ArthurDent Posted July 18, 2021 Posted July 18, 2021 (edited) Some pics were posted in one of my VeeDub groups from the recent Mt Morgan Gold Rush Hill Sprint. Nice bit of road I thought so I checked it out on Google maps. Very nice bit of road indeed is the Burnett Highway and then I saw this nonsense. 40km/hr advisory signs on the tighter corners don't really mean much when the entire 3km section of a normally 100km/hr HIGHWAY is restricted to 40km/hr. WTF, just something they do in Queensland or coming soon to every decent twisty bit of road in Australia? Edited July 19, 2021 by ArthurDent 1
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 Nobody has any views on this. All happy to live in a nanny state where speed limits are set to cater for the least capable who frankly shouldn't be driving on our roads anyway. Already happening in Victoria. Roads that were 100km/hr are now 80km/hr and 80km/hr sections are being knocked back to 60km/hr. The Reefton Spur at 60km/hr or maybe even 40km/hr. Wow that will be fun.
Guest Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 No shoulder, big drop off, blind corners, yep can understand the 40kmh. Not saying I agree with it, but can see why. Assuming cyclists can and do also use this road? Another consideration. If you want to race, go to a track day perhaps. IMO public roads should be about safety first and foremost, not the driving experience (speaking as a car enthusiast, and having participated in motor racing in various forms for 15+ years). 12
Luc Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 Nope, no views about it at all. Way more important things to worry about than speed limits. 4
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 6 minutes ago, Batty said: Get used to it, there will be more to come. The folks who use the Maroondah Highway don't want to get used to it. No community consultation. 20km/hr speed reduction.
Batty Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) Been happening in SA for over 10 years, it will reach everywhere in the name of road safety. Edited July 19, 2021 by Batty
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Marc said: No shoulder, big drop off, blind corners, yep can understand the 40kmh. Not saying I agree with it, but can see why. Assuming cyclists can and do also use this road? Another consideration. If you want to race, go to a track day perhaps. IMO public roads should be about safety first and foremost, not the driving experience. It's not about racing, it's about sensible speed limits and 40km/hr for this 3km section of road is ridiculous. 40km/hr is for school zones in narrow suburban streets. If country public roads were all about safety then our governments would fix them. Edited July 19, 2021 by ArthurDent 2
Guest Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 It doesn't sound "ridiculous" to me. But of course I'm going on a single image of one corner I've seen on an internet thread. If my wife, friends, or family used this road to commute - and happened to break down around that corner, I would prefer knowing someone driving in a spirited manner would be going at a speed that would allow them to react rather than killing the lot of them. I don't see any problem with putting road safety ahead of the wishes of driving enthusiasts. 2
zipstartcanoe Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) Personally, I would rather drivers not spend their time looking at their speedo with what appears to be an arbitrary limit and instead focused on the road and any exceptional risks. Edited July 19, 2021 by zipstartcanoe 2
metal beat Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 5 minutes ago, Marc said: It doesn't sound "ridiculous" to me. But of course I'm going on a single image of one corner I've seen on an internet thread. If my wife, friends, or family used this road to commute - and happened to break down around that corner, I would prefer knowing someone driving in a spirited manner would be going at a speed that would allow them to react rather than killing the lot of them. I don't see any problem with putting road safety ahead of the wishes of driving enthusiasts. Tragedy can happen anywhere at any time, including what happened this morning in Melb. Woman killed on Melbourne's Monash Freeway after helping driver https://www.9news.com.au/national/monash-freeway-crash-woman-dead-after-helping-another-driver-in-endeavour-hills/353c2bb7-c7f8-4b9b-8cdb-7effc8fcc183
buddyev Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 31 minutes ago, ArthurDent said: Nobody has any views on this. All happy to live in a nanny state where speed limits are set to cater for the least capable who frankly shouldn't be driving on our roads anyway. Obviously time to cut the least capable adrift. We can't have them interfering with the liberties of the local Volkswagen club. 2 3
manchu Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, ArthurDent said: he folks who use the Maroondah Highway don't want to get used to it. No community consultation. 20km/hr speed reduction Community consultation would be a waste of time IMO. Too ill informed of the bigger picture and too many personal agendas. I use Maroondah highway daily and welcome the 20kmh reduction. I'm crossing it though so it's more of a help than hindrance. Same goes for Research-Warrandyte road that I live off, which changed from 80 to 60kmh a few years ago. It was bloody treacherous trying to enter that road sometimes with cars rounding the bends in either direction at 80kmh++. I generally don't have a problem with reduced speed limits (or at least accept that there's little point ****ing about it) , but what I really hate is those relatively low limits in conjunction with Victoria's lack of leniency for speeding. 'Policing' with an clear goal of revenue raising, not addressing legitimate safety concerns doesn't help either. 5
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Marc said: It doesn't sound "ridiculous" to me. But of course I'm going on a single image of one corner I've seen on an internet thread. If my wife, friends, or family used this road to commute - and happened to break down around that corner, I would prefer knowing someone driving in a spirited manner would be going at a speed that would allow them to react rather than killing the lot of them. I don't see any problem with putting road safety ahead of the wishes of driving enthusiasts. The chosen single image was selected because it showed a tighter corner with a sensible 40km/hr advisory sign as well as a blanket 40km/hr speed limit sign in a single frame. Another more typical section of the road. Note the Google annotation on the road, the Burnett Highway Edited July 19, 2021 by ArthurDent 1
