Council is responsible for managing the safe and efficient operation of local roads in the Stratford District.
Setting appropriate safe speed limits supports Council's safety management function and the Governments Policy Statement for Land Transport (GPS), strategic priority for road safety. The GPS gives effect to Road to Zero: The 2020-2030 Road Safety Strategy.
Road to Zero 2020-2030 tells us what New Zealand needs to do to make improvements in road safety. It sets us on a path to achieve Vision Zero, a New Zealand where no one is killed or seriously injured on our roads.
Road to Zero sets an initial target to reduce deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand’s roads, streets, cycleways and footpaths by 40 percent over the next 10 years. Reaching that target would mean reducing annual road deaths to 227 and serious injuries to 1,680 by 2030.
There are five key focus areas under Road to Zero:
- Infrastructure improvements and speed management.
- Vehicle safety.
- Work-related road safety.
- Road user choices.
- System management.
There are a number of factors that go into setting safe speeds on our roads. Including the number of people and travel modes using the road, the function and features of the road and its surrounding environment. All these things determine what a safe speed should be.
