LAST Thursday, the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety (Staysafe) tabled its report on speed limits and road safety in regional NSW.

The Hon. Lou Amato MLC, Committee Chair, acknowledged that more needs to be done to make regional roads safer.

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“Most road fatalities happen in country areas.

“Regional communities need roads that are designed and maintained to a high standard to allow them to safely go about their business,” said Mr Amato.

The Committee found that that the 100 kilometre per hour default speed limit may not be appropriate for all regional roads in NSW.

It recommends that local council requests to review speed limits are responded to more quickly and the reason for changing a speed limit is published.

The Chair stated, “Speed limits are an important way of keeping our roads safe and should be suitable for the road conditions, and the process for reviewing them should be timely, with any changes clearly explained to the community.”

The Committee also recommends construction of more overtaking lanes and allowing a speed limit tolerance when vehicles are safely overtaking.

“More overtaking lanes gives drivers more chances to safely overtake and prevent them from taking unnecessary risks.”, noted Mr Amato.

The report’s fifteen recommendations also focus on the need to educate drivers to drive to the conditions, and improved management of speed limits in road work zones.

The feasibility of increasing speed limits above 110 kilometres per hour in some situations was also considered.

Suicide by truck was raised, with a recommendation that more work be done to better understand this issue.

On this point, the Chair stated, “While some research has been done, it is important that we get a better understanding of this issue, given the tragic affect it can have on all those involved.”

The Committee also looked at advances in vehicle technology and found there is a slower uptake in regional areas and that road infrastructure is not keeping up with these advances.

“We hope the Committee’s recommendations help improve road travel, which is a key part of daily life for regional communities,” the Chair concluded.

The report is available at http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2878#tab-reportsandgovernmentresponses.