Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Greg Murphy: 'The same people crashing now will keep crashing if we lower speed limits'

By Georgia May
Hawkes Bay Today·
5 Jun, 2019 11:56 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Hawke's Bay resident and racing driver Greg Murphy says the driving culture needs to change, not the speed limit. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay resident and racing driver Greg Murphy says the driving culture needs to change, not the speed limit. Photo / Paul Taylor

Kiwi racing driver and Hawke's Bay resident Greg Murphy says the answer to making the region's roads safer isn't reduced speed limits, but changing the region's driving culture.

Recent road safety data from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) suggested that speed limits on almost 90 per cent of the country's roads are too high and should be lowered - but Murphy has rubbished the claim.

He said Hawke's Bay was among many other regions that had "done a bad job" when it came to expectations of safe driving.

If there was one message that needed to be heard it was to "stop blaming the roads and the speed limits and start taking driver responsibility, training and testing seriously", he said.

Murphy said he had plans to make Hawke's Bay the first region in New Zealand to have a controlled environment in which drivers could do specialised training to keep themselves safer on the roads.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said he and a group of people were looking to buy land in which the driving space could be created.

"I'm talking about an environment where we can teach people about things that happen on the road every day, like emergency stopping, knowing what it's like to jump on a brake pedal, understanding stopping distances and hazard identification."

Although it was just in the planning phase, and would cost millions, Murphy said it would be an efficient and practical place for people to upskill and be safe on the roads.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I'm not saying that there isn't a need for roading improvements, there most definitely is.

"Improving the country's roading network will improve transport efficiency and in some cases it might assist in reducing injuries and deaths, but people will still crash if we don't change the driving culture.

"We've failed to provide enough of the right information and the correct practical training, information and provide enough awareness of what driving safety is.

"It's too basic when it comes to getting a licence and we as a nation have been doing it for so long that we've let it get to a point where the road toll is something that people are sitting up and taking notice of."

St Georges Road was an example of a road that had rightfully had its speed limit lowered, Murphy said. Photo / File
St Georges Road was an example of a road that had rightfully had its speed limit lowered, Murphy said. Photo / File

Murphy said New Zealand's driving system was "broken" and needed to be reviewed.

"The same people who are crashing now will still continue to crash even if we lower the speed limit.

"Drivers need to have a strong awareness of what's going on around them and adjust to it. It's about understanding the dynamics of a motor vehicle and understanding the tools it comes with."

Murphy also believed that pressure on road policing teams would increase to monitor slower speed limits, as people wouldn't necessarily stick to them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"There are some things in Hawke's Bay that rightfully should be changed - St George's Rd for example was one they lowered from 100km/h to 80km/h a couple of years ago and I thought that was a good idea.

"It's a busy road, there's lots of driveways and vehicles pulling out."

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

11 Jul 04:03 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

11 Jul 01:10 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

10 Jul 09:05 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

11 Jul 04:03 AM

Two Māori All Blacks to play in Maddison Trophy final.

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

11 Jul 01:10 AM
Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

10 Jul 09:05 PM
Premium
The humour history of Don Martin: Wyn Drabble

The humour history of Don Martin: Wyn Drabble

10 Jul 07:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP