This is not a surprise. What is a surprise is how little has been done about it. 

And just recently the government has seen fit to increase the speed limit on my residential street from 30 to 50, despite there being both a primary school (600+ students) and a kindergarten present too. 

cddt:

 

This is not a surprise. What is a surprise is how little has been done about it. 

 

And just recently the government has seen fit to increase the speed limit on my residential street from 30 to 50, despite there being both a primary school (600+ students) and a kindergarten present too. 

 

Yes, Simeon hath decided that the speed limit past Hatfields Beach - where the showers and toilets are across the road from the beach, which is also a freedom camping site - must be raised to 70. Bizarrely, it then goes down to 60 for the next bit of road towards Waiwera which is mostly fine at 80, which is what it used to be in The Olden Days.

Also, on the northern gateway, only the old bit of it - between Orewa and the tunnels - has been raised to 110. The brand new bit between the tunnels and Warkworth is 100.

SMH...

Buses have the same problem in spades. Maybe vehicles need automatic warning devices triggered by pedestrians like deer whistles or Ride of the Valkyries.

This is where maybe there should be external airbags as standard. 

Or perhaps we should ban children. 

I'm on the fence...

Behind the fence is safer. Wasn't there a problem with external airbags firing the pedestrian off into other lanes?

Bung:

 

Behind the fence is safer. Wasn't there a problem with external airbags firing the pedestrian off into other lanes?

 

A modern SUV would go straight through the fence without noticing. You need to be behind one of these.

SaltyNZ:

 

Yes, Simeon hath decided that the speed limit past Hatfields Beach - where the showers and toilets are across the road from the beach, which is also a freedom camping site - must be raised to 70. Bizarrely, it then goes down to 60 for the next bit of road towards Waiwera which is mostly fine at 80, which is what it used to be in The Olden Days.

 

Also, on the northern gateway, only the old bit of it - between Orewa and the tunnels - has been raised to 110. The brand new bit between the tunnels and Warkworth is 100.

 

SMH...

 

i find this speed limit variations on the same stretch of roads really interesting, too. when the so-called "smart motorway" was launched in wellington, the rule was/is to stick to the advertised, variable speed limit for the entire stretch and your travel will be smoother. yet in other places, the posted speed limit changes on the same stretch. of course, school zones have a different valid reason, but on highways or national roads it can be confusing.

Bung:

 

Buses have the same problem in spades. Maybe vehicles need automatic warning devices triggered by pedestrians like deer whistles or Ride of the Valkyries.

 

never driven a bus, but i would've thought that buses with no bonnets, large windows that go down to the driver's knees, and the driver sitting much closer to the front of the vehicle makes this less of an issue for them. driver fatigue from doing this for hours do potentially lead to inattention.

audible warnings, these days, are also compromised and sometimes defeated by those headphones/earphones on pedestrians' heads/ears.

Maybe they could just force SUV's etc to have lower bonnets. Perhaps as an added bonus they'd be even uglier and hence less of a status symbol. You can have plenty of space without height, remember the station wagon...

Vulnerable road user protection is part of the ANCAP criteria. A five star ANCAP rating has more credibility than anti SUV hysteria. 

SUVs are worse for pedestrians than cars. Do something about it.

I opted for the child slider protective bar.  gently relocates said object to under the vehicle, keeping the front pristine

rb99:

 

Maybe they could just force SUV's etc to have lower bonnets. Perhaps as an added bonus they'd be even uglier and hence less of a status symbol. You can have plenty of space without height, remember the station wagon...

 

Communist!

hsvhel:

 

I opted for the child slider protective bar.  gently relocates said object to under the vehicle, keeping the front pristine

 

 

 

It's too bad science has not yet figured out how to have the child and moose sliders on the same vehicle. Just like nuclear fusion and solid state batteries, the combination child/moose slider always remains just over the horizon.

alasta:

 

Vulnerable road user protection is part of the ANCAP criteria. A five star ANCAP rating has more credibility than anti SUV hysteria. 

 

i tend to agree with your assessment of ANCAP ratings. however, i don't know if this particular risk is part of the criteria - visibility of children lingering or taking longer to cross before vehicles, pedestrian lanes or otherwise.