Police, Vic Roads not consulted on opposition policy to raise speed on Princes Freeway

AN OPPOSITION plan has blindsided Victoria Police, with key organisations not consulted on a policy to raise the limit between Werribee and Corio.

POLICE have been blindsided by a Victorian Opposition plan to raise the speed limit on the Princes Freeway to 110kmh.

The Herald Sun can reveal the Coalition did not consult VicRoads, the Transport Accident Commission or Victoria Police about its policy to increase the 100kmh speed limit between Werribee and Corio.

The Matthew Guy — led ­Opposition instead sought ­advice from the Australian ­Automobile Association’s Australian Road Assessment ­Program, and from locals in “community consultations”.

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Speed cameras on the Princes Freeway, near Werribee.

VicRoads’ risk modelling found that, without changes to infrastructure, the higher speed limit would result in a 30 per cent increase in fatal and serious-injury crashes.

The Coalition proposed a similar policy while in government in 2014, under then transport minister Terry Mulder, but dumped it following strong opposition from Victoria Police and the TAC.

Opposition transport spokesman David Hodgett defended the decision not to consult authorities and to rely instead on AusRAP research and on a public consultation that found 78 per cent of locals supported a boost to the freeway speed limit.

“Victoria Police can’t change the limit, they can only enforce it,” he said.

“I think this shows the community and ­locals are best to know about their local roads.

“We want to take a commonsense approach to road rules, and this makes sense.

“I know there will be mixed opinion when it comes to speeds.”

The Matthew Guy — led ­Opposition sought ­advice from the Australian ­Automobile Association’s Australian Road Assessment ­Program and locals. Picture: AAP

AusRap ranked the relevant section of the Princes Freeway as five-star, or low risk, putting it among the 10 safest sections of highway in Australia.

But police sources said that turning the Princes Freeway into a “speedway” would fly in the face of everything that was being done to keep Victoria’s road toll low.

“Risking lives just to save a couple of minutes — it doesn’t make sense,” one traffic police officer said.

Public debate had prompted VicRoads to research the effect of increasing the freeway speed limit to 110kmh.

But the research found that doing so would be unsafe.

Motorists execute complex manoeuvres to shift between the more than two lanes that run in each direction, and the freeway has a high traffic ­volume. A higher speed limit would increase the impact ­forces in a crash.

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