Slow approach to tunnel safety
19 Jun, 2007
5 Comments 
As a result of Melbourne’s Burnley Tunnel accident in March of this year, the speed limit of the Westgate Freeway leading to the tunnel has, as of last Monday, been reduced to 80kmh. This limit now applies in total to a six kilometre stretch of this major city freeway, and within a week has already contributed substantially to the delay in our already excessive peak travel times.
Surely a bit more time in the car is a small price to pay for a safer trip to work. But I believe the real issue of this stretch of road, and the facts of this accident, have been completely ignored.
The known facts of the accident are simple. The driver of the truck who triggered the accident was using a hand held mobile phone, whilst changing lanes, at the time of the collision.
As for the tunnel itself, unlike in Europe and Great Britain, trucks may use, and change between, any lane of the tunnel. This being the case, will changing the speed limit really have an impact on the underlying issue here? No.
Perhaps a common sense approach to large vehicles sharing tunnels and major bridges, where their mass and slower speed is of considerable hindrance to traffic flow, would have been a far better approach. If, like overseas, trucks and other slow vehicles were restricted to the far left lane traffic flow would be somewhat eased, eliminating the need for lower speed limits.
The design of the road leading in to and out of the tunnel needs to also be considered a factor. It is highly susceptible to sun glare, it does not drain well, even during light rain, and is of poor and outdated design. Not to mention the on-going maintenance problems which plague the tunnel and bridge.
We now have a six kilometre stretch of road which interchanges with one other major freeway, has eighteen on and off ramps, a tunnel, and a two major bridges (Westgate & Bolte). The planning of this road should have been re-evaluated at the time of the Citylink additions in the early 90’s.
Each year the percentage of vehicles using existing infrastructure grows, yet the infrastructure itself does not grow or mature to meet demand. Major cities are choking with the need to have greater emphasis placed on improving their aging roadways.
This was a horrible accident and uniformed speed limits on roads are a good strat, but the bigger picture here needs to be taken very seriously. Even if the speed limit were halved this accident would not have been prevented. Improved roads, smarter policing, and better driver training are of far more benefit to all road users than targeting speed alone. A knee-jerk reaction such as the cutting of speed limits is a band-aid approach, and will only work for so long.
Matt Brogan
Location: Home / Victoria, Opinion / ...
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June 20th, 2007 at 8:05 am
“will changing the speed limit really have an impact on the underlying issue here? No.”
Well that hits the nail on the head. Bracks was very weak on this and unfortunately this will haunt him with the events that occurred at Kerang.
When will they learn that speed is just a component of a bigger problem. Using mobiles, racing red lights, driving too close and bad lane decipline will continue to cause accidents. No speed reduction or speed camera would have stopped the above fatal accidents.
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June 20th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Bracks only changed the speed limit as a knee-jerk reaction to the victim’s families pleas. The best option would have been to push all trucks to the far left lane and make lane changes illegal.
Dropping the speed limit before the tunnel to give people more of a chance to commit to the lane change is just ridiculous and slows everything right down. Only morons who leave lane changes too late are the ones affected by the previous 100km/h speed limit.
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July 3rd, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I’ve just come back from Europe where the Freeway speedlimit is 130kmh (I did not die). In tunnels it is 100 (or 80 - I forget) - but the change in speed limit is only for the area immediately before and after the (many) tunnels - logical really.
On the freeways, the brilliant approach they have used is to allow cars to travel faster than the trucks (130 vs 100). This means that trucks keep left (well, actually right) and stay there as they aren’t mixing with traffic travelling at the same speed as them. It works very well.
We do the opposite here… trucks here are (generally) ACCURATELY (on a dyno) speed limited to 103kmh and the cars are fitted with INACCURATE speedos so at 100 they are really doing 95. This leads to the cars effectively travelling slower than the trucks (without the trucks necessarily speeding) and the trucks having to weave in and out of traffic on their speed limiters.
I think if we turned every 100kmh zone into a 110 or 120 zone (for cars only) we’d be surprised at how much smoother traffic flows, of course the government can’t do it because they would have to reverse their “Speed Kills” mentality (it’s easier that way)
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August 2nd, 2007 at 2:12 am
Having lived in Melbourne (back in the UK now) for a year driving standards are quite good. The problems are allowing large slow vehicles to use outside lanes and undertaking by all vehicles and tailgating.
Here in the UK its common to drive at 140Kmh for prolonged periods, its not the speed that causes the crashes but crappy consideration by other road users. It actualy nice to see Aussie cops applying the speed laws, Cops here let people get away with nearly anything. Indeed a Copper was recorded speeding at 250K’s and let off
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August 31st, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Ever thought that driving slower creates more accidents? Like people crossing in front of you at shopping areas (the slower you go the more people think it is satisfactory to walk across in front of you). Having a 100 or 110 kph speed limit on freeways is so boring, it’s no wonder people fall asleep. I mean how long can you look a picture with a line down the middle before you get bored. I am not talking about speeding; I am relating the speed of the thinking mind to driving conditions. If something is interesting it will keep you awake. Now there’s a thought, have everyone assessed for their capability say every 5 years - instead of getting a licence with the wheeties, or is your birthday card?
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