FAQs about Speed Management

Speed limits used to be set through a bylaw.  Now, we set speed limits through a Speed Management Plan.

The new Speed Management Plan will look out 10 years to identify the areas where speed limits will be changed, and will be reviewed and consulted on every three years.  It will also inform any projects that we may implement to support the speed limit changes we are proposing.

Once the Speed Management Plan has been adopted by Council, we must submit it to Waka Kotahi for certification. Once it has been certified, we can then bring the speed limits into effect within the period in the Speed Management Plan we said we would change the speed limit.

We’re also required to collaborate across the Manawatū-Whanganui region on our speed management plans.  

Speed limits are set by Road Controlling Authorities also called RCAs. Horowhenua District Council is the RCA for Horowhenua. 

For state highways, Waka Kotahi is the RCA.

We’re doing this so that we can meet the deadlines set by the government in the Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2022. 

All councils need to have a speed management plan certified and in place by June 2024. 

We’re looking at speed limits around schools first so we can meet that June 2024 deadline and these are also areas where we have been receiving a lot of community feedback for change and so we are listening to this feedback. 

Research has shown driving at a speed appropriate for the road is likely to only result in a very small increase in travel time. Other factors, such as lights, traffic, and intersections have a much greater effect on travel time.  

Lowering speeds has a very minor impact on travel times.  Waka Kotahi observes that, for local trips, reducing speeds from 50km/h to 40km/h results in an increase of about 11-42 seconds.  

Trips reducing the maximum speed from 100km/h to 80km/h on a 10km length of road showed travel time increases ranged from 30-48 seconds.  

These minor increases in travel time are more than offset by the improved safety outcomes in the event of a crash.  A pedestrian who is hit by a car travelling at 50km/h has an 80% chance of dying; at 40km/h, that chance is only 30%.  At 30km/h, the chance of dying is just 10%.

Previously, speed limit changes have often been done in isolation without a broader network view. In many cases, this led to the speed change to create more problems than it solved and was a national issue. As a result, the speed management planning process has been introduced nationally to better manage how we change speed limits so they have the intended positive impact on our communities.

Areas where we can make a difference now is where slower speeds already make sense, for example, schools. In some cases, before we change the speed limit, we need to make changes to the road design to help speed limits be more consistent nationally, but these changes can’t happen overnight so in some cases we might hold off lowering speed limits until we are ready to make those changes.

While poor driving behaviour has resulted in crashes, more are a result of mistakes. Even the most skilled drivers make mistakes.  Whether late for a meeting or work, or late dropping the kids off/picking up from school, everyday pressures can influence our driving behaviour and result in us making driving errors. These mistakes shouldn’t result in loss of life or serious injury, and the speed you are driving at by far has the greatest influence on the severity of a crash, which could be the difference between life, death or serious injury.

Most drivers understand that New Zealand's roads can be challenging. 

Good speed management gives drivers the cues they need to judge the safe and appropriate speed for the road they are on, and gives people the best chance to survive a crash should they make a mistake. 

Not all roads are created equal, nor are the risks necessarily identifiable by a driver and people do make mistakes. Travelling the right speed for the road and conditions can help minimise the impact of a crash. Speed is the difference between a correctable mistake and a fatal error, and even good drivers can hurt others if they are involved in a crash.

Good speed management is when technology, data, first-hand observation, and local knowledge are used to inform interventions to make a road safer for users. It’s not just about putting up signs, but making sure we have a consistent, fit for purpose speed limit network on our local roads. The data will only get us so far though so this is why your feedback will help us understand if we have our proposals right or not.

Good speed management is also a staged process over a long period of time. Staged approaches to help change behaviour over the next 10 years is an important part of the speed management process and the first plan will be focusing on areas where speed change makes sense now.