not sure of that totally true, depends on what you call "a while now". major projects are typically done well, but there is no push to upgrade existing highways to that standard. at best its a special project to do certain roads and even then its a patch up job. so you drive from good wide flat road with crash barriers to a road with no shoulders, no barriers and levels all over the show.
eg the Brynderwyn bypass, which is very much needed as there no good 2ndary road and its often closed to slips and accidents. but jacinda out right killed that project.
tweake,
Jan 2, 6:24am
which increases the cost. i think northland is 3 times the price of most other places. however one of the issues is that because its high price, it gets knocked down the list. so places with less need get done first. but the double wammy is that nothing gets set aside to tackle the more expensive areas. 40 years of "nah its to expensive, try next year" means nothing is ever done unless its politically motivated. i think the system they use is simply flawed.
mechnificent,
Jan 2, 6:26am
Since the work has being tendered out the requirements have been getting steadily higher Tweak.
But you are right, it's the major rebuilds that get done well. Repairs are a lot better than they used to be, but still using the underlying structure. It's the geology though.
mechnificent,
Jan 2, 6:28am
Either way , it's still the drivers that cause crashes I reckon, not the cars or the roads.
tweake,
Jan 2, 6:35am
not just geology. there tends to be a mind set as well. do the absolute minimum and then add onto that which costs 10x more than what it would have cost to do it properly the first time. or put fancy tunnels in, at huge cost, when every other country would have cut it and fitted a bridge across.
or simply the fact that it takes major political motivation to get any decent project done. no northern project would have ever been done without RNS.
tweake,
Jan 2, 6:39am
while drivers may be the principle cause, roading has a big influence.
for eg how many have died between Albany and Puhoi? its gone from one of the top 5 most dangerous roads in nz to nothing. it used to be weekly fatals, now its rare to happen. the same idiots drive it.
mechnificent,
Jan 2, 6:39am
I don't think there's much scope for "mind set", or arbitrary decisions any more Tweak.
tygertung,
Jan 2, 6:51am
If they were driving to the conditions; ie. slower, they may well have not slid off the road, and if they did, the lower speed of impact is likely to have resulted in less, or no injury.
Remember, speed never killed anyone, only sudden stops. However, the greater the speed, the higher the chance for sudden stops, and the stops are going to be more sudden.
tweake,
Jan 2, 6:52am
god i hope so. the people who used to make decisions years ago where idiots who never drove the roads they designed.
tho we still get the odd roading company lying to the press about their workmanship and repairs of their faulty workmanship are sometimes simply not done.
tweake,
Jan 2, 6:55am
real life doesn't work like that. those who crashed where doing the same speed as everyone else. you also cannot see how bad the surface is to be able to work out what speed to drive at. there is an expectation of a certain level of grip. its up to ltsa etc to maintain the roads to a reasonable standard, which was never done in those cases.
bill-robinson,
Jan 2, 7:08am
no they don't you said they killed themselves.
tweake,
Jan 2, 7:12am
lol there is no shortage of idiot drivers on these roads.
mechnificent,
Jan 2, 8:03am
Lol. very good.
alowishes,
Jan 2, 8:05am
That means everybody not born in NZ? So how come so many that ARE born here crash and die?
framtech,
Jan 2, 8:32am
You seem to be implying that most drivers are the village idiot, I would say that drugs and poor cars aside that most people are not idiots and your generalizations are unfounded . Its about road design, driver education and the warrior gene with ego of a select few, On the whole the kiwi driver has exceptional skill level with many becoming world leaders in motorsport and even outstanding at local events in race, rally, sprinting and speedway. Kinda blows the idiot factor away. Those that have moved here from asia, the islands etc may be a little less skilled because of lack of experience coming from under developed or over populated countries . Money is the fix as Minister of transports office knows very well that the fix is multi lane highways, fly overs and wide center dividers but can't bang that drum because it would lose elections (as national just found out). The other one that government enjoys the tax from is our drinking culture which is super destructive both on the road toll and our standard of living but govt is too weak to deal with it. From my experience the only idiots are bureaucrats, greenies, labour / green supporters and the education system on all levels.
tweake,
Jan 2, 8:41am
not at all. it just there are idiots available to replace the few idiots that manage to win darwin awards.
framtech,
Jan 2, 9:01am
by your theory, idiots have accidents, therefore the road toll would go down as fewer idiots would be left to drive. darwin got it wrong anyway, life didn't evolve from mud and the periodic table, you can;t turn mud into life no matter how many million years you throw at it, man can't even cure a common cold, little only make a chicken or an egg from mud. The focus needs to shift to road design and excepting that accidents can only be minimized as physics still apply. I would also love to see the stats on who are being killed right down to the colour of their eyes, their incomes and jobs, level of education, that picture would put a few myths to bed.
mechnificent,
Jan 2, 9:03am
No there are new idiots being born every day. and faster than the road toll !
tygertung,
Jan 2, 12:49pm
NZ is the islands. It is an island nation in the South Pacific.
Travelling overseas I have found the drivers to be less aggressive. I am not sure why they are so aggressive here.
Drink driving is right down now as it is uncool to do it.
Sure, there are some driver who compete in motorsport and that will increase their skill level, but they are actually in a minority.
Drivers should assess the road surface as they are driving, and if it looks in any way to be marginal, they should reduce their speed to one which will result in a lower chance of having an accident, and if they do have an accident, one which is less likely to be damaging.
The roads in NZ are actually quite good, having travelled to a variety of countries. The impatience of drivers is the main hazardous factor.
Unless the road is covered in diesel or oil, a car isn't going to magically slide off the side of the road.
gunhand,
Jan 2, 12:54pm
So what you are saying is that there was a fatal accident, police would have came as would SCU eventually, unless they happened to be in that town or city or have dedicated very close SCU members always on hand. And in "your opinion" it was a result of a wrongly painted area. And also you imply that the Police SCU had the investigation over and done with within hours? How many hours? Within hours suggests not very many at all. And some how the road painting crew got out there removed wrong lines and painted new ones. yet the Police say it was driver error? Who gave the road painting crew authority to paint new lines? And all this before media turn up? Sorry nothing you say makes sense from what ive dealt with. Could be whole different ball game in your neck of the woods though.
gunhand,
Jan 2, 12:57pm
Your right, it doesn't happen over night, couple of hours can do it.
nice_lady,
Jan 2, 1:40pm
Agree, unfortunately I don't see it happening anytime soon in this Pc/Privacy oriented world. Pity tho. The more info you have to work with the better the resultant studies right ?
lost interest after the first 2, to my way of thinking they are the same thing.
mechnificent,
Jan 3, 5:13am
I must be loosing it. What do all those percentages add up to ?
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