Increase speed limits, says Sam Newman

By Paul Maric | January 21st, 2010

Notorious Channel 9 celebrity Sam Newman yesterday won an appeal in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court for extra time to prepare his defence for a speeding fine issued in 2008.

Following his successful appeal, Mr Newman spoke with Triple M’s Eddie McGuire and said that speeding fines are a “man revenue stream” and that Melbourne Police were “bending over backwards to keep people off the road”.

Source: AAP

Mr Newman also said, “the rules and speed limits are so confusing and ridiculous…I know this will stir people up and they’ll say it’s not responsible, but why you would have to drive 100km/h down to Geelong on a four-lane highway is ridiculous.

“Why you couldn’t drive 120km/h up the Hume Highway and stop trucks tailgating you.

“Why you wouldn’t limit trucks to 100km/h and why you would let trucks drive in the right-hand lane.”

While Mr Newman’s views are normally outlandish and totally ridiculous, we think he might just be on to something.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Milsie

The Australian Government must enforce mandatory driver training, refined road rules, ongoing road maintenance & upgrading and more consistent speed limits.

We’re one of the largest countries in the world, yet we are forced to drive the slowest?

We’re one of the highest taxed in the world, yet our roads are some of the worst?

Yet again, this proves that the idiots we have in charge of the national cheque book need to be “tragically lost” – just like the many hundreds of road users are each year.
JEKYL & HYDE

he is right for once,a higher speed on a good hwy(dual lane) is a no brainer.i’d say that his ex-girlfriend would agree as well.she probably wishes she’d ran over him at a higher speed lolol…

Howie-R31

He’s spot on. You get some narrow, windy country roads where the limit is a hundred, then you get decent quality highways and the limit is the same. Just doesn’t make any sense.

Geoff

We have had the 100klm speed limit since we drove HQ holdens
cars are safer drivers over the age of 30 have less accidents since 1970 ( when the HQ was about) and really the goverment keeps telling us how they have made the roads beeter and smoother
Country roads should be 120klm where a dual divided road exists.
One council memeber dropped the 110klm speed limit to 100klm on a whim with no regard to public opinion on the Princess hwy.

Public opinion use to have a say …try asking the question

Geoff

thats funny

Muse

For once Newman may be on the right track, unfortunately for us he’s probably the last person we need on the ‘Anti-Nanny State’ bandwagon. We’ll never be taken seriously now
billy

I agree with Sam but why don’t we let the straightest highway in Australia (Geelong Highway) into a auto barn style road. It will bring people from all over Australia and even the world to drive on it.
Carl

What’s a “man revenue stream” ? Is that where only men are charged for speeding? I don’t understand

David T

It’s sometimes called a “Bachelorette Party” too.

David T

So now we have another “David T”? I Might have to add another denominator.

Cheers
The “original” David T.

David T

Ok, then I will add another.

David T – “Mine is bigger than yours!”

I thought the original David T was David Twomey – CA Reporter?

Jester

I’m sure its a spelling error on the site, maybe it meant to say “MAIN revenue stream”

Technofreak

this will never happen…before long we will all be doing 40…everywhere!

DGS

40!!! you reckless hoon!

the pedestrian council will want you locked up just for thinking of driving so dangerously fast.

won’t be long before we are not allowed to walk faster than a funeral march either if this madness is contagious.

http://www.caradvice.com.au OSU811

on highways and country roads it makes sense for the speed limit to be around 120km/h
as it gives you the ability to legally & SAFELY overtake trucks limited to 100km/h..
Who wants to be stuck behind a truck at 100km/h then be slowed down to well under that when it hits a hill????, Plus it cuts out travel time and driver fatigue!!!

Dave

and why not limit trucks to 105 to allow us to get around drivers that drive at 98km/h and then speed up to 101 at next available overtaking lane….we are generally on a cents per kilometer travelled rate, not an hourly rate!!!

Nick

If the government wants to make some serious revenue, they should turn the Geelong Hwy into an Autobahn and charge people depending on how quickly they get from point to point. The faster you get to the end the more you pay.

That way you can you can add some weight to the right foot legally and most people would be happy to pay for the chance to make the fast lane live up to its name.

The revenue from that would more than likely outweigh that of the current fine system.

kimmik

Nick made an interesting idea, stop voting him down.

