Driving in NZ!

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Mad Scientist
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#1151744 11-Oct-2014 10:26

we should set up a web page for that purpose. not just tourists, but for locals too.

frankv

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#1152571 13-Oct-2014 09:55

RetiredMonkNZ: Yeah rented camper drivers are dangerous. I once was going straight on a green light on customs street and a camper decided to a left turn on a red, but at a crawling pace.

Perhaps the government should launch an online theory test(highway code) That foreign rental drivers have to pass before they are permitted to rent. No Theory pass = no car.

It seems to me to be obvious... anyone coming to NZ from a LHD country has a minimum of, what, 6 hours of boredom in a plane? Allow them to use that time to learn what they need to know. Some computer-based training delivered via the airliner's inflight entertainment system would be great.

The suggested theory test would be a good motivation for people to take the provided training, and perhaps to screen out the careless/reckless/complacent who couldn't be bothered. However, I think NZ is signatory to some international convention or other whereby we are required to allow people to drive on a foreign license for up to a year, in exchange I guess for Kiwis being able to drive in other countries for up to a year on an NZ license. So I can't see that becoming law.

But a campervan/car rental company could make its own rules about this. If the problem is significant, then they would save on insurance and other problems, and be able to pass those savings on to their customers.

katietommo

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#1152593 13-Oct-2014 10:57

RetiredMonkNZ: Yeah rented camper drivers are dangerous. I once was going straight on a green light on customs street and a camper decided to a left turn on a red, but at a crawling pace.

Perhaps the government should launch an online theory test(highway code) That foreign rental drivers have to pass before they are permitted to rent. No Theory pass = no car.

There's already one here that most of the rental car companies use http://www.drivingtests.co.nz/roadcode/tourist/

Batman

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#1152629 13-Oct-2014 11:15

The proportion of tourists on the road is minute. The most mad behaviours are by local drivers. Those new to driving and those whose bad habits stuck while they were a maniac when new. This should be for everyone.

DravidDavid

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#1152646 13-Oct-2014 11:32

joker97: The proportion of tourists on the road is minute. The most mad behaviors are by local drivers. Those new to driving and those whose bad habits stuck while they were a maniac when new. This should be for everyone.

Can't say I was ever a maniac when I was a new driver. I had my fair share of close calls! All my friends had the money for a twin turbo 2.0L Skyline or whatever and slid around every bend in the road they could, but I was stuck with my Toyota Corolla that I didn't even own, haha!

On another note, I can definitely tell the school holidays are over now! All the "one click merge" school runners are back.

EDIT: Spelling.

katietommo

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#1152647 13-Oct-2014 11:33

joker97: The proportion of tourists on the road is minute. The most mad behaviours are by local drivers. Those new to driving and those whose bad habits stuck while they were a maniac when new. This should be for everyone.

That website I mentioned above has learner licence tests for cars, motorbikes and trucks and seems to be the one that's recommended around the place as being the one to use (and it's free). It'd be interesting if everyone had to do a refresher course every 5 years so that they know the rules. The rule I reckon most people are confused about is when to indicate on a roundabout.

DravidDavid

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#1152668 13-Oct-2014 11:37

katietommo: The rule I reckon most people are confused about is when to indicate on a roundabout.

I had an argument with my mother about this on Sunday.

I believe at some point the rule was changed...Because my mother was adamant that you had to indicate in to and out of a round-a-bout when going straight ahead. I think it's the older generation that don't get it, or don't know the new rule.
...The same way it's always the older people tooting at me when I'm turning left in to a street and the Honda fit on the center median thinks he has right of way as he is turning right.

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katietommo

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#1152675 13-Oct-2014 11:45

As far as I know, these are the rules for a roundabout:

Going left: approach in left lane indicating left
Going right: approach in right lane, indicating right and then indicate left just after the exit before the one you want to take
Going straight: approach in any lane with a straight ahead arrow. Don't indicate as you approach the roundabout. Indicate left just after the exit before the one you want to take and exit the roundabout in the same lane as you're in.

DravidDavid

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#1152731 13-Oct-2014 12:05

katietommo: As far as I know, these are the rules for a roundabout:

Going left: approach in left lane indicating left
Going right: approach in right lane, indicating right and then indicate left just after the exit before the one you want to take
Going straight: approach in any lane with a straight ahead arrow. Don't indicate as you approach the roundabout. Indicate left just after the exit before the one you want to take and exit the roundabout in the same lane as you're in.

