Stop blaming the roads

[Motu]

Thought you were coming back Monday.......

Saturday morning is suposed to be my quiet day and I was gunna go early to Puke.But I got busy and my lawnmower has seized and I'm going to the track NOW!!

[Ixion]

Saturday morning is suposed to be my quiet day and I was gunna go early to Puke.But I got busy and my lawnmower has seized and I'm going to the track NOW!!

So - you promised Mrs Motu you'd cut the lawns ? And now your lawnmower has seized, so you're off to the track instead. Very convenient, that seizure ?

[Drew]

cc ratings are not the problem here. Anyone spent time on an RGV 250 lately? It is power to weight that causes strife for the uneducated, and frankley, how do you police something like that. The LTSA are not about to install dino gear in all W.O.F outlets.
The one thing that is gauranteed to bring down the road toll, is to educate drivers, and maintain the road's better.
Road maintanance is costing shit loads at the moment and they are still falling behind with it, so where will the money come from, speed fine revenew is far too simple an answer, and I'm allready pissed off about more tax on my petrol to pay for the Aukland upgrade.
Private funding and toll booths is the way it should go, that way, if you dont use it, you don't pay for it!
Thats my 2 cents anyway.
P.S we could do away with maintanance and fit knobly tyres to every vehical on the road.

[Drew]

Some of us are new to this and did not know this subject had been up loads of times before!!! I did not want people to get upset about it, just wanted to know peoples opinions.

Re. the age thing I feel that allot of how they are is down to the parents and how they are raised. Yes I have met some great 15 year olds but I am not convinced that is the norm. but I hope it is. The parent of one of the latest fatalities said " 6 offences in 2 years that's not that bad for a kid of his age"!!!!!!!!!!! and then followed it up by saying " he couldn't afford the fines so as any loving parent would, we helped him pay them"

That to me is a little worrying

Along with the fact that by mid December I think the figures stood at 30+ deaths on the road. This is way higher than in the UK where the country is smaller and has 15 times!! more people.

As I said these are just my observations and not meant to offend anyone. I am open-minded and will always listen to other people’s point of view.

Thanks to you all for your feedback.

Don't appologise for briging up a topic. If someone gets offended by something, they shouldnt read the thread. FUCK EM, post what you want to talk about!

[jimbo600]

Damn right Taz. Take Centennial drive (the killer highway) now there's fuck all wrong with that rd. If folk can't negotiate that bit of road safely they shouldn't be driving. They should fit all cages with a huge metal spike coming out of the steering column aiming at the drivers eyes. The drivers would pay close attention then. They wouldn't follow too close, or gaze at the scenery.

[SPman]

Yup - about time drivers and riders realised that controlling a motor vehicle is a serious full time occupation, to be concentrated on whilst in the pursuance thereof.
Its only when yer really good like me, that you can text, change CD's, roll a joint etc, whilst driving!

[Teflon]

I feel it is time to up the driving age and put a restriction on the size of the engine they can have for the first couple of years, like they do when learning to ride a bike.

Needs to be some kind of power to weight restriction.

Harleys for example, would be a perfect learner bike, because they weigh ton and have bugger all horse power. Even a 600 single would be ideal.

I think it's a bad idea giving a learners a option of riding bikes like RGV's, NSR's etc.

[Wolf]

Harleys for example, would be a perfect learner bike, because they weigh ton and have bugger all horse power.

Served well enough for my great-uncle Owen to learn on - 1340cc HD, no helmet, gravel-roads. All the incentive not to fall off you could want...

I think it's a bad idea giving a learners a option of riding bikes like RGV's, NSR's etc.

I agree in general. Most the people here "self regulated" - started off on less powerful bikes and worked up. Some here have benefitted from the ability to have something as powerful as an RGV whilst still restricted to 250cc - but they've worked their way up to it.

Perhaps ban RGVs, NSRs and similar for the Learner Licence and allow them under Restricted.

[Clockwork]

Subjective. It is what is done on the roads that makes them safe or dangerous.

Are we talking before or after the event?

[inlinefour]

bit like blaming the spoon for all the fat people out there

Nice sig

[mangell6]

The one thing that is gauranteed to bring down the road toll, is to educate drivers, and maintain the road's better.

Educate drivers is the ONLY thing that will gaurantee the road toll to be come "more acceptable".

"But sir, I was driving to the road conditions."

Road maintanance is costing shit loads at the moment and they are still falling behind with it, so where will the money come from, speed fine revenew is far too simple an answer, and I'm allready pissed off about more tax on my petrol to pay for the Auckland upgrade.
Private funding and toll booths is the way it should go, that way, if you dont use it, you don't pay for it!

Back in the late 1970s I worked for the Ministry of Works, the roading engineers always stated that if ALL the money that was taken under the heading of "road tax" was put back into the New Zealand roads there would not be a single gravel road.

Things have not changed at all, although a lot of the main roads are smoother and straighter.

Mike

[Ixion]

Back in the late 1970s I worked for the Ministry of Works, the roading engineers always stated that if ALL the money that was taken under the heading of "road tax" was put back into the New Zealand roads there would not be a single gravel road.

What a horrible thought. :eyepoke: You tell your ex mates to leave our gravel roads alone. We've got precious few of them left as it is .

[sAsLEX]

Its only when yer really good like me, that you can text, change CD's, roll a joint etc, whilst driving!

All it takes is a bit of training! Think about pilots of say a helicopter, they are using both hands and feet and navigating in 3 dimensions and most do it along with fiddling with knobs etc on their dash. But someone in a car, using most likely one hand and one foot in 2 dimensions fucks up trying to tune the radio?!

How many people can change the CD/Radio without taking their eyes off the road!? It is not a dificult task but it seems to overload alot of people. Do it often enough, say practice in the drive before you leave, and you will learn where everything is in your car and be able to do most things without having to take concentration away from the road.

[Ixion]

..

How many people can change the CD/Radio without taking their eyes off the road!? It is not a dificult task but it seems to overload alot of people. Do it often enough, say practice in the drive before you leave,..

Undoing a bra strap without taking your eyes off the road. Now *that* takes practice Not to mention self control

I think I need more practice !

[pritch]

I believe that people die on our roads partly because the LTSA are asleep at the wheel. That isn't meant to absolve the drivers of all blame. For example some of those stretches of road that are currently blighted by "head-ons" might benefit from some form of central divider. Then the terminally stupid could wipe themselves out without involving an innocent party.

Licences are too easy to get and realistically that will always be the case. (The cost of skid pans and racetracks would be prohibitive.) The problem is that people then think they can drive and in a very short time they consider themselves "good drivers". Yet most could not be truly described as "drivers" at all. They will have read nothing about driving since they sat their test, many may never have driven outside town.

The people I work with invariably consider themselves good drivers. I point out all the damage on the "Company" cars, but aparently that isn't relevant.

These "good" drivers have said some rather startling things to me :
"I have never put petrol in a car in my life."
"I have never adjusted the ventilation in a car."
"I want a bigger map, one that I can read while I'm driving."
"A Traffic cop told me never use the mirrors, they cause too many accidents."

That last one was particularly scary but I know from the mal-adjusted mirrors I find in our cars, including repeatedly finding them folded flat along the side of the car, that they are grossly underutilised.

And these are supposed to be reasonably intelligent people.

Stay awake out there...