Road to Zero

Ōtorohanga Speed Management Review

Ōtorohanga District Council (ODC) is passionate about road safety and keeping our communities and those travelling through our district safe on our roads.  There’s lots we are already doing to improve road safety, and to complement this work we are also looking at existing speed limits across the district and whether these are safe and appropriate for all road users.

Why are we doing this?

Too many people are being killed and seriously injured on the local road network. 
Between January 2010 and December 2019, there were 124 crashes, six people lost their lives and 63 sustained serious injuries on roads within the Ōtorohanga district (excludes crashes on the state highway network).  But these statistics only tell part of the story.  While most of our roads are in good shape, they are not necessarily appropriate for a 100km/h speed limit, meaning a simple mistake behind the wheel could have dire consequences if travelling at that speed.  We need to do more to prevent avoidable deaths and serious injuries from occurring on our roads.

There are a diverse range of vehicles and people using our local road network, including vehicle movements associated with agriculture, commuters, school buses, domestic/international tourists, pedestrians and cyclists.  The local road network is also the ‘street’ that families live on and the place they call home, regardless of whether it’s in urban Ōtorohanga, or the more rural parts of the district.  We also have drivers with a very diverse range of skills and ability, from those learning to drive through to experienced professional drivers.

With such a mixture of users and reasons for travelling along the districts roads there is the ever-present risk of crashes occurring.

No matter what causes a crash, speed is always a factor in the severity. Put simply, the speed of impact can be the difference between walking away or being carried away from a crash.  Lower permanent speed limits are a proven, effective way of reducing the number of crashes resulting in deaths and serious injuries.

Road to Zero

The Road to Zero strategy sets a target of a 40% reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2030.  This will be achieved through the delivery of interventions across the following key focus areas:

• Infrastructure improvements
• Speed management
• Vehicle safety
• Work-related road safety
• Road user choices
• System management.

Many of these interventions will take time to implement and there is an associated cost to giving effect to them.  However, a focus on safer speeds can deliver tangible improvements in road safety relatively quickly and at a relatively low cost.

We want to hear from you

We are reviewing speed limits on the local road network within the Ōtorohanga district and we want to hear what you think about speeds on these roads.

We want to know

• Do the current speed limits feel safe, or not? 
• What parts of the road network do you think are more dangerous than others? 
• Is there anything you think we need to know while we look at the speed limits?

You can provide feedback the following ways:

• Email your thoughts to [email protected]  
• Attend one of the following drop-in sessions:

With Waka Kotahi also undertaking a review of speed limits on SH31 and SH39, their staff will also be in attendance at the following drop-in sessions to discuss their proposal: Ōtorohanga Countdown, Kāwhia Community Hall and Oparau Roadhouse.