Cr slams lower speed limits

A LISMORE councillor slammed NSW as a “nanny state” following a disagreement with Roads and Maritime Services about lowering speed limits.

Lismore City Councillor Greg Bennett. Picture: Tony Betts - Cabansail

A LISMORE councillor and former police officer slammed New South Wales as a "nanny state" following a disagreement with Roads and Maritime Services about lowering speed limits.

Councillor Greg Bennett took to his Facebook page earlier this month to air his concerns about how RMS determines and reviews speed zones.

He took a stance against common assumptions made about speed limits and their relevance to road safety.

"Apparently when they send their conclusions to council in the traffic report for adoption we are just meant to adopt them (they had never experienced a council rejecting one of their recommendations before)," he wrote.

"I'm not that good at being a rubber stamp and sorry but I will question and most likely oppose any reduction in speed limits.

"I have said it before and I will say it again speed does not cause most traffic accidents.

"It is either failure to drive to the prevailing conditions i.e. slippery because of rain, low visibility due to fog or poor road conditions or it is driver error."

Cr Bennett said he spoke with authority on the subject "as I have investigated and adjudicated on hundreds of traffic accidents".

He continued, obviously annoyed that the majority of drivers are disadvantaged by a minority of bad or reckless drivers.

"Just dropping the speed limit is catering to the lowest common denominator at the expense of all responsible drivers," he wrote on his Facebook page.

However, it seems his comments fell largely on deaf ears.