An end to one of the last great speed zones in the world.

[Zuffen]

The Northern Territory Government in Australia is about to introduce a maximum speed limit of 130KMH (about 85mph) from January. Currently there is NO speed limit on the vast majority of the Terrirory's roads. Not that is has that many raods mind you.

This leaves only the German Autobahns as the place to get the ultimate legal thrill.

Check the storey. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=155055

It's a sad day for us all.

 

[Anaema]

awww. and Car and Driver just did a speed run there in a 911 Turbo

 

[rivmasta]

Scary when you're in an F250 towing a 5th wheeler at 140km/h (what that 90mph?) happily cruising along when you get ripped past by a nissan pulsar at warp speed... that only just got between your front bumper and the caravan coming towards you...

even if the limit is 130, do you think it'll be enforced?

 

[jibbby]

We got some close to no speed limit zones is some of the backward States here in the US... In LA the speed limit is 65mph on the major freeways but your lucky if you can ever get to those speeds with all this damn traffic....I would be happy with 85mph and no traffic....

 

[Mr.Phreak]

You may not have to worry about Traffic....but those Roo's can give you a bit of a fright :boggled:

 

[Pro]

that's a joke - many many people rely on being able to travel 1500klms at whatever speed they like.

it would be the most boring drive through nothing at 130kph - when most people sit on around 180kph.

that highway is worse than crossing the nullarbor.

 

[Cobra]

No self respecting Kangaroo would want to live in that desolate part of Australia.

 

[The Lovely Boyo]

You may not have to worry about Traffic....but those Roo's can give you a bit of a fright :boggled:

I read a magazine article where they hammered a 911 across that road. They were hitting insects that hard the bonnet was damaged. God knows what a kanga would have done.

An old Toyota Land Crusier kept catching them coz they had fitted a 45 gallon drum in the back, and never needed a fuel stop, whereas the 911 kept running out of gas.

 

[1UZ-HZ]

After reading the aritcle I'm still wondering how they justified making a speed limit at all, 48% of drivers involved in accidents are drink driving!!! What does that have to do with speed??? Poor excuse I think, just a slave to the other states crappy ideas on road safety(must have been brainwashed on all the other states properganda, esp NSW!). I hope that government gets kicked out...can't wait until the next election

 

[Deuce]

The Claire Martin Labor Government in the NT has just commited politcal suicide. These new speed limits have been introduced without any public consultation or debate,and without real justification. Of all the road deaths, only 17% are attributed to speed. The majority are due to alcohol and not wearing seat belts. A large percentage of those are some of the hundreds of thousands of interstate and foreign tourists, not NT residents. (So much for the highest death rate per capita argument.) The introduction of speed cameras to enforce the new rules will only become revenue raisers. There has been growing dissatisfaction with this Darwin centralised government for some time, particularly by those living south of the Berrimah Line. The introduction of these speed limits will only strengthen the resolve of NT residents to defeat this government at the next election.

 

[Cobber]

My trips to the NT will never be the same. You don't need to worry about roo's in the NT they have all been eaten.

 

[jibbby]

Speaking of road kills...Kangaroos are easy compared to all the deer hits we get here in the States...Major 300-500 pound deer crossing accidents happen daily in the upper States and in the South....You see people driving their big Ford and Chevy trucks with huge wood logs attached and mounted onto the front bumbers too help with deer impacts...I personally have almost hit many deer going 65mph when I lived in Oregan and Washington for a short time...Oregan and Washington are the upper States located near Canada, lots of deer roam the roads in those areas.....At night it is the worst, you are driving and or speeding on a back road and it is dark and then all of the sudden you will see a family of deer standing in the road...The headlights then freeze the dear in there tracks and you have just a split second to try and avoid them....I would take a roo hit any day over a full blown dear hit....Those dear hits can kill you...My close friend took a straight on full grown male deer hit in an SUV and it totalled the car completely, but he lived to tell the tail...Amazingly enough the dear lived too for atleast a short time as it stumbled and ran off after getting blasted,..I saw the car after, total front end destruction..

Don't you guys have Roo control?...Or are they the sacrid "no kill" National animal that can't be touched? We have deer hunting seasons yearly to keep down the deer population.... We are also building more and more road fencing to keep Bambi off the roads.... The worst is for sports cars, you hit the legs and the body flies threw the front wind shield and takes you out...Real crazy **** when it happens...

 

[Zuffen]

The Territory has this quaint law that you can buy beer at service stations but that you're not allowed to drink it there.

So?

People buy fuel and beer and head off drinking the beer.

Additionally seat belt wearing isn't a big thing as a goodly percentage of drivers don't have licences and live on reservations and don't give a damn what the law says.

 

[Pro]

dude - when you hit a deer, car is damaged, people die instantly (liek hitting a massive brick wall).

you hit a roo - it comes STRAIGHT thru your windsheild and then thrashes around INSIDE the car slashing everyone open with their big toe "claw", spraying blood everywhere until it dies of exhaustion.

most people are lucky they generally only hit the torso or the tail. but i tell ya, you hit one on the hindquarter square on and it's all over.

 

[Anaema]

those kangaroo hits sound vicious. just one reason why i should move to Autralia

 

[jibbby]

Pro - that was really some description of a Roo thrashing around inside the car after the hit..That sounds like hell.uch: .....Maybe it is better to hit a deer after all...I had no idea the roo's have claws that slice and dice you up like that...Sounds like a big Grizzly Bear attack from your description...I always thought of the roo's being a kinda harmless and loving type of animal..I guess I thought wrong......

We don't see those little beasts here in the States... We see black bears when camping, and the road hits usually consist of deer, squirls, dogs, cats and possems...However, you have to always watch out for those occasional rouge cow crossings.... Mooooo, Kaaaboooom, lights out...:684:

It sounds like you guys get the roo's and occasional crock crossings mostly...Hmmmmmm, A direct crock hit could be interesting and fun in a 4X4, as you might just launch and get some good air..Like a jump....:headbang:

 

[svpmx83]

Well, they can pretty much kiss goodbye to any income from car company hot weather testing now. Our local manufacturers are going to be upset as they use the NT for testing vehicles exported to the Middle East.

 

[soarer123]

the main claw of a roo is a nasty bit of kit

 

[hi-lex]

just spent 2 months in US, found the 80 mph speed limit in texas interstate was good, never saw anyone doin the speed limit around LA ,when the traffic flows floor it! makes up for all the time its snail pace, ahh the 15 an the 91, fond memories

 

[jibbby]

Wow those are some ugly roo feet....Looks kinds like my X-girl friends feet...She eventually ended up being road kill too....:flirt:

Interstate 15 thru Arizona you can floor it for miles as I recall...Or the long drive thru the state of Texas there is more open road then one can imagine....Those are too open stretches that go on forever...You also have the flat salt plains where they do the speed testing, not sure where that is in the US (Maybe Nevada or New Mexico)...That for sure does not have a speed limit...