Poor driving habits getting worse amongst kiwi drivers

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#1926943 30-Dec-2017 13:06

Fred99:
blakamin:

I was looking at the road toll of two comparably sized places where most of the population lives in a city over xmas:

Victoria, Australia, Pop 5.8 million and NZ.

Both have hills, country roads, tourists, crappy roads, snow, sun, congestion, small, medium and large cities.

Victoria has current "Lives Lost" = 252 (they no longer call it a "toll" as a toll is the price you pay to drive on a road, and a life is not a price to pay).

NZ is on 368 as of December 22, and from what I can gather, 7 have died since then.

Makes you think about the level of driving skill....

...also makes you think about the effectiveness of penalties kept low to appease people accusing police of "revenue gathering".

Our fines and penalties are not even close to being high enough. That just encourages contempt for laws. Speed camera penalties need to include demerit points.

Your post popped into my head when I was reading a UK newspaper.

Recent changes there make the fines for using a phone whilst driving (in your hand) equivalent to $5000 AND 50 demerit points in NZ terms!

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#1927030 30-Dec-2017 15:51

Fred99:

I just drove about 4,000km on a trip in NSW. Similar story there. I'm absolutely sure that a side-effect of some pretty crappy clogged up roads used to be intense aggro -

Doesn't happen on freeways and most major arterial roads, but still does. Mainly because people only care about themselves.... Lights go green, "I'll just slowly roll through, and get up to speed when I feel like it" (if they take their eyes off the phone long enough to notice the light changed), with no thought to the 40 cars behind them.

No situational awareness and selfishness are the reasons for most of the crap that happens on roads around here.

MikeB4

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#1927038 30-Dec-2017 16:23

Red light runners have meant that I wait a few seconds after the green light and drive off a lot slower than I would a few years back. We drove into Wellington this morning and encountered two red light runners that required us to brake heavily.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

blakamin

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#1927039 30-Dec-2017 16:26

You don't have to wait at every set of lights, you just have to use your eyes (Situational Awareness that I mentioned). You can see if traffic is stopped or not.

If they're running red lights when yours is green (3 seconds after a red) report them.

You also must be really unlucky. In my 10 years of spending 14hrs a day on the road, I think I only saw 2 red light runners. Heaps of orange...

edit: If you wait 2 seconds, and the lights are 3 seconds, and as you had to brake heavily you were obviously moving, then that's 6-8 or even 10 seconds after the light turned red...

You need a dashcam and then drive straight to the police station and report these people.

I doubt even cab drivers see this many events a day.

MikeB4

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#1927044 30-Dec-2017 16:35

Red light running in our cities has become very bad in the last few years. My sons Semi was hit a couple of weeks back and his light had been green for some time and he was not at the front of the queue. he has very good situational awareness as do I.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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#1927045 30-Dec-2017 16:37

MikeB4:. he has very good situational awareness as do I.

Saw your edit... That's not a red-light runner that hit the truck, that's someone that didn't even see/care about lights.

You sitting at lights out of fear tells me your situational awareness probably isn't as good as you think... And if it is, buy a dashcam and show. me.

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MikeB4

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#1927047 30-Dec-2017 16:39

blakamin:

MikeB4:. he has very good situational awareness as do I.

A semi I can see getting hit... trying to start and stop one is a pain... I used to drive many.

You sitting at lights out of fear tells me your situational awareness probably isn't as good as you think... And if it is, buy a dashcam and show. me.

I have done advanced driving courses, I don't need a dash cam and I don't need to justify anything

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

blakamin

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#1927048 30-Dec-2017 16:40

MikeB4:

blakamin:

MikeB4:. he has very good situational awareness as do I.

A semi I can see getting hit... trying to start and stop one is a pain... I used to drive many.

You sitting at lights out of fear tells me your situational awareness probably isn't as good as you think... And if it is, buy a dashcam and show. me.

I have done advanced driving courses, I don't need a dash cam and I don't need to justify anything

Stop sitting at lights like a selfish person and use your eyes then.

c'ya.

MikeB4

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#1927050 30-Dec-2017 16:42

blakamin:

Stop sitting at lights like a selfish person and use your eyes then.

c'ya.

A few seconds is not life changing, being t'boned is.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Jase2985

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#1927058 30-Dec-2017 17:11

may as well not go through lights/intersections then, could get t boned at any time.

actually stay at home, could get hit by a car any time, driving or walking/wheeling

dont eat either as you could choke on something, just a liquid diet.

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#1927073 30-Dec-2017 17:53

I am not at fault here, the immature, impatient, muppets that believe the rules are optional and the roads are their playgrounds are to blame. The road code has stressed that do not assume a green light means its safe and to check then proceed with caution. The green light is not the start of a drag race.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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#1927101 30-Dec-2017 19:25

no you are not at fault for others running red lights. it happens way way to often in auckland, ive seen a few be about 5-6 seconds into my green. and i havent been anywhere near being t-boned.

but a green light means go, not wait 2 seconds then go, and you don't have to dump the clutch tor smash the accelerator when you leave the line on the green, you can accelerte off slowly while you are checking each way, hell 2 seconds at 10kph is only 5 meters, and thats calculated at a constant speed.

MikeB4

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#1927103 30-Dec-2017 19:30

The green light means you can go if it is safe to do so. Therefore a few seconds to check that it is safe to go is logical and prudent.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Jase2985

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#1927111 30-Dec-2017 19:45

but it is safe, there is nothing in front of you, you as pausing on the miniscule percentage chance that its not.

hence why you look left and right as you start moving to confirm its still safe and then react accordingly. you have a few meters of space before you cross into any crossing traffics path. heaps of time to react if you see something.

most of the time, there is nothing you can do though.

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#1927132 30-Dec-2017 20:29

I watched a truck jump a red light right in front of me today in Rotorua.

I was waiting to proceed and traffic on the other carriageway was turning right at some lights on Old Taupo Rd.

My light went green and just as I was moving my foot to the gas pedal a big truck turned across right in front of me. His light was definitely red because mine was green.

Insanity.

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