Skaife calls for Speed limit increases on Victorian Freeways...

4Vman · 13-06-2010, 09:24 AM

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mar...-1225878944536

Some good common sense ideas....

Kowalski · 13-06-2010, 09:50 AM

Yep, some good ideas amongst that lot.
Not a new cent in it for the government though.........
I'd guess Skaifey will be the new public enemy No1 with the PC crowd once this sinks in!

Jason[98.EL] · 13-06-2010, 09:56 AM

very good artical as you said some good points and common sense

One thing i am not sure on is the geelong to melbourne freeway I dont think it could handle 140 the bloody thing is absolutly shocking between lara and little river ie being rough as guts in some places 110or maybe 120 but thats it on that streatch

Jason

Fireblade · 13-06-2010, 09:59 AM

How many will it take for the government will actually stand up and listen that speed is not the only killer, but on the other hand speed and DUI is the only one they can blanket monitor to raise funds for the gov coffers.

Skaife has some good ideas.

**DJM83** · 13-06-2010, 10:00 AM

This is going to air in Ch7 tonight at 6:30

GK · 13-06-2010, 10:33 AM

Finally something that man says makes some sense!

They won't listen to him though. The ideology behind the current strategy constantly screams that speed is the problem. It's too big a jump for them to make, even if it's probably correct!

Reminds me of here in Victoria, screaming out for water for our growing capital, yet they are fundamentally committed to not building any new dams.

Water officials secretly believe the strategy is wrong, but cannot say on the record, for fear of losing their position. After they retire, they admit the strategy is flawed.

I hope Skaife has his driver's suit on. I reckon he'll be getting pretty flamed for his comments! LOL!

GK

4Vman · 13-06-2010, 10:39 AM

"If" his proposal was ever to come to fruition there MUST be a far greater emphasis on "Keep left".... Its already a massive issue when on many of our 100k roads you have to merge left on a regular basis just to maintain the posted limits to pass slower moving traffic in the right lane..... Its a HUGE issue, especially on Eastlink, the Monash, Westgate/Geelong and Ring road...

jpd80 · 13-06-2010, 10:51 AM

It will fall on deaf ears I'm afraid, you'll probably find that the road system
has been designed for a maximum speed of 110 kph and that road engineers
will not be keen to upgrade the conservative limits that are already in place.

Bad Bird · 13-06-2010, 11:12 AM

You are implying that engineers are getting a lot of say in the setting of speed limits. In many cases it is pure politics.

fordv8! · 13-06-2010, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

"If" his proposal was ever to come to fruition there MUST be a far greater emphasis on "Keep left".... Its already a massive issue when on many of our 100k roads you have to merge left on a regular basis just to maintain the posted limits to pass slower moving traffic in the right lane..... Its a HUGE issue, especially on Eastlink, the Monash, Westgate/Geelong and Ring road...

this is a huge problem in qld as well its not that hard to consider others when you drive is it?

Kryton · 13-06-2010, 11:18 AM

For this to happen, it would mean that the Government and Police would have to admit they were wrong about the whole approach they take now............

Now that is funny.

Coyote mk3 · 13-06-2010, 11:18 AM

Can't say I like the guy a great deal but there are some very good points in that.
However I don't think anyone will take notice - he will just be seen as a racing car driver who wants the ability to drive faster on the road.

Quote:

"...police should focus more on dodgy drivers rather than speeding."

Fireblade · 13-06-2010, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

"If" his proposal was ever to come to fruition there MUST be a far greater emphasis on "Keep left".... Its already a massive issue when on many of our 100k roads you have to merge left on a regular basis just to maintain the posted limits to pass slower moving traffic in the right lane..... Its a HUGE issue, especially on Eastlink, the Monash, Westgate/Geelong and Ring road...

You think it is an issue in Vic, I have driven there from SA many times in recent years and can't believe how courteous the Vic drivers are compared to here. If its a huge issue in Vic, it is then the most stand out issue here in SA as no one is courteous. No wonder tailgating is through the roof here.

**Full Noise** · 13-06-2010, 11:25 AM

Skaife was also on 3AW the other day being interviewed by Denis Walter discussing many of these issues, although, increasing the speed limit wasn’t mentioned.

