Wonder what bullshit will be trotted out to justify the obsession with speed control with the road toll higher than last years labour weekend.
mojo49,
Oct 26, 4:35pm
Don't worry about the Labour weekend blitz. Have a look at the year to date road toll compared to last year - up around 15%. Why do you think the top brass in the Police are so quiet on the subject? I wonder how much the speeding infringement income is up this year on last year, when that is supposed to reduce the road toll?
purple666,
Oct 26, 4:40pm
Maybe they have accepted defeat, I notice they didn't bang on and on and on and on and on about it in the lead up to this weekend.
cmscott111,
Oct 26, 4:42pm
And you solution to preventing deaths on our roads is ?
headcat,
Oct 26, 4:43pm
Probably another "tough new law" will be needed.
headcat,
Oct 26, 4:46pm
Only one death on the road concerns me, Mine.If everyone looked after themselves all would be fine and we could all die of old age.
mojo49,
Oct 26, 4:55pm
For the 124 drivers and 35 motor cycle drivers killed this year (101-29 last year) there is little you can do. The cruel hearted would simply say that was Darwin's Law (Survival of the fittest) in action. They all knew their actions were dangerous or risky. For the 124 others (101 last year) that is 124 victims of some-ones stupidity. Many were not wearing seat belts but a large number were just innocent victims. This years increase is spread right across the 20-59 year age group so you cant blame youth or inexperience. There is no simple answer. More laws, bigger fines more road signs, better roads wont change bad driver behaviour. More pro-active passengers insisting driver's slow down and driver more safely could help, but the problem is inside the head's of the killer drivers and that is a hard space to change.
I wonder how many were busy using their cellphones?
r.g.nixon,
Oct 26, 5:04pm
Southland and Nelson/Marlborough are the safest places to drive. That's a pity, as they are so far away!
delmic,
Oct 26, 5:15pm
everyone is so obsessed with looking at their speeos they are not driving with their eyes looking up the road and in their mirror
martin11,
Oct 26, 5:40pm
You should be able to tell what speed you are doing and what is happening around your vehicle with only quick glances not staring at your speedo or mirror .
purple666,
Oct 26, 5:48pm
To within 5kph?
r.g.nixon,
Oct 26, 5:52pm
Buy a cheap Navigation/GPS unit and set it to beep at a certain speed.
crankypants69,
Oct 26, 6:18pm
Yep, it's really not that hard
peja,
Oct 26, 6:38pm
This! This is the main factor in the road toll increasing. Distraction, not speed
intrade,
Oct 26, 6:43pm
so we need a distraction fine. wohoo and we are saved again. mmmmmhhh revenue . hands rubb.
gsimpson,
Oct 26, 7:11pm
Do they adapt for different speed zones? They are not always right either. On the Kaikoura coast at Easter this year when I went through the limit was 80 but GPS said 100. There was a camera there. I wonder how well it did?
tweake,
Oct 26, 7:40pm
\ easy as. that method was (probably still is) the standard method taught.
tweake,
Oct 26, 7:44pm
yes/no even if they did everything right, thats would only drop the road toll in half. there are many other factors involved. thats one of the reasons bleating on about road toll is annoying. there is so many factors involved which can turn a minor oops into a fatal accident. also people are not concerned about dieing. they should be more focused on the crash rate rather than the death rate.
topseycat,
Oct 26, 7:52pm
Or use your cruise control if you've it. I know some of my friends have it in their cars but for some reason do not use it
socram,
Oct 26, 9:03pm
Cruise control doesn't always work going downhill! Never use it.
1) Driver education 2) Acceptance that some people should never be on the road as they lack the basic skills. 3) Tougher penalties for genuinely dangerous or potentially dangerous driving. 4) Road signs that give out genuine road safety messages.
To elaborate on the last. "Slow Down" doesn't mean a thing when you are stuck behind some numpty doing 70kph in a 100kph zone.
Auckland motorway digital signs are a total joke. For the last couple of weeks, they seem more concerned with tying down loads. Why not a random 10 or 20 road safety messages for 30 seconds, such as:
"Keep left except when over taking" "Use your mirrors every 5 to 8 seconds in traffic." "Have you checked your lights/tyres this week?" "Mirror, then signal, then brake, before turning" "Keep 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front." "Be courteous in traffic." "Concentrate on your driving, not your passengers/cell phones/stereos/kids/cigarettes- ." "Read the road ahead."
I'm sure there must be a load more. What doesn't work is a mantra of speed kills' when there are other countries with much higher speeds than in NZ - and much better safety records.
tintop,
Oct 26, 9:11pm
And road and traffic engineering consistent with those speeds. And better attitudes.
tamarillo,
Oct 26, 9:13pm
Pretty much what socram says above. There are many experts overseas that can answer this question for our government should they wish to listen. They can back it with solid results. I find the expression 'treat like a monkey behave like a monkey' apt. We are treated like idiots, and behave like idiots. Lose lose situation.
topseycat,
Oct 26, 9:15pm
Cruise control works downhill if you go into tiptonic mode and chop it down a gear or two. I do agree that there is basically alot of inattention whilst driving and not being aware of what your car is capable of i.e braking ability turning ability etc. All cars have different characteristics and it takes time to get used to them.
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