OUTGOING NRMA director Graham Blight is drawing plenty of response to his comment that the speed limit on the Hume Highway should be raised as high as 130km/h.
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Mr Blight says driver distractions and irresponsible motorists make a greater contribution to accidents than speed and the condition of the highway and modern cars are sufficient to justify the increased speed limit.
Certainly that would be the case on certain sections of the road where the surface is new and where there isn’t the distraction of intersections and overpasses with major towns or cities that carry local traffic.
Mr Blight says any increase in the speed limit should be done gradually, and raised to 120km/h for a period before any further increases are looked into.
Again, that appears to be a practical argument, but perhaps a better idea would be to look at individual stretches of the highway and avoiding speed limit increases in sections where driving conditions are affected by increased local traffic, road camber and ongoing weather conditions, for example.
It would be unwise to apply the same increased limit to the full length of the Hume Highway without careful study.