One of the main points he was making was the appalling lane discipline of people in this country. I’ve been doing a job for the last four weeks that sees me doing two trips a day from Melbourne to the far end of the Geelong bypass and I can’t wait for it to end on Wednesday.

The right lane in an enormous problem on the Geelong road with mongs who think that it’s their God given right to travel in the right lane at whatever speed they choose, under the limit. There’s also a big problem with the middle lane as well. If these mongs would simply keep left and obey the bloody road rules, there wouldn’t be a problem, but for some reason, they just can’t do it.

Soon the “no trucks” in the right lane signs will be uncovered on the Geelong freeway and this will cause a few problem simply because of mongs who will not keep left. So the middle lane will effectively become the “right” lane for trucks.

And before all of you anti truck parrots get on you high horse about trucks sitting in the right lane, if mongs in cars actually moved to the left instead of arrogantly sitting in the middle or right lane just to prove a point because their speedo says 100, when in fact it’s more like 96, we wouldn’t have this problem.

The truck I drive does 101 kph FLAT, yet on the Geelong freeway I’ll be bagging cars up all the way there.

Edit:

Here’s an article I found a little while back about the Newel.

http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/news/...u/1851770.aspx

**russellw** · 13-06-2010, 12:19 PM

Sadly, a gay, black, Muslim; holding a burning American flag at a KKK rally has more chance of making it than this proposal.

1. Victoria and NSW both expect to raise around $500 million each from speed cameras; WA about $120 million and SA/QLD around $100 million each. Let's call it $1.5 billion nationally. That's a lot of money and that is only from cameras.

2. After more than 40 years of chanting the "speed kills" mantra (even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary) it is unlikely that any government is going to do an about face.

3. Both Victoria and NSW are already considering further reductions to speed limits in the suburban arterials.

Cheers
Russ

g220ba · 13-06-2010, 12:23 PM

From where i sit all this no trucks in the right lane legislation will do is move a non existant problem from the right lane into a now existant problem in the other 2 lanes. It will cause Heavy vehicles to be caught up behind the slower moving cars not allowing them to safely pass in the right lane. As Full noise mentioned it's not always a case of th trucks speeding but a case of most cars speedos not showing accurate speeds.

Justs seems with an election coming up the government decided to be seen to be doing something for road safety when essentially as usual they've done nothing but deflect one problem into another. Should be a good money spinner for them though.

XRtowcar · 13-06-2010, 12:30 PM

Speed kills for the appalling way licence testing is conducted.
They train people to get a licence, its not the same as teaching them how to drive.
Driver training should mandatorily include defensive driving and accident avoidance.
Then we may have a hope with better drivers on the road.

fordman302 · 13-06-2010, 12:32 PM

what the..... I actually agree with skaifey who would have thought, i think his proposal is a great idea however i think that if this was ever to even come close to happening we would need to change our policies in victoria to conduct road worthiness checks annually, there are many cars i see around day to day that i would not like to be sitting next to on a freeway at 140 kph

**Full Noise** · 13-06-2010, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by russellw

Sadly, a gay, black, Muslim; holding a burning American flag at a KKK rally has more chance of making it than this proposal.

You’re not wrong there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by russellw

3. Both Victoria and NSW are already considering further reductions to speed limits in the suburban arterials.

Not only in suburban areas but other major highways as well. Here’s an article from the local Dubbo paper regarding the speed limit on the Mitchell highway.

http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/news/...a/1724717.aspx

Quote:

““The RTA says the last silver bullet to lowering road fatalities is reducing speed,” the director said.

“Every road and traffic authority in the world says the best way to combat fatalities is better roads.”

mik · 13-06-2010, 01:27 PM

more common sence speedlimits on our qaulity highways

freeways

much reduced speeding fines

bugger all revenue

AHAHAHAHAHAHA like thats ever gonna happen:( :( :(

rodderz · 13-06-2010, 01:52 PM

The most annoying thing is, you read the comments from the news article on the website and most people haven't even read past the headline. They see "Skaifey wants speed limit's 140" and they turn on rant from there.

