The government's decision to increase speed limits on rural highways has been met with opposition from road safety experts.
The Green Party's Transport spokesperson, Julie Anne Genter, expressed concern that the move will lead to more serious harm on the roads. According to her, evidence shows that safe speeds save lives, and countries with low death rates have maximum speed limits of 70 or 80 kph on rural undivided highways.
Northland has historically experienced higher rates of deaths on its roads compared to other regions in New Zealand. When safe speed limits were introduced there, it resulted in a 50-60 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries with minimal impact on travel times.