THE LOWERING OF SPEED LIMITS IN THE ADELAIDE HILLS: PUBLIC OPINION AND ON-ROAD OBSERVATIONS

In December 2001 speed limits on a selected group of roads in the Adelaide Hills and Mt Barker Council Areas were reduced from 100 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour based on assessments of appropriate speed limits for the roads concerned. A publicity campaign was conducted by the State Government to inform people of the pending change in speed limit. Telephone questionnaire surveys were conducted two months prior to the introduction of the scheme and at the same time in the following year. Thirteen speed monitoring sites (of which five had limits maintained at 100 kilometres per hour) provided data on speeds before and after the introduction of the 80 kilometres per hour limit as an indicative measure only. It was found that the scheme had been well accepted by Hills residents with no major issues arising. Speed monitoring suggested that speeds on the 80 kilometres per hour sections had dropped compared with control sites, and absolutely, by several kilometres per hour. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E210298.