Speed limits in New Zealand

A 30 mile (48 kilometre) per hour speed limit was imposed in 1930. The limit was raised as vehicles became more powerful.[1] Emergency legislation during the Second World War had amended the general speed limit set by the 1936 Traffic Regulations to 40 mph in order to reduce tyre wear and improve road safety.[2] In 1948, the general speed limit was increased to 50 mph.[3][4] The default speed limit got raised to 55 miles per hour (89 km/h) in 1962. In 1969, some open road speed limits were increased to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).[5]

On 4 December 1973, the default open road speed limit got dropped to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h); this was partly a fuel saving measure in response to the 1973 oil crisis. When New Zealand metricated in 1975, the 50 mph speed limit became 80 km/h while the urban 30 mph speed limit became 50 km/h.[6] Metric speed limits included the legend "km/h" to distinguish them from imperial speed limits; this was dropped from 1987 onwards. On 1 July 1985, the open road speed limit was raised to 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) and this remains the default speed limit today.[6]

Enforcement of New Zealand road speed limits was traditionally done using police speed cameras set up and operated by the police. In 1993, mobile speed cameras were introduced.[1]

Significant changes were made to the rules for setting speed limits in 2003 and 2011, including provision for 40 km/h limits. However, it was then necessary to introduce the Land Transport (Speed Limits Validation) Bill in 2015 to confirm the legitimacy of the previous changes.[7] Another significant change in August 2017 introduced a provision for 110 km/h limits on some motorways and expressways.[8]

By default, the speed limit is 50 km/h in urban and built-up areas, and 100 km/h outside urban and built-up areas and on expressways and motorways.[9]

Other speed limits include:[10]

• 110 km/h – found on selected high-quality motorways and expressways.[8]
• 90 km/h – used sparingly as a compromise between an 80 km/h and a 100 km/h limit.
• 80 km/h – generally found on rural access roads, winding rural roads, and limited-access urban arterial roads. Between metrication in 1975 and 1985, 80 km/h was the open road limit.[11]
• 70 km/h – used sparingly as a compromise between a 60 km/h and an 80 km/h limit. Historically it has been used in small country towns, urban fringes (often preceding a change from the open limit to urban limit), or where development is on only one side of the road.
• 60 km/h – generally found on urban arterial roads, including those through rural townships.
• 40 km/h – generally found in residential areas. The Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2003 allowed councils to set limits below 50 km/h in urban areas.[12] Since then many councils have set lower limits. For example, Safer Speed Areas were first introduced in Hamilton in 2011 and by 2014 there were 36 of them.[13]
• 30 km/h – generally found in some city centres with high pedestrian traffic, and since 2023 in selected areas around schools.
• 20 km/h – when approaching and passing a school bus that has stopped on either side of the road to pick up or set down passengers. This speed limit applies to traffic travelling in both directions. Also applies when passing an accident scene.
• 10 km/h – Often found in designated locations such as car parks and other places where many vehicles and pedestrians share the road (Shared Zones).

Advisory speeds are often given for road bends, corners, humps, dips and other short sections of road where driving at the speed limit may be uncomfortable or unsafe. These advisory speeds are indicated by a yellow sign with black lettering.[17] They advise of a comfortable speed through a corner in dry weather for a light motor vehicle.[18] Heavy vehicle drivers are advised to keep 10 km/h below the advisory speed to avoid exceeding the static rollover threshold.[19]

Although there is no minimum posted speed limit, it is illegal to drive at an "unreasonably slow speed" which means slow drivers are required by law to pull over to the side of the road to allow queues of cars behind them to pass.[20] The police can and do enforce this law in which the offending driver is given anything from an NZ$150 infringement notice for "Inconsiderate Driving" to possibly an indictment for careless driving which is usually dealt with by the courts.[20]

Certain types and combinations of vehicles have operating speed limits that need to be obeyed if they are less than the posted speed limit. For example: Vehicles towing trailers or another vehicle with a rigid towing connection are limited to 90 km/h. If the towing connection is not rigid, such as a rope or strop, then the operating limit is 50 km/h, apart from disabled motorcycles.

New Zealand speed limit signs follow the European model of a number inside a red circle. Sometimes, the open road limit occurs as a black forward slash inside a thin black ring (similar to the UK's National Speed Limit sign).

• 
  10 km/h speed limit
• 
  20 km/h speed limit
• 
  30 km/h speed limit
• 
  40 km/h speed limit
• 
  50 km/h speed limit
• 
  60 km/h speed limit
• 
  70 km/h speed limit
• 
  80 km/h speed limit
• 
  90 km/h speed limit
• 
  100 km/h speed limit (this is the maximum legal speed for motor vehicles in New Zealand, unless otherwise specified)
• 
  (R1-1.2) 110 km/h speed limit
• 
  Speed Limit Derestriction (open road with no posted speed limit, but the maximum legal limit of 100 km/h still must be obeyed)
• 
  15 km/h advisory speed
• 
  25 km/h advisory speed
• 
  35 km/h advisory speed
• 
  45 km/h advisory speed
• 
  55 km/h advisory speed
• 
  65 km/h advisory speed
• 
  75 km/h advisory speed
• 
  85 km/h advisory speed
• 
  95 km/h advisory speed
• 
  Limited Speed Zone (no longer in use)

• Speed limits, New Zealand Road Code.
• Policy and procedures for setting speed limits, Speed Limits New Zealand.

Citations