Having demonstrated how fast the government will move (and leaving aside the merits of that) in relation to dealing with issues it wants to address, I'm left wondering what it will take to put driving standards and behaviour etc, road design and other relevant matters into the same footing of urgency.
Sit at any stop sign anywhere in the country and you'd be lucky to see one in every 3 people actually come to a complete stop if there were no cars coming to make them stop regardless.
Sit at most intersections anywhere in the country and you'll see at least 1 red light runner every 5 minutes.
Sit at practically any busy intersection anywhere in the country and you'll see at least a dozen people cut off other drivers, causing them to take evasive action in a day.
Sit on any main road in the country and you'll see a driver texting/on their phone at least every 1 every 20 cars or so. Likewise not wearing their seatbelt.
And drive anywhere and you'll have people ignore the 2 second rule and tailgate you.
And if you think this doesn't happen you need to open your eyes. Or get a dashcam, funny how having a permanent recording device makes you drive better and notice poor drivers more.
I've seen all of the above, right in front of police. I have never seen any police pull over any drivers for poor driving performed in their presence, they just don't care/have the resources to deal with it. This has largely emboldened people.
Kiwis are extremely entitled, arrogant drivers who continue to break the law with no consequences whatsoever.
I mean seriously rules and words are utterly useless unless you back them up with enforcement, and there's virtually no enforcement aside from the occasional 'crack down' and then it's back to status quo - do what whatever you like.
I would LOVE to see regular driving tests for ALL drivers. I can't believe I had to sit this difficult test to PROVE my right to drive, but I am surrounded by those who literally drove down the road with the local bobby and immediately got their license, but feel we have it "too easy".
But the pussies in government wouldn't dare alienate their core voting base, so continue to wring their hands and increase penalties while refusing to actually do anything concrete to address peoples attitudes.
Driving is a PRIVILEGE not a RIGHT and people seem to think otherwise.
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