etruck.com.au

In response to the 11th tragic deaths at the Kerang level crossing crash and the results of the enquiry which ended in June, the Victorian government has decided to slap a blanket 80 km/h speed limit on roads around all level crossings. No other changes have been announced and this appears to be the Brumby government’s answer to the problem of sharing the road with cars and trucks.

As transport industry commentator, Bob Murphy, points out in his blog “Trucks, Trains and Traffic” on the Business Spectator website this is a dumb solution to a dumb problem and could be handled much better and much smarter if the Victorian government.

“They did way too little for way too long and now they are expiating the guilt of their abject failure to exercise a duty of care on level crossings by going to excess in the other direction,” says Bob.
“The tendency will be for those speed limits to be ignored even by reasonable people unless they are constantly intimidated by police enforcement or through revenue producing speed cameras.

It is bad policy and there are smart alternatives, many of which are explored in the parliamentary report on which the government decision to impose speed limits was based.”