For a one-year trial period beginning next February, a 120-mile stretch of the Stuart Highway will have no speed limit between Barrow Creek and Alice Springs, said Peter Styles, Australia’s Northern Territory transport minister.
Styles said the measure would fulfill a campaign promise to undergo an evidence-based analysis of open speed limits, while others suggested that it would attract visitors and provide enthusiasts a safe place to enjoy the thrill of speed.
“These days you can buy a vehicle for a reasonable price that would probably do 300km/h (186 mph). I dare say some people would like to come here and try that,” said Peet Menzies, Motor Vehicle Enthusiasts Club NT president.
However, the initiative left many concerned about a steep increase in roadway fatalities.
“It’s government by hillbilly,” said Harold Scruby, Pedestrian Council of Australia chief executive Harold Scruby. “They will have blood on their hands, mark my words.”
Australian Automobile Assosciation chief Andrew McKellar described the trial as “gambling with people’s lives…it is absolutely inevitable that people will die as a result.”
Derestricted roads aren’t new to Australia – certain highways in the Northern Territory previously had no speed limits, but an 81-mph maximum was imposed in 2006.<![CDATA[
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