Speed Management

ACRS Policy Position

ACRS supports zoning roads for speeds that are appropriate to road and road environment conditions.   This entails the use of signs, engineering, education and enforcement.  

Correct speed zoning is rational and sends the 'right' messages to road users about the speeds at which they should travel in relation to road geometry and condition and the associated natural, built and human environment.   Correct speed zoning encourages compliance with legal limits.

Speed zoning should be enforced using best practice:   fairly, with clearly visible Police presence and media advertising.

Objective

To encourage drivers to travel at a speed appropriate to road and road environment conditions, to enhance safety, maintain road system service level and avoid detriment to persons in the immediate environment.

Discussion

Speed management refers to engineering, education and enforcement treatments to encourage road users to travel at a speed appropriate to road and road environment conditions.   It can apply to urban and rural roads.   The principal use of speed management is to discourage people from exceeding legal limits (since that is seen as the greatest speeding 'problem') but an objective may also be to discourage people from travelling so slowly as to impede other traffic.

Speed management consists of: 

1. speed zoning roads and portions of roads according to horizontal and vertical alignment, natural and built environment and traffic conditions, to the most appropriate speed for those conditions, and signposting them accordingly; 
2. where necessary providing traffic engineering measures to support the speed limit desired;  
3. educating the public about the speed zoning principle and practice;   and
4. enforcing the speed limits.

The use of speed zoning for managing vehicle speeds in urban areas is obvious.   In rural areas speed zoning is used to manage speeds principally to suit terrain and road geometry.   Thus instead of a general 100 km/h rural speed limit, limits would vary according to conditions.   Minor or secondary roads in hilly country with narrow pavements and shoulders might be zoned as low as 70 or 80 km/h, in contrast to roads in open country in less populated areas that might be zoned at 100 or 110 km/h.

Speed zoning roads and sections of roads in this manner encourages drivers to believe that speed limits have a rational basis and are related directly to road and road environment conditions.   Because of this, with appropriate education and enforcement, voluntary compliance with posted speed limits may be enhanced.