Hopefully the story tonight clearly demonstrates just what he is talking about, where in Germany most drivers have a broad knowledge of not just road rules, but correct driving skills and behaviour and how to drive on the road while respecting others.

g220ba · 13-06-2010, 02:11 PM

Road safety in this country is an evergreen topic. We are bombarded with a daily road toll figure or a story on the news about another blitz the police are undertaking. As result the politicians will continually place band-aid solutions in place to be seen to be doing something. There will always be a road toll to some degree, especially while the government overlooks the real issues and continues to place all their attention on the money spinning solutions.

For once Skaife has actually made some sense on a subject and he's not the first to point out the flaws in the government policy on road safety. The problem is the solutions offered while they the way the government should be focusing their attention is it'll cost more money to implement than they will gain. It's not so much about saving lives or preventing major incident's as it is about the next budget. Unfortunetly with Ken Lay, John Brumby and whoever else sticks their opinion in the public eye about how speed kills these genuine solutions and the people who put them forward will be ridiculed.

Sad world we live in when money comes before life.

Geez Louise · 13-06-2010, 02:25 PM

There are some great points in that article and I totally agree with the comment of more tailgaters should be fined. If you dont leave enough room, it only takes a second for a lack of concentration and of course an accident will happen whether you are speeding or not.

As for raising the speed limit...it won't happen. Driving on the Monash last night and over the Westgate to Werribee...You can see the electronic speed signs they have up everywhere now but if you notice...they can only be set to 2 digits..not 3! The speed limit is not going to change along there anytime soon. The planners have done that as a permanent thing as far as I can see.

I applaud Mark Skaife for standing up for what he believes. Not doubt he is going to get flamed for it but if people don't speak up, nothing ever gets changed.

mik · 13-06-2010, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 84ltd

Road safety in this country is an evergreen topic. We are bombarded with a daily road toll figure or a story on the news about another blitz the police are undertaking. As result the politicians will continually place band-aid solutions in place to be seen to be doing something. There will always be a road toll to some degree, especially while the government overlooks the real issues and continues to place all their attention on the money spinning solutions.

For once Skaife has actually made some sense on a subject and he's not the first to point out the flaws in the government policy on road safety. The problem is the solutions offered while they the way the government should be focusing their attention is it'll cost more money to implement than they will gain. It's not so much about saving lives or preventing major incident's as it is about the next budget. Unfortunetly with Ken Lay, John Brumby and whoever else sticks their opinion in the public eye about how speed kills these genuine solutions and the people who put them forward will be ridiculed.

Sad world we live in when money comes before life.

good post 84ltd

castellan · 13-06-2010, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodderz

The most annoying thing is, you read the comments from the news article on the website and most people haven't even read past the headline. They see "Skaifey wants speed limit's 140" and they turn on rant from there.

Hopefully the story tonight clearly demonstrates just what he is talking about, where in Germany most drivers have a broad knowledge of not just road rules, but correct driving skills and behaviour and how to drive on the road while respecting others.

Yes but how are we going to get most Aussies to understand all that

when the gov is devoted to the lowest common denominator stance.

uranium_death · 13-06-2010, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4Vman

"If" his proposal was ever to come to fruition there MUST be a far greater emphasis on "Keep left"....

There should be highway patrols at some of the main stretches that are prone to congestion.

These patrols should be able to also pull over cars who clearly don't understand what 'keep left' means.

Driver education here is terrible. Getting a license is too easy and too cheap.

When you drive down the Eastern and there's a P-Plater doing 85 in the right hand lane, holding everybody up, then clearly they haven't learned enough.

Question: Should driving instructors be placed under more stringent testing?

How does Mr/Mrs/Ms Wang/Wong/Hu/etc. get to own a driving school when he allows his pupil to park crooked, drive in two lanes, indicate while changing lanes/turning etc.?
These pupils then pick up their shortcomings and we have many below-standard drivers out there.

I refuse to swallow that speed is the main factor in deaths here.

In Europe where licenses aren't cheap and are harder to acquire, why is the Autobahn a safe road despite its high speeds?

