NT Open Speed Limit

[Pub247]

Doesn't matter how good a driver you are, a blown tyre at 200+ generally don't end too well

When i worked in NT when it was open speed limits
i saw a few crashes including my own car when i hit a roo.

One on the front page of the paper was a blowout at 160kph and i bet it wasnt much different to one at 200kph and to be honest the car wasnt bad and both people in the ute (ford au xr8) walked away with minor injuries.

Another guy hit a cow (at night) at 120kph put him in hospital for 3 days.

I hit 3 kangaroos driving at night did some panel damge but other than that nothing major i was doing prolly 150 at the time and slower when they actually hit.

Doesnt really matter how fast your going alot of things that go wrong you cant predict i would never drive at night again out there unless i had too.


Where i worked it was in yulara it was 450klm to alice springs google says it's a 6 hours drive i use to do it in under 3 hours sit on about 160kph the whole way. Trust me much better to drive in 3 hours than 6.

And if you've never done it then you wouldnt how safe or dangerous it was

 

[c2105026]

it all comes down to driver training to travel at speed.
due to the very poor way the licence system is in aus, limits will not be raised to anything decent.
also the road surfaces, if they were built properly there would be no issues, but again its poor.
and lastly road design, don't get me started. Donnybrook rd turn off southbound on the Hume, lets just have a sharp 180 offcamber at 100kph that's blind, muppets :/


there was something on the autobahns in Germany on tv last night, it actually showed they have used their brains with everypart of the road and their licencing. and not to forget their accident response people. 15minutes max for one of their rescue helis to arrive from one of 36 or so stations.
unfortunately our roads aren't like that and everything else that would need to be done wont be done.
.

A significant problem we have in Australia is that we have very few taxpayers per km of highway. In fact it is a 15th of what it is in America. When I was with the RTA at Dubbo we had 600km of highway overseen by about 4 crews of 4-5 people each. Standard pavement has a lifespan of about 20 years; however I can certainly confirm we weren't re-habbing 5% of the network in any year. 2% maybe. It comes down to money and resources. I imagine situation in NT would be quite grim, population of 150,000 with all that highway...

OTOH Germany, UK, and USA have had freeways since the 60s (or earlier) because they had the critical mass of population density.

 

[Rusty]

When i worked in NT when it was open speed limits
i saw a few crashes including my own car when i hit a roo.

One on the front page of the paper was a blowout at 160kph and i bet it wasnt much different to one at 200kph and to be honest the car wasnt bad and both people in the ute (ford au xr8) walked away with minor injuries.

Another guy hit a cow (at night) at 120kph put him in hospital for 3 days.

I hit 3 kangaroos driving at night did some panel damge but other than that nothing major i was doing prolly 150 at the time and slower when they actually hit.

Doesnt really matter how fast your going alot of things that go wrong you cant predict i would never drive at night again out there unless i had too.


Where i worked it was in yulara it was 450klm to alice springs google says it's a 6 hours drive i use to do it in under 3 hours sit on about 160kph the whole way. Trust me much better to drive in 3 hours than 6.

And if you've never done it then you wouldnt how safe or dangerous it was

Ive done karratha to Perth many time which is a good 1400km plus in one sitting. Hitting a cow at under 110km as opposed to over 200 would have a lot less carnage. I struggled slowing from 110km to avoid animals all the time.

Hit many a roo and have had a vehicle over 280km and I assure you it doesn't feel safe. I reckon hitting a bird at that pace would almost take your head off

 

[kingyinperth]

@ PUB247 ..Yep NEVER drive at night unless its completely unavoidable(have to keep your speed right down too if you do drive in these conditions due to various obsticles)...otherwise I also have no issue with sitting at the speeds you mentioned on decent roads with good to very good visibility and a modern,well braked and handling car.In general there wont be much traffic around and its fairly easy to back off when you see potential risk in the daytime.

EDIT : done perth to newman(1200) a few times ALL in daylight,one scary moment..back off when spotting cattle near the roadside...crows,hawks can be scary tho,those bastards like to pick at their roadkill up until the last second!!

 

[c2105026]

Out Byrock way (i.e. between Nyngan and Bourke) the police have told the public unofficially that at night they are free to drive as fast as they like; HWP don't work out there at night, way too dangerous due to fauna.

Even around Orange I don't like driving at night in the country. I have hit a kangaroo and a wallaby in the past, that's enough for now......

 

[Pub247]

I never said anything about 200kph i said 120-160 kph. I had my car at the time up to 190kph and it go too floaty to go any faster so i backed off to where it was comfortable to drive at.

You must have had **** brakes i had a camel walk out in front of me @ 150kph and as kingy said with daytime visability i managed to slow down fine i even had t drive off road because the bastard wouldn't move.

If i had to go to alice springs to buy stuff i much rather make it a day trip with 6 hours around trip driving than spend 12 hours of daylight driving. you leave at 5 am you'd be in alice by 8am spend most of day there be home by 6pm

 

[Ian Johnston]

Back in my "younger" days(early 70s), there was no real speed limit in SA. You could drive at 130-150kph, and back then the cars, and the roads were not as good as today. If we wanted to go fast, we did. The cops back then were more interested in stopping you speeding in towns than out on the open road.
I think 120-140 is a good speed if conditions are good, not the crappy 100-110 we have, and spend all the time looking at the speedo instead of the road.

 

[MOTIV8]

^^ the issue at 130kph is the other idiots - pushing their farm thrasher 4wds or cheap ass tourists in the smallest no frills fwd hire cars - tracking over white lines and bouncing off.
That road ain't no autobahn.

That image is not part of the 204 kilometre stretch that the new unlimited speed covers. That image is one of the Stuart Highway near Adelaide River which is between Darwin and Katherine.

The stretch of road that is has no speed limit is between Alice Springs and Barrow Creek.

 

[MOTIV8]

Hey motiv,

Was the road nice and smooth? I can't imagine the old nanny country making an open speed limmit unless the road was absolutely perfect. Would be interesting to take my car up there for a bit of fun.

The road is okay and some stretches are smoother than others. Overall it's ok, however in saying that of course it could all be a lot better if we wanted it millimetre perfect and encrusted with diamonds and gold leaf.

The NT Government just spent 3.4 million dollars upgrading the stretch.

 

[MOTIV8]

Smooth roads in Australia?? :rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:
Obviously in the NT, revenue raising isnt a priority like other states. While i dont really agree with open
speed limits, I do agree that some of our limits are way too low for the modern car designs, but before anyone jumps
on that comment, I realize its the driver, not the car that at times controls the speed at which you should drive.

The most important/dangerous mechanical component in a vehicle is the nut holding the steering wheel.