Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


nate

6473 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

#64536 17-Jul-2010 12:00
Send private message

Article here.

Could I possibly suggest, and this is a long shot, if you're not a bus, don't drive in the bus lane?

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2 | 3
heavenlywild
5060 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #352628 17-Jul-2010 12:24
Send private message

Exactly, avoid it at all costs. If the rule is you can use it within 50m of the intersection, there should be some kind of indication. Just to be safe though, avoid!



sbiddle
30853 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Biddle Corp
Lifetime subscriber

  #352634 17-Jul-2010 12:50
Send private message

heavenlywild: Exactly, avoid it at all costs. If the rule is you can use it within 50m of the intersection, there should be some kind of indication. Just to be safe though, avoid!


I don't see how marking could ever possibly be a solution. Imagine the mess on the roads trying to come up with a solution to mark 50m before every intersecting road or driveway for every bus lane in the country?

rscole86
4973 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #352639 17-Jul-2010 12:59
Send private message

The offender did not actually say if he knew the rules or not. Ignorance, which I believe is the case here, is no excuse.



minigopher17
281 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #352646 17-Jul-2010 13:26
Send private message

I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch? Tongue out

old3eyes
9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

  #352649 17-Jul-2010 13:37
Send private message

minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch??Tongue out


The AKL city council won't do that as the existing situation is a cashcow. The AKL CC have gone mad over the past few years with these bus lanes. Our company has moved out of Symonds street this weekend and the main reason is the entry and exit to get in and out of the building and don?t even start us on that piece of crap roading called the Grafton Bridge bus lanes..




Regards,

Old3eyes


NonprayingMantis
6434 posts

Uber Geek


  #353034 18-Jul-2010 17:52
Send private message

If you can't estimate 50m very roughly and make sure you always go under it then you really have no business driving a car. stopping distances at high speed are often in that range.

old3eyes
9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

  #353040 18-Jul-2010 18:22
Send private message

old3eyes:
minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch??Tongue out



The AKL city council won't do that as the existing situation is a cashcow. The AKL CC have gone mad over the past few years with these bus lanes. Our company has moved out of Symonds street this weekend and the main reason is the entry and exit to get in and out of the building and don?t even start us on that piece of crap roading called the Grafton Bridge bus lanes..


Update to this.   The NZ Herald reported yesterday that the AKL CC made $4.2 mil on buslane fines over the past 12 months  so there's no way  they will want to improve things. No doubt they will be looking closely at the WN CC Stasi  spy camera parking cars to add to revenue..




Regards,

Old3eyes


 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
Kyanar
4089 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted

  #353053 18-Jul-2010 18:56
Send private message

minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch? Tongue out


Could be tough - there isn't actually 50m between most Auckland intersections!

What the government needs to do is change the law so that councils can actually exercise discretion when fining - currently, they're required to enforce the law exactly as written, and have no leeway to let people off for stupid mistakes.

johnr
19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #353071 18-Jul-2010 19:31
Send private message

minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch??Tongue out


They are on the Shore down Onewa Road

richms
28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #353111 18-Jul-2010 21:37
Send private message

I am more worried about the part where he says that the $150 is a months worth of electricity. Guess he is living in a shoebox with just a lightbulb...




Richard rich.ms

robbyp
1199 posts

Uber Geek


  #353140 18-Jul-2010 23:00

nate: Article here.


Could I possibly suggest, and this is a long shot, if you're not a bus, don't drive in the bus lane?


 

They only need one case to go against the council, and the council will be forced to refund all the fines. Could end up very costing for the council, and for the rate payers. Although the rules should be there, to prevent people driving in th ebus lanes, a certain amount of discretion should be applied, especially as it is the tax and ratepayer who actually paid for the roads and the bus lanes. Also if people don't have enough room to merge into the bus lane, to turn left, it could create more congestion, and accidents. The council are solely using it as an income generator and the law is being absued, which makes people very anti these types of laws in the first place.

Byrned
455 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #353234 19-Jul-2010 09:13
Send private message

If they didn't get it the first time they drove past the Auckland City worker wearing their hi-vis vest, standing behind a video camera, on the side of the bus lane, at peak traffic times, they're probably not going to!

IMO, if you turn into one of the these lanes before where the person is standing, which is roughly 50 meters, you're just being stupid. If you got into the lane before you saw the person, you were probably well out of the 50 meter distance.

The Grafton Bridge one is a different story as the last time I was driving that way it's next to impossible to see the sign before you get to the bridge, and by the time you do you're pretty much committed to crossing. It was only because I'd heard about it being a bus lane between certain hours that I didn't.

Byrned
455 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #353240 19-Jul-2010 09:26
Send private message

robbyp:
... if people don't have enough room to merge into the bus lane, to turn left, it could create more congestion, and accidents. The council are solely using it as an income generator and the law is being abused, which makes people very anti these types of laws in the first place.


In my experience of people using the lanes, I am yet to see anyone trying to merge into a lane to perform a turn that has had a problem with congestion/causing accidents. Mostly what I see is people waiting until just before they need to turn, indicating, and moving into the lane. Sometimes I see people not wanting to wait in a queue and entering the lane before the 50m. And sometimes I see these people holding up buses. Maybe we should allow people wanting to turn left to drive along the sidewalk as well?

And I would like to see your reference for the the statement that they're "solely" using it as a revenue generator. I would see it as they are enforcing the law and using the revenue to pay for the policing of the law, and most likely the enforcement of the fines. Just because a fine has been issued doesn't mean it's pure $$$ int he bank. But I'm guessing you'd rather have the headline "Council losses $4.5m enforcing bus lanes".

Personally I would like to see more things like this being done to enforce other driving laws which are routinely broken. Such as running red lights, and failing to give way (or stopping at a stop sign). Maybe if we did this we might actually get some courteous and cautious drivers on the road.

Mind you, just my opinions... 

old3eyes
9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

  #353538 19-Jul-2010 18:19
Send private message

richms: I am more worried about the part where he says that the $150 is a months worth of electricity. Guess he is living in a shoebox with just a lightbulb...


My power bill with Mercury is about $145 / month and we don't live in a shoe box with one lite bulb..




Regards,

Old3eyes


tristanb
89 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

  #354528 21-Jul-2010 16:21
Send private message

Could I possibly suggest, and this is a long shot, if you're not a bus, don't drive in the bus lane?


The problem is that bus lanes line the left side of many Auckland streets. So if someone moves through this lane, they get a fine. Even if it's into a loading zone.

As the bus lane is also the left-turn lane, and with the 50 metre rule, people have to wait in a congested centre lane, then try to get into the left lane at the last minute (that's if the buses let you in). I have seen many examples of people dangerously indicating left at the last minute to get into a turning lane because everyone is so paranoid about the ridiculous fines.

The guy in the article got 4 fines because he would not have known he was doing anything wrong, and the fines take a while to arrive.

Here is an image I took of Symonds Street in Auckland.

Red car narrowly avoids council cameras and buses just to turn left

You can see that fortunately Bus 209 is letting this left turning red vehicle in. Imagine though if the buses were tailgating, and the straight light was green and the left turn red. The poor red car would be stuck holding up straight-going traffic (the white van), increasing Auckland's congestion.

Also imagine if the white van needed to turn left, how would he get into the correct lane?

You can see the council enforcers with their video camera on the right of the picture. I took this photo with my cellphone on the intersection corner - 50 meters is a short distance. In this case the camera is at 70 metres.

 1 | 2 | 3
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.