Softly, softly approach reduces speed

The signs tell drivers how fast they are going. Picture / Dean Purcell

Gentle reminders rather than heavy enforcement have led to lower traffic speeds along a crash-prone Auckland arterial route, Mt Albert Rd.

Auckland City Council says that 15 per cent of traffic is now exceeding 52km/h, a fall of about 2km/h since solar-powered radar feedback panels began telling motorists four months ago how fast they are travelling.

Senior traffic engineer Mitchell Tse said yesterday that the speed exceeded by 5 per cent of drivers had been cut even more, by up to 4km/h, to just over 55km/h.

This meant 95 per cent of vehicles were travelling slower or at least no faster than that speed.

Although the thresholds remain above the legal limit of 50km/h, they are within a 10km/h tolerance band in which police rarely issue tickets.

Mr Tse said the project was the council's response to the number of crashes in which drivers had lost control of vehicles along Mt Albert Rd.

Members of the public had congratulated the council for coming up with a non-punitive way of reminding motorists they were approaching bends on the route.

"It is being accepted by the community as something positive, giving motorists a nice friendly reminder without the fear of fines and demerit points," he said.

That is not to say Mt Albert Rd and neighbouring St Andrews Rd are police-free zones.

Mr Tse said he requested police enforcement support in the early weeks of the trial - which last week won the council an accolade as a finalist in the 3M road-safety innovation awards - to ensure "boy racers" did not use the detector panels to clock themselves at excessive speeds.

The council has installed three display units along Mt Albert Rd and one towards the bottom of a hill on St Andrews Rd, to persuade motorists to slow down before reaching Carlson School, which is for children with cerebral palsy.

Although Mr Tse was unaware of any crashes outside the school, he said there had been 53 "lost-control" smashes in five years to December 31 in the section of Mt Albert Rd covered by the project, between Mt Eden Rd and Sandringham Rd.

That had led to calls from residents for engineering measures which he hoped they would now accept as too impractical.

Crash figures since the project began in June have yet to be compiled, but Mt Roskill Community Board chairman Richard Barter said the lower speeds were bound to make a difference in reducing injuries and leaving the area safer for all road-users, particularly pedestrians.