Its one of the most educated suggestions i’ve heard in ages.

i`m not from here

Surprisingly I have to agree.The fines are here to feed the ever money hungry
government everybody knows that now.So make a system like a e-tag and charge according to speed. Ridiculous it may seem, but to us car-nuts,honestly we will never get unlimited or even high speed freeways EVER again. So we have to look for a way to make everyone happy. Government,hippies,car-freaks,soccer-mums,treasurer,media,the fudging queen etc.etc.
Seriously i`m so so tired of driving with a b-double 1 meter from my tail(in a left lane mind you) and there is nothing i can do about it because the sign says 80km/h with THE camera under every bridge.
Raise the limit,push the trucks in the left lane where they belong, if you have to pay to go fast , fine ,we`re doing it already anyway,whatever, DO SOMETHING!!!
P.S.:When I was 19 (10 years ago,had license for 6 months) i did the stretch from Passau to Munich (184 km) in 1 hr 12 min in my uncle`s 1984 M.B. 300d sedan so old cars or young age don`t mean s…ugar only competence , education and quality.

Ashley

I am with Sam. The problem in Australia is lack of lane discipline and older cars on the road. We should be rewarding drivers who invest in modern five star cars with advanced safety systems and keeping older cars and trucks at the slower speeds. It is time the motorists of Australia were heard.

Fenno

Qld- the capital of choose your own lane and stick with it.

http://caradvice craigMM

I usually ignore what Sam says, but this time he is just saying what I suspect a lot of people would like to. Unfortunately, with the power the media have, they’ve chosen to make him look stupid instead of opening some sort of debate. I hope though, this subject continues to iritate the TAC and government ,enough to make some changes!
Callous Aussie

SO sam Newman isn’t a complete idiot afterall. If anyone can push the “cameras = Revenue” message he can. Go for it Sam.
Andrew Juma

I am in absolute agreement with Sam Newman and everyone else who says that speed limits should be increased. The Geelong Highway, 180 limit. If you have the car, you should be allowed to go faster. Simple.
Robert

For once I also agree with Sam on this issue!
Paul

I don’t have any opinion about Sam Newman but at least he’s got the subject going.

1) On 3 lane British motorways, trucks are BANNED from the right lane… makes common sense when you see it in action.
2) The regular motorway speed limit in France is 130 km/h… the highest in Australia is 110 km/h… WHY so low?
3) In Germany they have a tailgating rule, with road markings to measure it, and they enforce it.
4) I’ve heard about VIC speed cameras being hidden in bin etc… what sort of sneaky BS is that?

If they want to raise revenue how about charging for advanced driver courses. They’re not even offered currently, let alone making them compulsory.

In all seriousness, they can’t raise speed limits with so many low performance drivers all over the road. They turn arterial roads into the equivalent of an Isle in a Coles shopping center. The authorities keep having to lower the speed limits as the roads get more crowded and driver training does nothing to keep up.

Tinman

Paul,you’re pretty well spot on!

Yonny

So Sam Newman isn’t a complete idiot after all! Though the timing of his comments couldn’t be much worse, coming as it does a few days after that accident in Victoria, which has got people all fired up (from comments I’ve read on various news web sites). The pity for those people who were so quick to comment is that the accident appears to have been caused primarily by alcohol, with grossly excessive speed merely a factor in the outcome. Let’s face it, the accident didn’t involve a sober driver driving at 63 km/h in a 60 zone – it involved a drunk teenager who had lost his licence, in an unregistered car, driving with too many passengers in a grossly stupid and irresponsible manner. Speed had very little to with it.

On the topic of that accident, the general feeling I got from the hundreds of comments was that the government should speed-limit cars, that if you get caught speeding you should lose your licence for life and your car should be crushed. Talk about over-reaction – but I have no doubt the state government was listening very closely to the mood of the public.

Mick

I think the recent accident at Mill Park goes to reinforce what Sam Newman is saying, raise speed limits on the highways, Hume, Calder, Geelong etc.

But its the suburban roads where we currently have problems. A drunk kid doing 140km in a 60-70km zone is never going to end well. In fact its lucky that he only killed the passengers in the car as it could have been multiple cars involved very easily.

By installing speed-limitors and crushing cars is only a knee jerk reaction and going to end up in increased frustration and just open up a new industry of ways to reprogram the chips to get around them.

Callous Aussie

The crushing of cars of repeat offenders is a fantastic idea. It has already started showing results in the USA. Where over here, someone in the backseat says “come on mate put the foot down” and the driver obliges, in the USA the response is “get stuffed I aint’t getting my car crushed for you”.

