Lower speed is unnecessary
Is this not proof enough that the council is only interested in revenue raising?
There have been a few accidents on Woy Woy Rd over the past couple of years, I'm talking single digits, and yet this does not fall into an "acceptable" range?
While I of course want to minimise accidents on the roads, the fact is that there is such a thing as "human error" and on a road with poor shoulders such as Woy Woy Rd, human error has a greater margin for disaster regardless of a 20 km/h speed difference.
Not only that, but the difference between the amount of accidents to the previous figures to now is likely to increase due to an increase in road rage and other drivers attempting to overtake those doing 60 km/h and lower on Woy Woy Rd.
Add to that the added congestion and extra lengthy queues during peak hour which trail through to heading down Bulls Hill, it is a recipe for nothing less than stress, frustration and more trouble.
The RTA, our councils and governments thrive on misinformation when it comes to driving.
Speeding is not a leading cause of road accidents or deaths, but it is the easiest thing to police and make money from.
Speed is a factor in any driving situation and can determine the outcome, but it is rarely speed itself which causes the accident.
Drivers who do not adjust their speed to poor weather conditions are simply making stupid choices.
Driving across a patch of oil is disastrous regardless of the speed you're travelling at.
While I understand that there is a limit to how fast one can safely travel on any given road, such speeds are much, much higher than our councils and governments limit our roads to.
Why do you think people are caught doing speeds at double the limit and higher?
They didn't get caught after they crashed,.
They were caught while they were driving at such speeds - and you can almost guarantee that they'd done it previously on other occasions without being caught.
The reduced speed limit is raising the ire of commuters.
I travel on the road every day and it is frustrating enough that I have to travel from Sydney in poor traffic on the F3, to also be stuck behind people whose driving skills I call into question doing much slower speeds than are necessary on Woy Woy Rd.
I know for a fact that every single corner on Woy Woy Rd can be taken at 80 km/h safely and easily, with the exception of two in the wet.
This restriction is unfair and unnecessary.
The guardrail at the site of the most recent accident, which occurred at least two months ago, has still not been repaired.
I suppose repairing the guardrail will cost money, and given how few accidents actually occur on Woy Woy Rd, there isn't actually any real need to repair it.
Bring an end to the misinformation about driving at high speeds.
Just teach people to drive safely and accidents will be limited to honest mistakes, environmental factors and people just plain being inconsiderate.
Hopefully, there will be fewer accidents caused by driver ignorance.
Letter, 13 Oct 2009
David Pardy, Ettalong Beach