Question Time

SPEED LIMITS

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:25): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Regional Development a question about regional antidevelopment.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The state government, including the Minister for Regional Development, has cut the speed limit on 723 kilometres of roads in regional South Australia. Instead of 110 km/h, they are now 100 km/h. If it were possible to drive every one of those roads contiguously, the journey would now take almost an hour longer. The speed limit has been cut against the advice of many, including, among others, the Australian Driving Institute. The RAA now estimates that the backlog in road maintenance for our regional roads is some $400 million.

The very sensible 110 km/h speed limit has been in effect for years, probably since before the minister had a driving licence. Since then, cars have been equipped with one or more of the following: airbags, traction control, anti-lock braking systems, autonomous cruise-control systems, blind-spot information systems, collision avoidance systems, cornering brake control, crumple zones, driver drowsiness detection, electronic stability control, emergency brake assist, frontal protection systems, tyre pressure monitoring systems and wheel speed sensors. My questions to the minister are:

1. How many more safety innovations will need to be invented and built into cars before the government restores spending on regional roads or introduces the very sensible precaution, enshrined in legislation in the early days of horseless carriages over 100 years ago, of having a man walk in front of every single moving vehicle with a bell and a red flag?

2. When will the government accept its responsibility for regional development and start a program of upgrading the roads, instead of revenue raising by imposing unrealistic speed restrictions?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:27): I thank the Hon. David Ridgway for his most important questions, which is extremely disappointing to see, given that this initiative is about saving lives. I think the Hon. David Ridgway should be ashamed of himself that he is not prepared to take every possible measure to reduce the carnage on our roads and particularly the carnage on our regional roads. I think that I have been advised that almost one-fifth of road fatalities and serious injuries occur on regional roads. It is an absolute disgrace that he is not prepared to take every possible measure to save lives. I have been advised by the Minister for Road Safety—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway should suffer in silence.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —that the Commissioner of Highways has recently approved the reduction of speed limits on 45 sections of road within approximately 100 kilometres of Adelaide and Yorke Peninsula from 110 km/h to 100 km/h. I am advised that, by reducing the speed limit on these roads, we could save 12 casualty crashes per year. Importantly, these changes will be in place before the busy Christmas holiday period.

I understand that these figures are based on the impact that previous reductions in speed limits have had elsewhere, not only in this state, where previous reductions have had a significant impact on road fatalities and serious injuries, but also in other states—and these figures are well informed.

Unfortunately, I lost my younger brother to a road fatality. It was not on a regional road, even though we certainly did live in a regional centre. Probably each and every one of us in this room would have some personal experience, either directly or indirectly, with the tragedy associated with road carnage. I am particularly motivated to make sure that we do everything in our power to save lives on our roads. The Weatherill government is taking immediate action to achieve the community's target to reduce the road toll by at least 30 per cent by the end of the decade. This is outlined in the new road safety strategy Towards Zero Together and features prominently as part of our Strategic Plan.

I am advised that, over the past five years, more than $110 million has been invested into arterial roads, so we are indeed spending a great deal of money on our roads. In addition, around $371 million has been spent on road maintenance over the same period in rural South Australia—$371 million on rural roads—using a combination of both state and federal funding. Road safety infrastructure improvements are an integral of our road safety strategy, but we must be compliant with other measures. Reducing average speed limits, the data shows us, is the most effective way to reduce trauma and produce significant and immediate road safety benefits.