Land Transport Rule : Setting of Speed Limits 2003.

In 1995, the Government decided that a land transport rule should be made for the setting of speed limits. The rule was intended to address deficiencies in the existing system that resulted from the complex mix of procedures and structures for setting speed limits. These led to the situation where the responsibility for, and ownership of, speed limits was divided between organisations at both central and local government level. Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2003 establishes procedures whereby road controlling authorities may set enforceable speed limits on roads within their jurisdictions. The purpose of the procedures is to ensure that the risk to public safety is minimised and that the freedom of road users to travel on New Zealand roads at speeds that are reasonable and appropriate is protected through checks and balances on the actions of road controlling authorities. This is achieved through the Director of Land Transport Safety setting standards and auditing and monitoring the application of the rule by road controlling authorities. The power to set a speed limit is limited to road controlling authorities that have power to make bylaws concerning the use of roads under the Local Government Act 2002 (principally, territorial local authorities and Transit New Zealand); or power to make bylaws under specific legislation (such as some airport authorities). The objective of the rule is to contribute to a safe and efficient road network by: * establishing speed limits of 50 km/h in urban traffic areas and 100 km/h on rural roads and motorways; * authorising road controlling authorities to designate urban traffic areas, to set speed limits other than 50 km/h on urban roads and less than 100 km/h on rural roads, and to set temporary speed limits associated with work on or near the road and for special events; and * promoting national uniformity in speed limits by requiring road controlling authorities to apply a consistent method to translate national speed limits policy into a safe and appropriate speed limit for any given road. (Author/publisher)