Politician puts his foot down to prove a point

Thursday, 5 March 2020

National MP for Kaikoura Stuart Smith got behind the wheel to prove you can drive safely at 100kmh on a stretch of SH6 between Blenheim and Nelson in this video in March. But the reduced speed limits are now in place.

National MPs have been quick to prove a point about the safety of a stretch of SH6 near Havelock.

National Party MP for Kaikōura Stuart Smith drove his colleague, transport spokesperson Chris Bishop, on SH6 on Monday afternoon to show that driving at the maximum speed of 100kmh on this particular part of SH6 was indeed safe - in contrast to what the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has been advocating.

Their experiment was in response to came NZTA's proposal to lower the speed limit down to 80kmh for which the decision is still pending - four months after receiving a public petition.

NZTA wants to decrease the speed limit from 100kmh to 80kmh along parts of SH6 between Blenheim and Nelson, saying lower speed limits save lives. In the 10 years before 2018, 20 people died and 92 were seriously injured in crashes on the highway.

**READ MORE:

National Party's spokes person for transport Chris Bishop (L) and Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith standing on a stretch of State Highway 6 near Havelock, they say it is absolutely safe to drive 100kmh on this road.

*Speed review for state highway between Blenheim and Nelson still not finalised

*It's not a vote, says NZTA, as SH6 petition collects 17,000 signatures

*Slower speeds on SH6 could hit consumers in the pocket, truckies say

*Slower speeds outside schools, not the whole highway, say principals**

However, Smith said that if safety was of concern, then more passing lanes should be built - not slowing down the entire highway.

'If lowering the speed limit is the way to make the road safer, then why not drop it down to 10kmh?'

The MP said there are people within NZTA with a view that lowering speed limits will lower risks, and 'while that is true to a certain extent, the numbers and the risk are so small as to not make much of a difference'.

Nelson resident Stephanie Drewery (L), handing in the 17,000 petition to Chris Bishop and Nick Smith in Whangamoa Saddle in November last year.

But in reality, the 'longer the journey, the greater the risks,' he said.

'If you want to remove all risks, you remove traffic all together,' he said.

SH6 from Nelson to Blenheim could soon see speed reduction, this is a major trade route between the two towns.

A map of the NZTA's proposed speed reduction areas along State Highway 6 SH6 from Nelson to Blenheim.

The proposal announced by NZTA last October was met fierce opposition from the locals.

The Road Transport Association NZ (RTNZ), NZ Trucking Association and the NZ Automobile Association (AA) met with NZTA in last November last year to express their concerns regarding the new speed limit proposal.

Bishop said National also opposes a blanket lowering of the speed limit along SH6.

'We are strongly opposed, we believe a majority of the residents of the region are opposed to imposing in a blanket way a reduction of speed limit from 100kmh to 80kmh.'

Should National win an election in 2020, Bishop said they will pull the plug if NZTA still hasn't implemented the changes, but he couldn't confirm that he would reverse the proposal if it happened before the election.

In a scary twist of fate, a truck and a four wheel drive crashed on the same stretch of highway on Tuesday morning.

A Police spokesperson said the cause of the crash is yet unknown but one person 'sustained moderate injuries'.