Rural roads are under investigation as the NSW government launches an inquiry into speed limits and road safety in regional NSW. 

The inquiry is asking the local community to offer their view on current speed limits in the area, gathering evidence for a potential change. 

Member for Barwon Roy Butler said that despite major changes to driving over the past 5-6 decades, the speed limits haven’t changed with it. 



“We’ve got better road surfaces, with reflective paint and reflective signs…we’ve (also) now got up to 120 supervised driving for L-Platers,” Mr Butler said. 

Improvements to car safety, including airbags and lane keeper assistance also fed into Mr Butler’s reasoning. 

On long and empty highways like the Barrier, Mitchell and Newell Highway, vision for kilometres ahead could justify a variable speed limit. 

“The opportunity is there to really have a look at whether these speed limits can be augmented,” Mr Butler said. 

Mr Butler predicted that in CBD areas with high pedestrian traffic and angle parking, speed limits could be lowered to 30-40 kilometres per hour. 

On longer stretches though, he said that variable speed limits would be better suited to the environment. 

“We’ve already got variable speed limits in places like school zones, road works, and heading north on the M1 from Sydney…90 if its raining, 100 if it’s dry,” Mr Butler said. 

Currently in NSW, there are no variable speed limits that exceed 110. 

Chair of the Committee on Road Safety Lou Amato said the key investigation will be into how speed limits impact driver behaviour. 

“We want to hear what people who regularly travel long distances on rural and regional roads think of the current speed limits,” Mr Amato said. 

“We’re interested in whether the current speed limits are suitable, as well as their impact on drivers as they travel and go about their daily business,” he said. 

Submissions to the inquiry can be made on the Committee’s webpage, and clost on 5 July 2022.