John Merritt said more than $300 million was being spent on safety measures such as wire rope barriers, but some roads would miss out.

“There are certainly roads where the volume of traffic is such that they would be a long way down the list... so I think we need to work with the community and look at what else we can do.

“Part of the Towards Zero Strategy is trying to work better with communities about where that (reducing speed limits) might be a practical option for them.”

Mr Merritt said the majority of local drivers already drove to the conditions.

“They live there, they know the road, they’ve adjusted their driving… It’s a small number of others that don’t,” he said.

“Two-thirds of drivers who die, die on a country road... It’s fundamental that we get country drivers out of the road toll.”