It needs to be done without delay. This clown was blind drunk. Pretty hard to believe that was a Falcon. All the safety in the world won’t stop these idiots killing themselves. Hit them where it hurts most. As someone said above, he could have killed people in an oncoming car just as easily.

It’s easy to immediately blame the speed. Yes it was a contributor but a) would have have been driving like that sober? …and b) Would that speed be less dangerous had he been sober?

http://www.betweentwopoints.com Andy

The scary thing is that Government seems to be listening to the squeals, when the accident you mention had everything to do with alcohol. Even if the driver had been travelling at the posted limit, it wouldn’t have ended well. I’m sure I heard a story on the radio about someone wanting to introduce speed limiters as a result of this accident, which dismays me.

I drove through England recently and their motorway limit was 70mph, which is roughly… give or take… 110kph. A stretch of highway like the one being mentioned (Geelong Highway) sounds like the kind of road that could stand to be at least 110kph. Considering how wide it is, if people aren’t confident at the higher speeds, then the very far left lane could be for those wanting to travel a little slower (hopefully without becoming a hazard in the process).

Unfortunately, I don’t think Sam is going to achieve much with this. Good luck to him, though.

new golf

our roads are generally good enough eg, hume, geelong highway, however the sad fact is that most of our drivers are not good enough. alot of people cant even drive comfortably at 100, nor do they know which lane they should be in when driving on a freeway or multi lane road like geelong road. drive the geelong road and you will see. your not taught about freeway driving or even tested on it in you drivers test. anyone who has driven in europe will understand, and will hate all those people doing 90 in the right lane!

id love to go faster, especially in a country where distance driving is so common, however im not sure i want all those other idiots driving faster.
ohreally

If people are going to start introducing new laws on what cars can drive when and where, they need to consider what will be introduced next.

Laws for what people can drive what cars.

EG people under 5ft should not drive cars taller than themselves.
eg people under 5 ft should not be behind the wheel of a Audi Q7, landcruiser, landrover, patrol etc.

They make carparks a nightmare.
Mad Max

Why do we have a blanket 100kmh speed limit in Victoria except for some freeways? I drive to Adelaide 3 to 4 times per year and we have 100kmh until just past Ballarat. Yet when you cross into SA the same road becomes 110kmh. Why is Vic 100? Almost all of SA is 110 and their accident rate is no worse than ours. Most of the highways in the US are 75mph and the UK70. Why is the Hume highway/freeway only a mix of 100 and 110? That road would be perfectly safe at 120.
For once I’m with Sam. Never thought I would say that!
WTF

I think that 120km/h is the ideal cruising speed on an open highway. The government’s knee-jerk reaction to reduce speed limits in an effort to reduce accidents is not the answer. People will still drive the speed they want to.

I agree that trucks should have their own lane and speed limit. There should be more monitoring of truck drivers than other motorists.

Why not learn from the countries like Germany who know how to build highways and regulate speed limits.

Jester

Would love to hear stats on how many of these co called speeding deaths have been caused by persons driving while actually being intoxicated well above 0.05. Bet you any money almost all people stacking at 140km/h would also be drunk when they crashed. Bottom line is, 99.999% of people are not suicidal, but alcohol makes them fearless, so they die. In my opinion, the main battle is to be fought against drink and drug driving, everything else will fall into proper place.
Up the speed limits and educate people and we will have a better country to live in.

Gibbo

Of course the motorway speeds in this country should be higher – 130km/h atleast. To quote Jeremy Clarkson “Speed doesnt kill any one, suddenly becomming stationary – thats what gets you” If people are going to kill them selves by doing stupid things on the road, let them, (its part of Darwin’s theroy of evolution and natural selection – breeding the idiots out of society) the rest of the public shouldnt have to suffer with redicuolsly low speed limits and other red tape as a consequense of a small group of idiots who dont have any respect for the laws of physics and that a motor vecicle is/isnt capable of.
UMWAHT

Sam Newman for Prime Minister!
spellbound

I always get noddy when i sit on the one speed constantly , mix it up , 90 here 120 there , over here 110 , thats the biggest problem with fatigue , one boring speed.

Victoria one boring mind sapping limit 100 k except for a few stretches .

