the Second World War had amended the general speed limit set by the 1936 Traffic Regulations to 40 mph in order to reduce tyre wear and improve road safety. [2] In 1948, the general speed limit was increased to 50 mph. [3] [4] The default speed limit was raised to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) in 1962. In 1969, some open road speed limits were increased to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h). [5]
On 4 December 1973, the default open road speed limit got dropped to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h); this was partly a fuel saving measure in response to the 1973 oil crisis. When New Zealand metricated in 1975, the 50 mph speed limit became 80 km/h while the urban 30 mph speed limit became 50 km/h. [6] Metric speed limits included the legend "km/h" to distinguish them from imperial speed limits; this was dropped from 1987 onwards.[ citation needed ] On 1 July 1985, the open road speed limit was raised to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) and this remains the default speed limit today. [6]
Enforcement of New Zealand road speed limits was traditionally done using police speed cameras set up and operated by the police. In 1993, mobile speed cameras were introduced. [1]
Significant changes were made to the rules for setting speed limits in 2003 and 2011, including provision for 40 km/h limits. However, it was then necessary to introduce the Land Transport (Speed Limits Validation) Bill in 2015 to confirm the legitimacy of the previous changes. [7] Another significant change in August 2017 introduced a provision for 110 km/h limits on some motorways and expressways. [8]
In July 2019, the Sixth Labour Government released its "Road to Zero" 2020-2030 road safety strategy, which aimed to reduce road deaths by 40% by 2030. The "Road to Zero" strategy proposed reducing 87% of current speed limits, installing more median barriers and roundabouts and raising minimum standards for both new and used vehicles. Road to Zero was modelled after the global Vision Zero movement to reduce road tolls. [9] The Road to Zero strategy was adopted in 2020. In February 2022, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and the New Zealand Police launched a public awareness campaign to promote Road to Zero. Waka Kotahi also announced a review of speed limits and that new speed limit rules would be implemented around schools. [10]
During the 2023 New Zealand general election, the National Party campaigned on reversing the Labour Government's "blanket" speed limit reductions. In March 2024, the Sixth National Government confirmed that it would be fulfilling its pre-election promise of reversing speed limit reductions. The National Government's proposed new rules have included raising 30km/h limits back to 50km/h, 80km/h limits back 100km/h and allowing maximum speed limits of 120km/h on some roads. All school zones would be required to have a variable speed limit of 30km/h during drop-off and pick up times instead of a constant 30km/h limit. Speed limit changes would require a cost benefit analysis that considers both safety and "economic impacts." [11] Several local councils, academics, health professionals and safety experts including the Horowhenua District Council, Timaru District Council, Kapiti Coast District Council, Global Road Safety Partnership CEO David Cliff and University of Canterbury Professor Simon Kingham expressed concern that reverseing speed limit reductions would lead to increased road fatalities, safety risks and pollution. [11] [12]
By default, the speed limit is 50 km/h in urban and built-up areas, and 100 km/h outside urban and built-up areas and on expressways and motorways. [13]
Other speed limits include: [14]
The default maximum speed limit on the open road in New Zealand is 100 km/h (62 mph). The Land Transport (Setting of Speed Limits) Rule 2017, which came into force on 24 August 2017, added a provision to set speed limits of 110 km/h (68 mph) on selected motorways and expressways. To be considered for a 110 km/h limit, the road must be a dual carriageway, with a median barrier, no at-grade intersections, and no corners rated for a speed below 110 km/h. Vehicles subject to a lower maximum speed, such as heavy trucks and towing vehicles, are still subject to that lower limit.[ citation needed ]
The first two roads with a 110 km/h speed limit were gazetted on 28 November 2017, with the speed limits coming into force on 11 December 2017. [18] These roads are:
Following the opening of the Hamilton section of the Waikato Expressway in July 2022, the 110 km/h limit on the expressway was extended northward to the Hampton Downs interchange. [19]
There are several different types of speed limit:
Advisory speeds are often given for road bends, corners, humps, dips and other short sections of road where driving at the speed limit may be uncomfortable or unsafe. These advisory speeds are indicated by a yellow sign with black lettering, [20] or a black sign with white lettering when part of old (white on black) curve markers, and the numbers typically end with 5 to distinguish them from speed limits which typically end with 0. They advise of a comfortable speed through a corner in dry weather for a light motor vehicle. [21] Heavy vehicle drivers are advised to keep 10 km/h below the advisory speed to avoid exceeding the static rollover threshold. [22]
Although there is no minimum posted speed limit, it is illegal to drive at an "unreasonably slow speed" which means slow drivers are required by law to pull over to the side of the road to allow queues of cars behind them to pass. [23] The police can and do enforce this law in which the offending driver is given anything from an NZ$150 infringement notice for "Inconsiderate Driving" to possibly an indictment for careless driving which is usually dealt with by the courts. [23]
Certain types and combinations of vehicles have operating speed limits that need to be obeyed if they are less than the posted speed limit. For example: Vehicles towing trailers or another vehicle with a rigid towing connection are limited to 90 km/h. If the towing connection is not rigid, such as a rope or strop, then the operating limit is 50 km/h, apart from disabled motorcycles.
