Speed reduction has the potential to deliver the greatest gains in reducing crashes across the region.

Excessive speed and inappropriate speed continues to litter the Auckland region and is the cause of around one in three of all fatal and serious crashes.

Speed affects the risk of a crash occurring:

• the greater the speed, the less time there is to prevent a collision,
  
• at the same time, the greater the speed, the more severe the consequences once a crash has occurred.

Recent national speed surveys show that 80% of Auckland drivers on free-flowing urban roads travel above the 50kph speed limit, and around 60% of drivers travel above the 100kph open road speed limit in free-flowing conditions.

Enforcement

Police enforcement of speed regulations has increased over the years, and the Police have recently enforced a policy allowing a lower tolerance for exceeding the posted speed near schools. That enforcement has produced a positive public response. However, achieving the greatest benefit from speed enforcement requires the regular introduction of new enforcement technology, policing strategies and legislation.