Keep them alert mix it up , sam you goose , your right .
Jester

Of course he is right, and having trucks and cars all doing 100kmh is just crazy – speed limits on stretches kms long should be higher than pathetically slow 100kmh – its all about revenue, if they would put it up to at least 120kmh then everyone, or pretty much everyone would drive 120kmh, and the government and the cops do not want this – its simple, money and employment for the cops.
XR6T GOD

How’s this for world gone mad. Here in WA we have just had a new extension to our southern freeway that turns into a hwy at a given point. Now the freeway was designed to European standards rated to 130km/h, we can only travel at 100km/h on it, but wait for it, when the freeway turns into the hwy the speed limit goes up to 110km/h, and the condition of the new hwy is not as good as the fwy. It make no sense, the road is almost completely straight from Perth to Bunbury.

Jester

Its complete idiotism, that’s what it is – and there are people we can press to start the ball rolling – imagine everyone writing an email or letter to their roads ministers or police ministers demanding the speed limits be raised – they would sooner or later listen, its a fact. If we are all quiet and never say anything we will end up with 40km/h speed limits on highways, and there is only us to blame – so how about everyone gets busy and starts writing. Stupid country, the size of Oz but with speed limits that belong to L:uxmbourg or Monaco – its just crazy.
Democracy us about speaking about – and not about being scared and following direction set by some bureaucrats and cops with a hidden agenda(employemnt and salaries for their members).

UMWAHT

lets crash our cars in police departments that’ll show em’
Eren

Someone getting press coverage for stating the obvious! About time too! Spreading the word with rational debate and logic will soon see this rubbish crusade on small speeding offences come to an end.

I’m getting the ball rolling on Facebook (What better way than social networking to start)

Group: The Safety Camera – NSW says NO!

Even if you don’t live in NSW, take a minute to read the information.

Cheers,
Eren
Glenjamin

100% with Sam. The problem however is exactly as many of you have touched on: the lack of driver training in Australia. im 19 years old and that according to the nannys puts me in the highest risk catagory of driver however i feel most of that is attributed to the sham of a driving test i went through to gain the privledge to drive on our roads. 25 mins of driving around the suburban streets of southeast melbourne with an angle park thrown in for good measure.

currently im writing this from Parkes in NSW after just driving from melbourne to Cairns and am now on the way back. no where in my test did i drive on a highway, merge, overtake, drive on a dirt road etc etc. now surely if i wasnt tested for these things i musnt be able to do them. but sure enough im able to and i have.

i bring the attention of the jury to the country of Finland. Dirt driving tests, skid pans, 5 or more tests all designed to truely teach you about the limitations of a vehicle and the responsibility needed to drive. the reality of the situation is that without the proper respect for our road rules and the proper respect for the motor car well continue to crash and burn.

if you want higher speed limits you need better education for better drivers and untill the state governments pull their heads out of their asses it just wont happen.
Andrew M

The main thing I agree with is trucks not in the right lane.

The no or raising speed limits thing is a little more in depth than most want to recognise IMO.

The higher the speed limits, the greater varience of speeds amongst other drivers, and that is a big problem.
Someone doing 110 on the M1 coming up on someone doing 80 is a very dangerous situation.
We need to fix driving habits/education first.
A lot of people dont understand how to merge let alone which lane they should be in.
I reckon people must be ashamed to be in the left lane in fear associating it with the dunce hat.

On the 4 lane M1, overtaking goes in any lane, and its not the fault of the person actually doing the overtaking in the left lane, but the wally who thinks its fine to sit in the 2nd or 3rd lane.
Increasing speeds on current driver habits would be deadly.

Sure some people may claim to be schumacher, or the most “learned” driver on the road, but sorry, you cant be granted an exclusive pass. We all get tared with the same brush whether or not we a competant behind the wheel.
Andrew M

Oh and on driving tests, I agree.
IMO you dont learn anything till you have full control of a vehicle yourself.
The hardest thing to teach is common sense and maturity. (in fact its probably not even teachable)

Unfortunately some will never get either of those
abs

I believe he is RIGHT…
- If retards want to drink upto 0.19 and die… They are most welcome to…
- In fact we should have atleast 130kmph…
- SPEED DOESNT KILL PEOPLE… PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE!!!

DGS

Somehow the D***heads who keep wailing on about speed being the big killer on our roads and wanting to slow us all down to a crawl and punish anyone who drives at the speeds the roads where designed for, choose to forget that much of the time speed is a symptom (not the problem in itself) of another problem that does cause accidents.

Alcohol distorts more than just reaction times, you can loose your judgement for how fast you are moving and what the capabilities of any machine you are opperating are, only being corrected when something happens to point it out. On a simulator you can just laugh and have another drink, on the roads you are driving to fast and just lost it, maybe your life and/or someone elses.