Pretty much nailed it.

The way I look at it is, if I'm not going more than a quater of the way around...I don't have to indicate in to the roundabout, but I do have to indicate out.

If I know I have to go past another exit, I indicate right and then left at the point of no return toward the exit I want to take.

I also ran in to an interesting one the other day, where a vehicle had stopped in the middle of a two lane roundabout in the right lane as he wanted to be in the other lane. This was at the Green Lane roundabout...It was a constant flow of traffic at that particular spot, but the car could have remembered that it was a roundabout and gone around until a suitable gap was found in the flow of traffic.

ckc

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#1153217 13-Oct-2014 23:33

DravidDavid:
katietommo: The rule I reckon most people are confused about is when to indicate on a roundabout.

I had an argument with my mother about this on Sunday.

I believe at some point the rule was changed...Because my mother was adamant that you had to indicate in to and out of a round-a-bout when going straight ahead. I think it's the older generation that don't get it, or don't know the new rule.
...The same way it's always the older people tooting at me when I'm turning left in to a street and the Honda fit on the center median thinks he has right of way as he is turning right.

I had this discussion too, but with a friend who moved here from the US and was told something that was just utter bollocks.

The rule has never been that you indicate before you enter the roundabout when you're going straight. Never.

Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 came into effect in 2005, and that mandated the current rule as it is. In other words, it was always in the Road Code to signal as katietommo explained, but in 2005 the rules changed so that if you didn't then it was against the law and you could be fined:

What’s changed?
Although this has been recommended behaviour at roundabouts for some time (as reflected by advice in the Road Code), until now it hasn’t been law. This means that from 27 February 2005 when the rule comes into effect, you can be fined for not following signalling requirements at roundabouts and for not using the correct lane at multi-lane roundabouts.

There's a good commonsense reason for it never having been that way. When you're approaching a roundabout and indicating right, you're indicating to oncoming traffic that they have to give way because you have priority and you're going to cross their path. When you're indicating right and those cars stop, and drivers approaching from the right also see you indicating. That says to them that they should get ready to enter the roundabout.

If the rule was that you had to indicate right when approaching, then indicate left as you pass the exit before the one you want to take, cars entering from straight ahead would have to stop even though there's no reason for them to stop. You'd be entering the roundabout and indicating to the oncoming driver that you were about to cross his path. That would break the flow of traffic and it'd defeat the purpose of a roundabout - which is to keep traffic flowing.

It's also dangerous behaviour, depending on the size of the roundabout. You're signalling to the driver on the right that they could enter the roundabout because you're about to stop traffic from the front - but that might not be the case. If you're then obscured by the island, the car approaching from the front might move into the roundabout at the same time as the car from the right.

I would prefer people didn't signal than give the wrong signal. Not signalling means that everyone is unsure of your intent, and so everyone does the safe thing and stops. Bad signalling at a roundabout means you're indicating and intent, but your actions could be the complete opposite. That's far more dangerous, because people take action based on your signal, and that's far more likely to cause an accident.

I've seen cops fail to indicate properly at a roundabout. It's not hard though.

dimsim

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#1153241 14-Oct-2014 06:57

id like to know the stats on roundabout crashes, because i cant say in my 30 years of driving that I've ever seen one, here or overseas. i wonder why all of a sudden there was a need to spell out indicating on them. their use has always been fairly simple, give way to the right, giveway to all traffic actually on the roundabout. get on, and get off.

the number of mini roundabouts in the UK/EU, there simply is not enough time to indicate and the same goes for smaller roundabouts here, by the time you've entered your exiting and still reaching of the indicator.

if its clear on the right, get on and get off.

DravidDavid

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#1153281 14-Oct-2014 08:19

ckc:
What’s changed?
Although this has been recommended behavior at roundabouts for some time (as reflected by advice in the Road Code), until now it hasn’t been law. This means that from 27 February 2005 when the rule comes into effect, you can be fined for not following signalling requirements at roundabouts and for not using the correct lane at multi-lane roundabouts.