New Zealand speed limit signs follow the European model of a number inside a red circle. Sometimes, the open road limit occurs as a black forward slash inside a thin black ring (similar to the UK's National Speed Limit sign).
Transport in New Zealand, with its mountainous topography and a relatively small population mostly located near its long coastline, has always faced many challenges. Before Europeans arrived, Māori either walked or used watercraft on rivers or along the coasts. Later on, European shipping and railways revolutionised the way of transporting goods and people, before being themselves overtaken by road and air, which are nowadays the dominant forms of transport. However, bulk freight still continues to be transported by coastal shipping and by rail transport, and there are attempts to (re)introduce public transport as a major transport mode in the larger population centres.
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed, expressed as kilometres per hour (km/h) or miles per hour (mph) or both. Speed limits are commonly set by the legislative bodies of national or provincial governments and enforced by national or regional police and judicial authorities. Speed limits may also be variable, or in some places nonexistent, such as on most of the Autobahnen in Germany.
A dual carriageway (BrE) or a divided highway (AmE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are designed to higher standards with controlled access are generally classed as motorways, freeways, etc., rather than dual carriageways.
A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, and partial controlled-access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway, including limited or no access to adjacent property, some degree of separation of opposing traffic flow, use of grade separated interchanges to some extent, prohibition of slow modes of transport, such as bicycles, horse-drawn vehicles or ridden horses, or self-propelled agricultural machines; and very few or no intersecting cross-streets or level crossings. The degree of isolation from local traffic allowed varies between countries and regions. The precise definition of these terms varies by jurisdiction.
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms include throughway or thruway and parkway. Some of these may be limited-access highways, although this term can also refer to a class of highways with somewhat less isolation from other traffic.
Road speed limits in Ireland apply on all public roads in the state. These are signposted and legislated for in kilometres per hour. Speed limits are demarcated by regulatory road signs. These consist of white circular signs with a red outline. Speed limits are marked in black with "km/h" below the speed limit. Smaller "repeater" speed limit signs are used along stretches of road where there is no change in speed limit, in order to remind motorists currently on the road and to inform traffic merging from junctions that a certain speed limit applies.
Speed limits in Australia range from 5 km/h (3.1 mph) shared zones to 130 km/h (81 mph). Speed limit signage is in km/h since metrication on 1 July 1974. All speed limits, with the sole exception of the South Australian school and roadworks zones, which are signposted at 25 km/h, are multiples of 10 km/h – the last digit in all speed signs is zero. Speed limits are set by state and territory legislation albeit with co-ordination and discussion between governments.
Had Laju Kebangsaan (National Speed Limits) is a set of speed limits applicable on Malaysian expressways, federal roads, state roads and municipal roads. The National Speed Limits was enforced on 1 February 1989 following the National Speed Limit Orders 1989 (Perintah Had Laju Kebangsaan 1989). Like any other countries in the world, failing to obey the speed limit on Malaysian roads and expressways is an offence as subject to Malaysian Road Safety Act 1987, which can be fined up to RM300, depending on the difference between the speed limit and the driven speed.