Fatiuge and Drugs (pescription and illegal) can also affect a persons judgement and awareness for how fast they are moveing. If someone not used to driving for 5 hours at a time starts to get fatigued while doing so, they are likely to start to find their speed creeping up, steering less presise and reaction times being slower. Any resulting acciedent will involve speed, but speed will not be the actual cause.

Jason

I agree with Sam’s comments. Road legislation is rarely reviewed with a view to the changes in vehicle design or their capabilities. Unfortunately law making in this regard is based on what happened in yesterdays news. By all means, get the hoons off the roads. Imposing 10 year bans or more and crush their cars. The price for the scrap metal can go to the police or driver education. Apply night time curfew to drivers over 70 and require then to have mandatory yearly medical tests. Keep trucks to the left lane on multiple lane roads. Compulsory annual roadworthy checks for cars over 10 years old. Do whatever it takes to make the roads safer but for the vast majority who are good drivers allow them to drive on freeways or motorways roads at a reasonable speed.
Cupid Stunt

Just love the extra speed we can drive in the UK. Just done a 340km drive from Eastbourne (South Coast) back home to Plymouth and set the cruise control at 146kmh some of the way, no problems just a few lane hoggers to bounce off the bumper. Love it.
Robert Whiter

Posting on this and many other subjects is fine however we should all be careful with what we say. Here are some of the “few” facts that can be relied on when dealing with this complex and politically charged issue.

There IS a statistically conclusive relationship between speed and the level of injury sustained in the event of an accident. Ergo Speed does introduce an increased level of risk of injury in the event of an accident sorry folks no way around that one.

However our authorities regularly use this fact to justify reduced speed limits especially low speed limits (that means NOT motorways) and in this area the statistics are FAR less clear. Current research does not prove conclusively that reducing low speed limits offers any long term benefit in reduced injuries or reduction in accident levels. (see TAC stats in Vic for post 50Kph introduction as a case in point)

So in the case of the former Sam is flat out wrong 130kph on the freeways is likely to see an increase in injury levels and possibly accidents as well, but in the case of the later the current research suggests he is probably right, as reductions and micro level enforcement of a wide variety of limits across the urban road network are unlikely to be beneficial for either accident levels or injuries if the current research experience is mirrored.

NB It is interesting to note that in ANZ we exclude from our studies almost ALL low speed incidents which is unusual by world standards and this has a curious impact of removing from our studies one of the two “statistical risk areas” of accidents which are most common at BOTH the lower and higher ends of the speed range. (That means that statistically the safest speed to travel at is the mean average speed)

This exclusion allows our enforcement organizations to claim that speed reduction alone is the most effective tool in reduction of accidents AND severity of accidents. Where as the current worldwide body of research support conclusively only the severity argument and offer a far less conclusive case for reduction in accidents. (Again that excludes motorway stats which again unfortunately for Sam do show a more solid relationship between increasing average speed and increased accident rates)
Tinman

Sam Newman is just another mouth looking for a brain!
ABMPSV

Spot on. Just look at German statistics. In 1972, there were 20,000 deaths on West German roads. In 2009, there were 4100, despite 20 million more people on the road (including the old East Germany) and there is no spped limit in Germany. On one of the website Mercedes safety expert saying ” The vice president of safety development for Mercedes-Benz, Ulrich Mellinghoff, says crash avoidance systems, better roads and more roundabouts would do more to cut the road toll than tougher speeding laws.”
Sumpguard

I live in Cairns and had been away from Melbourne for 16 years when I returned via the Geelong Freeway afetr doing the coastal route from Adelaide where we picked up our hire car. When I left Melbourne all those years ago the Princes Highway to Geelong was only two lanes. So imagine my surprise to find a 4 lane road? I commented to my partner that only in Victoria would a road like this be posted at 100km/h.

Sam’s spot on this time. It’s ridiculous. The Hume Highway was engineered for a 130 km/h cruise speed at a time when cars were far less capable (and safe) than today. Today even the cars that fall asleep on those roads. Not just the drivers. It is a revenue stream and nothing else.
http://Audi Robj

Because he is a total &^%$head his comments will not be take n seriously. But, he is right.
won-booja

i agree with sam. he also needs to get banged in his rear so hes eyes can open up a bit more
Glen

In a democracy the people make the rules. Let the people set the speed limits. Measure the median (average) speed and set the speed limit to the nearest 10 kph above that.
Michael

I’ve noticed most people driving Sydney to Canberra do 120-130 already. This suggests the limit needs to be higher.