Interesting that it is also law to be in the correct lane! There is a large two roundabout on Swanson road that everyone loves to use the empty right hand "left only turn" lane and then merge in to the more popular left "go straight" lane in a hurried single click fashion. It's so dangerous and very much expected at that roundabout. It also forces a lot of people to undercut those in the right lane and speed up to avoid the situation. If there is no gap in the left lane, the right lane is clogged with people stopped wanting to merge!

dimsim

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#1153302 14-Oct-2014 08:29

DravidDavid:
ckc:
What’s changed?
Although this has been recommended behavior at roundabouts for some time (as reflected by advice in the Road Code), until now it hasn’t been law. This means that from 27 February 2005 when the rule comes into effect, you can be fined for not following signalling requirements at roundabouts and for not using the correct lane at multi-lane roundabouts.

Interesting that it is also law to be in the correct lane! There is a large two roundabout on Swanson road that everyone loves to use the empty right hand "left only turn" lane and then merge in to the more popular left "go straight" lane in a hurried single click fashion. It's so dangerous and very much expected at that roundabout. It also forces a lot of people to undercut those in the right lane and speed up to avoid the situation. If there is no gap in the left lane, the right lane is clogged with people stopped wanting to merge!

Is that right?? The right hand lane on a two laned roundabout unless marked differently is for right turning and straight ahead traffic. Same goes for the left hand lane. You cannot use the right hand lane if you expect to take the first exit, nor can you use the left hand lane if you expect to take the third exit or go around.

Unfortunately not all roundabouts are marked clearly enough.

DravidDavid

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#1153311 14-Oct-2014 08:50

dimsim:
DravidDavid:
ckc:
What’s changed?
Although this has been recommended behavior at roundabouts for some time (as reflected by advice in the Road Code), until now it hasn’t been law. This means that from 27 February 2005 when the rule comes into effect, you can be fined for not following signalling requirements at roundabouts and for not using the correct lane at multi-lane roundabouts.

Interesting that it is also law to be in the correct lane! There is a large two roundabout on Swanson road that everyone loves to use the empty right hand "left only turn" lane and then merge in to the more popular left "go straight" lane in a hurried single click fashion. It's so dangerous and very much expected at that roundabout. It also forces a lot of people to undercut those in the right lane and speed up to avoid the situation. If there is no gap in the left lane, the right lane is clogged with people stopped wanting to merge!

Is that right?? The right hand lane on a two laned roundabout unless marked differently is for right turning and straight ahead traffic. Same goes for the left hand lane. You cannot use the right hand lane if you expect to take the first exit, nor can you use the left hand lane if you expect to take the third exit or go around.

Unfortunately not all roundabouts are marked clearly enough.

I think perhaps I was misunderstood, but you accidentally reminded me of something that also happens.

Yes, people also use the right lane, cut across the left lane and take the first exit. But they also use the right lane to go around the roundabout and once all the way around, merge in to the left lane almost immediately because it's "faster". They have no intention of using what everyone knows as a right turn only lane...Which is typically less busy than the other lane.

The right turn only lane connects with a smaller twin lane roundabout less than 100 meters after the exit of the large roundabout. So there is this tiny space where a whole line of cars all of a sudden wants to merge directly after a twin lane roundabout disrupting the flow of traffic of the people who waited in the correct queue.

It's seriously frustrating.

On yet another note. This morning, I had a lady directly behind me lay in to her horn because I had left a two car gap between myself and the car in front so I didn't block the driveway to the shopping complex to my left. The lady behind me seemed to have thought my gap was too big and beeped at me, waving her hands around like she was having a seizure. We were stopped at light for crying out loud! Then traffic started moving again as normal. What seriously goes around in these people's heads!?

ckc

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#1153388 14-Oct-2014 10:04

dimsim: id like to know the stats on roundabout crashes, because i cant say in my 30 years of driving that I've ever seen one, here or overseas. i wonder why all of a sudden there was a need to spell out indicating on them. their use has always been fairly simple, give way to the right, giveway to all traffic actually on the roundabout. get on, and get off.

the number of mini roundabouts in the UK/EU, there simply is not enough time to indicate and the same goes for smaller roundabouts here, by the time you've entered your exiting and still reaching of the indicator.

if its clear on the right, get on and get off.

Before that rule became law, it was 250 people injured and 3 killed on average per year.

You are supposed to be going SLOWLY when you enter a roundabout. Mini roundabouts aren't always to keep the flow of traffic up. They're also intended as a traffic calming measure. When you approach a roundabout, you are supposed to be getting ready to give way. That means you slow right down, get into a low gear, and be prepared to stop. Not blast through at 40.

If you don't have time to flick the indicator on a mini roundabout, you are going too fast. If you don't use your indicator at a mini roundabout on your driving test, you will fail your test.

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