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 12 minutes ago, buddyev said: Obviously time to cut the least capable adrift. We can't have them interfering with the liberties of the local Volkswagen club. I don't want to cut them adrift at all. I just wish someone would teach them how to drive. Speed doesn't kill. Idiots do and they kill at any speed. 3
Guest Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 Not here to argue, but just wanted to share my (perhaps unpopular) opinion. I still see no shoulder on that road - which at least in VIC these days, seems to be the determining factor of road speeds (along with traffic and accident records). 2 minutes ago, ArthurDent said: Speed doesn't kill. Idiots do and they kill at any speed. Exactly. Sadly the idiots are all around us though. This is done for and because of the idiots. 2
zipstartcanoe Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) In my experience, unreasonably low limits create frusutration and disprortionally high level of silly overtaking. That said, we live in a world where rules are set by the capacity to enforce, not to encourage a lower level of quatifiable risk. Hence, a professional motorsport driver in the middle of the day in a brand new high performace vehicle in perfect weather is restricted to the same limits as your Nan, at 3am in a torrential downpour in her 40 year old banger with no ABS / ASC etc - daft. Edited July 19, 2021 by zipstartcanoe 3
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Marc said: Not here to argue, but just wanted to share my (perhaps unpopular) opinion. I still see no shoulder on that road - which at least in VIC these days, seems to be the determining factor of road speeds (along with traffic and accident records). At least it has barriers One of my favorite drives, narrower road, less shoulder, few outside barriers, trees, often wet. Edit: Forgot to add. 100km/hr speed limit. Rated by many as one of Australia's best driving roads. Enjoy it while you can. Edited July 19, 2021 by ArthurDent
Guest Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 OK so this stretch of road is specifically used for an hill sprint (in a controlled manner): It's no wonder then they've had to drop the general speed limit (outside of controlled events). Would like to see the incident report attached to this stretch of road.
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, Marc said: OK so this stretch of road is specifically used for an hill sprint (in a controlled manner): It's no wonder then they've had to drop the general speed limit (outside of controlled events). Would like to see the incident report attached to this stretch of road. As per the first line of this thread. See how good the road is though. 40km/hr is once again, ridiculous. Even Mount Panorama tourist road is 60km/hr. Wonder what the incident report is like for that. 2
Guest Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 Looks like this a history here of fatal accidents: https://www.google.com/search?q=mt+morgan+Burnett+Highway+accident
zipstartcanoe Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 Stats on effects without correlated causation is useless though Marc. I'd suggest that the single driver incidents would likely occur irrespective of any limit imposed as they are likely a result of complete diregard for any limit or driver impairment. 1
Guest Old Man Rubber Posted July 19, 2021 Posted July 19, 2021 59 minutes ago, ArthurDent said: Nobody has any views on this. All happy to live in a nanny state where speed limits are set to cater for the least capable who frankly shouldn't be driving on our roads anyway. Already happening in Victoria. Roads that were 100km/hr are now 80km/hr and 80km/hr sections are being knocked back to 60km/hr. The Reefton Spur at 60km/hr or maybe even 40km/hr. Wow that will be fun. I do a lot of driving. As in a couple of years ago I did 45,000km in one year around mid to south eastern Australia with a small foray into SA at one point. Let me tell you the sheer incompetence of a lot of drivers out there makes me happy that those speed limits are posted. Morons from the city on motorbikes are largely to blame, they regularly spear off the road on all the "ooh this is a fun twisty road" and cause havoc for other road users when they become a meat crayon. Or the other morons in their hoon mobiles who seem to take great offence at finding another road user in the way of their death-or-glory attempt at taking the advised corner speed as something they should aim to triple, only to understeer into the path of oncoming traffic. If you find yourself offended by the horror (the horror!) of a posted speed limit you disagree with, suck it up. I don't care if you have the skills and concentration of Jack Brabham, more likely you'll end up like Peter Brock. i.e. upside down and dead and putting other peoples lives at risk. It's selfish and stupid. If you want to live out your fast car fantasy, go to a track like a responsible person.
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 6 minutes ago, Marc said: Looks like this a history here of fatal accidents: https://www.google.com/search?q=mt+morgan+Burnett+Highway+accident I looked at the first half dozen of those links. None of those incidents occurred on the section of road we're talking about. Some were 40kms away. 1
ArthurDent Posted July 19, 2021 Author Posted July 19, 2021 6 minutes ago, Old Man Rubber said: I do a lot of driving. As in a couple of years ago I did 45,000km in one year around mid to south eastern Australia with a small foray into SA at one point. Let me tell you the sheer incompetence of a lot of drivers out there makes me happy that those speed limits are posted. Morons from the city on motorbikes are largely to blame, they regularly spear off the road on all the "ooh this is a fun twisty road" and cause havoc for other road users when they become a meat crayon. Or the other morons in their hoon mobiles who seem to take great offence at finding another road user in the way of their death-or-glory attempt at taking the advised corner speed as something they should aim to triple, only to understeer into the path of oncoming traffic. If you find yourself offended by the horror (the horror!) of a posted speed limit you disagree with, suck it up. I don't care if you have the skills and concentration of Jack Brabham, more likely you'll end up like Peter Brock. i.e. upside down and dead and putting other peoples lives at risk. It's selfish and stupid. If you want to live out your fast car fantasy, go to a track like a responsible person. I'm not living out a fast car fantasy mate. I drive sensibly and within posted speed limits. I'm just pointing out the stupidity of a 40km/hr speed limit on what looks like a very well built section of highway. Sadly other roads, especially in Victoria are in a very sad state of repair and rather than fix them our governments are taking the easy cheap option of lowering speed limits. 3
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