A speed limit is the limit of speed allowed by law for road vehicles, usually the maximum speed allowed. Occasionally, there is a minimum speed limit. Advisory speed limits also exist, which are recommended but not mandatory speeds. Speed limits are commonly set by the legislative bodies of national or local governments.
This article describes the highway systems available in selected countries.
Road speed limits in the United Kingdom are used to define the maximum legal speed for vehicles using public roads in the UK.
Speed limits in Germany are set by the federal government. All limits are multiples of 10 km/h. There are two default speed limits: 50 km/h (31 mph) inside built-up areas and 100 km/h (62 mph) outside built-up areas. While parts of the autobahns and many other freeway-style highways have posted limits up to 130 km/h (81 mph) based on accident experience, congestion and other factors, many rural sections have no general speed limit for some classes of vehicles. The Road Traffic Regulations (StVO) section on speed begins with the requirement which may be rendered in English:
Any person driving a vehicle may only drive so fast that the car is under control. Speeds must be adapted to the road, traffic, visibility and weather conditions as well as the personal skills and characteristics of the vehicle and load.
French roads have a variable maximum speed limit that depends on weather conditions. In dry weather, roads in urban areas have a default speed limit of 50 km/h, and outside urban areas have the following limits:
The default speed limits in the Netherlands are 50 km/h (31 mph) inside built-up areas, 80 km/h (50 mph) outside built-up areas, 100 km/h (62 mph) on expressways (autowegen), and, as of 16 March 2020, 100 km/h from 6:00 to 19:00 and 130 km/h from 19:00 to 6:00 on motorways (autosnelwegen).
Speed limits in Pakistan are similar to most European countries on newer roads with most highways at 120 km/h (75 mph), and somewhat higher in the western areas of the country. There are some areas of the country with no enforced speed limit.
In South Korea, speed limits are controlled at the national level by Article 19 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Road Traffic Act, although speed limits can be lowered if deemed necessary, or if they are going through cities, towns, villages, or school zones. In some cases, the speed on some expressways is limited to 80 km/h, so there are some expressways with speeds that are strictly limited to the level of automobile-only roads such as South Korea's Olympic-daero, Gangbyeon-buk-ro, and Beonyeong-ro. These speed limits are as follows:
30 km/h zones and the similar 20 mph zones are forms of speed management used across areas of urban roads in some jurisdictions. The nominal maximum speed limits in these zones are 30 kilometres per hour (19 mph) and 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) respectively. Although these zones do have the nominal speed limit posted, speeds are generally ensured by the use of traffic calming measures, though limits with signs and lines only are increasingly used in the UK.
Road signs in New Zealand are similar to those set by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. While New Zealand is not a signatory to the convention, its road signs are generally close in shape and function. New Zealand uses yellow diamond-shaped signs for warnings in common with Australia, the Americas, Ireland, Japan and Thailand. Speed limit signs are a red circle with a white background and the limitation in black, and are in kilometres per hour. There are also some signs unique to New Zealand. Road signs in New Zealand are controlled by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and are prescribed in the Land Transport Rule: Traffic Control Devices 2004 and set out in the Traffic Control Devices (TCD) Manual.
The Netherlands has a public road network totaling 139,000 km, one of the densest in the world. Its use has increased since the 1950s and now exceeds 200 billion km traveled per year, three quarters of which is by car, making it among the most intensely used road networks. In 2019, the World Economic Forum ranked the quality of Dutch road infrastructure as the best in Europe and second to Singapore out of 141 countries.
Speed limits in the United States vary depending on jurisdiction. Rural freeway speed limits of 70 to 80 mph are common in the Western United States, while such highways are typically posted at 65 or 70 mph in the Eastern United States. States may also set separate speed limits for trucks and night travel along with minimum speed limits. The highest speed limit in the country is 85 mph (137 km/h), which is posted on a single stretch of tollway in exurban areas outside Austin, Texas. The lowest maximum speed limit in the country is 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) in American Samoa.