26 people died this week on the road. When will action be taken?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › 26 people died this week on the road. When will action be taken?

Geektastic

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#248693 6-Apr-2019 08:22

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.

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#2211581 6-Apr-2019 08:38

Government has never shown any lack of inertia when it came to dealing with issues they want to address. Every time there is a change of government (seemingly more so every time Labour is in), changes are rushed through undoing the policies of the previous government. You're asking when they will tackle real issues, not just political ones.

It's an easy fix. Simply change the way the statistics are reported. Adjust for population, and thanks to improvements in vehicle safety over recent decades the statistics will paint an overall better picture.

DarthKermit

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#2211582 6-Apr-2019 08:40

One of those deaths was the son of a woman I used to work with. :(

martyyn

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#2211583 6-Apr-2019 08:41

Until testing standards are improved, driver training is increased but more importantly there is a massive shift in driver attitudes there will be no change in the road toll.

But I'm sure there is someone, somewhere advocating all roads drop to 70kph as the solution.

Geektastic

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#2211584 6-Apr-2019 08:43

DarthKermit:
One of those deaths was the son of a woman I used to work with. :(

Sorry to hear that. We had two deaths here on NYE and one was the son of a lady I know in the local shop. She must be hard as nails, mind, because I've never noticed any change in her demeanor since it happened.

Geektastic

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#2211594 6-Apr-2019 08:45

martyyn: Until testing standards are improved, driver training is increased but more importantly there is a massive shift in driver attitudes there will be no change in the road toll.

But I'm sure there is someone, somewhere advocating all roads drop to 70kph as the solution.

I'm surprised they aren't advocating banning cars or alcohol.

Surely improving the standards is hardly beyond the whit of mankind?

FineWine

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Nurse (R)

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#2211605 6-Apr-2019 09:10

As I have said before in similar topics bring in;

Written drivers test then onto:

Yellow 'L' plate and complete a log book style 120 hrs or more of supervised driving including 10 hrs or more of night supervised driving. Must include mandatory country driving.

Driving test then onto: (Must include mandatory country driving test)

Red 'P' plate for 12 mths which is full of all sorts of restrictions

Advanced written test or/& Hazard Perception Test then onto:

Green 'P' plate for 12 mths again with certain restrictions

Advanced driving test perhaps in a "Driving Simulator" or 'Skid pan' & 'Slalom' course then onto:

Full drivers license - hurray 😀

At least with these various plates other drivers will know there is an inexperienced driver on the roads - Danger Will Robinson!!

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

tehgerbil

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#2211612 6-Apr-2019 09:26

Honestly, driver attitude is largely to blame.

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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afe66

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#2211613 6-Apr-2019 09:34

Look at the thread here moaning about the "stupid" EU proposal for enhanced safety/autonomy driving ideas...

Its drivers, fatigue, conditions.
But of course everyone thinks they are above average drivers.

Aredwood

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#2211614 6-Apr-2019 09:36

The gun law changes were the equivalent of banning certain makes and models of cars. While the road toll is mostly poor driver training. The number of people affected by the ban on MSSA guns would actually be quite low, as alot of them would probably also own other (still legal) guns. So they can keep on using their other guns as normal. The main people affected by the gun law changes, would only be a small group who only own MSSA guns. (and I would be questioning whether those people should even be allowed to have a firearms license, if they deliberately purchased the most powerful gun available, instead of the minimum type of gun needed for their intended use)

Improving driver training for existing drivers is going to be far more disruptive. As a logical first step, would be to ensure that all drivers have been tested to at least the same standard as the current full license practical test. Which would mean that lots of older drivers would need to be retested. And those people would complain about the government “picking on them” as they would get annoyed about young people not needing to do the same test. (without them realizing that young people won't need to do that test as they have already done it).

Previous governments have made drivers license testing tougher. But since that only affects the much smaller group of mostly young people. Who are obtaining a drivers license for the first time. So governments are not worried about making things more difficult for them, as they wont loose much votes.

tdgeek

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#2211615 6-Apr-2019 09:37

What happened last week, to cause this week? Nothing. Sad as it is, it's a statistical anomaly. It could easily be one fatality in 3 weeks. But its time to bash the Govt? If it was one fatality in 3 weeks, you wouldn't praise the Govt, as you would know its just how probability works. For those that offered ideas to reduce the road toll, +1. For the others....... you should have placed this is the Politics thread as that's what you are really talking about.

Brunzy

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#2211618 6-Apr-2019 09:49

Geektastic: 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.

That imo is the relevant part , not lowering speed , alcohol etc.

tehgerbil has hit the nail right on the head with his post.

amiga500

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#2211619 6-Apr-2019 09:49

I regularly see people sneaking through on orange even red lights. At some intersections this infuriates truck drivers whose trucks take much longer to make a turn and clear the intersection. Part of the problem are poorly designed lights that do not give a right hand turn arrow which leads to dangerous behaviours like the above. These intersections are even more annoying when they have lights set up to have turn arrows but they are programmed to only show green, orange, and red. Must be some traffic flow morons in Christchurch who say to themselves what is the easiest way to make roads more annoying and dangerous.

tdgeek

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#2211623 6-Apr-2019 10:10

Brunzy:

Geektastic: 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.

That imo is the relevant part , not lowering speed , alcohol etc.

tehgerbil has hit the nail right on the head with his post.

I agree, tehgerbil was a good post. I disagree clearly on your point 1. Is this because of the last weeks fatalities? If so, then its the wrong conclusion. If its due to the general road toll, I do agree, but its been like that for years and years, I'm not sure where the sudden urgency came from.

tdgeek

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#2211628 6-Apr-2019 10:19

Our road toll is about 1 per day. As I write this, I see another fatality. Why has Stuff placed this as a red coloured breaking news item? I can see that any accident of any type will get a lot more news space, since we had such a black week.

"Monday was the blackest day when nine people died in three separate crashes, including five people who died in one crash north of Taupō. It was the 20th time nine people died within a 24-hour period on our roads."

Unfortunately this happens, its not new.

darkasdes2

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#2211629 6-Apr-2019 10:25

Time to introduce resitting the theory test every 5 years to renew your license. Even maybe a practical test.

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