It isn't as close-ended as we're told...

/end_pointless_rambling

flappist · 13-06-2010, 03:12 PM

As has been stated above.

For the incumbent Governments to increase speed limits would require a back flip on decades of dogmatic policy. This would mean that someone was WRONG and as that is impossible the speed limits must be correct.

Regardless of this even if it were done the media loonies would be sitting there waiting with abated breath for the first accident so they can launch their jihads.
Every single event on the 140 zone would be headlines.

It is somewhat ironical that when after the removal of the (//) zones in NT the mainstream media completely ignored the huge increase in road fatalities.

Like the "semi auto" buzzword of the 90s, once they were banned the word was dropped regardless of whether it applied to an event.

"P plate" is another that is not used as often as it was as there is no longer anywhere for them to go with it.

But maybe there is some hope.

The best thing that those who support this idea in Victoria can do is approach their local member and opposition candidate either in person or in writing expressing your support for this concept.

The only real hope this has is if it can be seen as a strongly supported idea then maybe the opposition or the Government may use it to get (re) elected doing a Pontius Pilot and hanging some soon to retire public vegetables out to dry.

Only you Victorians can do anything about this so regardless of your political leanings, if you support the idea, don't waste the chance.......

Franco Cozzo · 13-06-2010, 03:13 PM

I'll give my view on lackluster driving test, since it was mentioned by Skaife in his article:

What I love is how I did my driving test and I thought I was going awesome, except for a few things I know I did wrong by accident, but then I got absolutely yelled at once my test had finished, the tester went absolutely apeshit, apparently the definition of a "good driver" is one who makes his/her passengers feel safe? I thought a good driver knows how to control the car, knows the rules and road ettiquite?

Mind you all the test is, drive around town for 50 minutes and do a three point turn or reverse park. I did everything fine, except the only mistakes I made was I went 40 in a 50 zone because I was driving through what looked to be near a school. Also it ticked over 2:30 during my test and I just still just inside the school zone doing 60, no more than 5 seconds until I got out of it. That area is usually 60, but 2:30-4:00 it goes down to 40.

Then she wasn't even paying attention in most points, she was too busy yakking to the instructor.

What gets me is the testers, they have a sheet they mark off, but its mostly up to them if they decide to pass you or not, they're supposed to have a set of rules and guidelines, then use their discretion if they have to but it definetly seems they make it up as they go along, what ever they feel like at the time is if you pass or fail, its also different depending on the VicRoads office you go to, my mate got insta-failed where I did it, but got 100% pass at another office? There is no consistency with the test from office to office, tester to tester, plus its not very challenging, if you read the learners logbook and drove around the town a few times where the test is going to be, thats all you need to do to pass it. Hell, one person I know constantly stalled the car during her test but still passed?

GS608 · 13-06-2010, 04:08 PM

QLD is a 15 minute drive and they can pick 2 of the following to test you on, 3 point turn, reverse a certain dist in a straight line usually along the kerb, reverse park, u turn, hill start. You get 9 non critical mistakes and 3 critical before you fail.

Way too easy. Testing really does need a revamp, and a theory test when you go for you P's would help. The L test is a joke too.

g220ba · 13-06-2010, 04:09 PM

Mate all i had to do a 20min drive a three point turn and a reverse parralell park. My driving instructor informed i was the type of driver to be involved in needless crashes due my over confidence. 5 years later i'm yet to lose a point on my license and yet to be involved in sort of incident.

Looking back on my times being taught i see how useless some of these driving instructors are, they completely fail to teach me how to read the road ahead, how to read upcoming intersections, how to react in certain controllable situations, basic driver etiquette, how to merge correctly, proper parking techniques (they focus on reverse parralell). These are just some of things which over time i've come to realise i wasn't really taught by the instructor i had.

A situation i seen the other day was a learner over shot a red light sitting about 3/4 of a car over the white line, before anything else happened the instructor had the car in reverse and back the learner went without even a look in the mirror. I couldn't help but wonder what sort of a chance this driver had being taught such poor driving skill.

The whole driver training system needs a major overhaul starting with the test and moving into an overhaul of the driving instructor training methods.