This is why I don't think central government should really get involved, as it becomes a political issue and loses nuance. This is a technical thing that we have experts for, you can guarantee they weren't involved in the 'policy' formation. They may be used or twisted to justify things, but it's the tail wagging the dog, really...

I totally agree about acceptable risk being one of those nuanced factors. NZTA used to deal with this all the time, from what I understand...

There are a couple of truths here that are being ignored or barely touched on:

• most of our roads are trash (but they may not be what's being discussed, I'm not familiar with the examples used about or in the article), but it gets people thinking '~~meat~~speeds back on the menu boys!'

• we're a nation of terrible drivers. I'm sure there are exceptions, but the tired and impatient risk-taking we routinely do in multi-ton machines is really bizarre