Taranaki Toy Run crash

[kevie]

Thats only gonna get worse.
We all know the crazy with the yellow paints been running round the country painting up the lines. Well what you may/may not have noticed is his mate, insane guy with the white paint, has also been been making the rounds painting "guide" lines everywhere...
This can only be a bad thing in the long run, as people start thinking white lines mean nothing more than guide or suggestion & treat them as such.

Something I have said for years ..... the Road authorities putting yellow no passing lines everywhere and anywhere and some of them are sooooooo not needed there.
Same with the number of road signs (which I term as visual noise), both them and the yellows are so dominant on our roads people are treating them as a nothingness and not seeing them.
LTSA need to get around the country without their Politically Correct glasses on and remove all the unnecessary shit from our roads.
Instead of plastering the signs and yellows everywhere they should toughen up on the penalties for breaking them, and teaching the age old lost talent of "common sense".

I'm a line-haul trucker and see on a daily basis numerous incidences of Stupidity.... many of them drivers with young children in the car; Have our modern drivers lost the ability to think? they seem to turn on the ignition and turn off the brain!
I once was laying a serious dangerous driving complaint and said to the cop that I thought modern drivers cant think beyond their windscreens, he replied hes convinced they cant even think that far..... I recon he may be right.

I make NO apologies for dobbing in bad drivers, whether they are other trucks, cars or even motorcyclists ... the highway is MY WORKPLACE and I have a responsibility to help keep it safe, and as an ex ambulance officer ... I don't really want to spend time on the road trying to keep some innocent victim alive after the stupidity of a bad driver!
So remember ..... *555 costs me Nothing ...... what could it cost you???

[James Deuce]

So remember ..... *555 costs me Nothing ...... what could it cost you???

Doesn't work, even following up with the relevant paperwork at the Police Station, and I'm quite frankly sickened by the concept that narking is now not only OK, it's encouraged by the authorities and people are thinking it is OK! Can't be long until we have ignition interlocks to measure breath alcohol prior to engine start, monitored ECUs resulting in a backlog of "offences" needing to be cleared at every interface with officialdom, cameras on every piece of transit owned roadside furniture and the death penalty for reversing into an angle park.

[FJRider]

Instead of plastering the signs and yellows everywhere they should toughen up on the penalties for breaking them, and teaching the age old lost talent of "common sense".

People bitch about the "Failing to keep left" fines now. With NO yellows involved ...

Those with the "I'm in a hurry so I will ... " mentality ... if they can, they will.(If it suits) Never a thought of what may result.

[george formby]

and the death penalty for reversing into an angle park.

I did that last weekend!

[scumdog]

Doesn't work, even following up with the relevant paperwork at the Police Station, and I'm quite frankly sickened by the concept that narking is now not only OK, it's encouraged by the authorities and people are thinking it is OK!.

So you're suggesting that when we are following somebody who overtakes on the crest of a hill, using the passing lane for traffic from the opposite direction to do so and carries on that we go "Meh, he probably coulda picked a better spot" and leave it at that???

Well I don't 'cos one day it could be ME on that passing lane heading into a brainless fuckin moron that shouldn't be allowed near anything that has wheels...

I do my best to see the error of their way is pointed out to said brainless fuckin' moron. (Of which we have too many on our roads.)

[scumdog]

Never a thought of what may result.

And that's the problem - their mind is more on the next golf game -or pavlova they're gonna make or something other than the task at hand.
Should be made to use the bus.
Numpties.

[MSTRS:Me]

... brainless fuckin' moron. (Of which we have too many on our roads.)

Yep ... and to be fair, not all of them in mufti, eh.

As for the reason for this thread...it is a tragedy that the innocent and vulnerable pay the price for someone else's lunacy. Drivers like this one (assuming that reports are correct, of course) should be charged with murder. Let some lawyer argue it down to manslaughter, because there was no intent to kill. But kill that driver did, and I'm not sure that the driving charge '...causing death' carries a penalty equal to the manslaughter charge. Besides, an even better prosecutor might manage to get murder through and then the game will change, eh?

[James Deuce]

So you're suggesting that when we are following somebody who overtakes on the crest of a hill, using the passing lane for traffic from the opposite direction to do so and carries on that we go "Meh, he probably coulda picked a better spot" and leave it at that???

Well I don't 'cos one day it could be ME on that passing lane heading into a brainless fuckin moron that shouldn't be allowed near anything that has wheels...

I do my best to see the error of their way is pointed out to said brainless fuckin' moron. (Of which we have too many on our roads.)

No, I'm suggesting that that Average Joe doesn't get any respect in regard to making a complaint about other road users, and that you can report mouth breathers all you want. It's a waste of time.

A considerable waste of time, because to actually follow up a *555 requires you to make a formal complaint (Police Station visit, form filling, bored cop/receptionist looking at you like you're a retard for suggesting that people can't drive while you're stupid enough to turn up here wearing motorcycle gear) and without witnesses with a will to follow the same process, the best you can hope for from a *555 is a letter to the offender suggesting they've been a dick at some point in the past and someone whined about it. Which will get the same response from most people - "The can't mean me, I'm an above average driver". He probably is. It's just that the scale we use to judge "average driver" in NZ starts at amoeba and ends at crustacean.

[scumdog]

No, I'm suggesting that that Average Joe doesn't get any respect in regard to making a complaint about other road users, and that you can report mouth breathers all you want. It's a waste of time.

A considerable waste of time, because to actually follow up a *555 requires you to make a formal complaint (Police Station visit, form filling, bored cop/receptionist looking at you like you're a retard for suggesting that people can't drive while you're stupid enough to turn up here wearing motorcycle gear) and without witnesses with a will to follow the same process, the best you can hope for from a *555 is a letter to the offender suggesting they've been a dick at some point in the past and someone whined about it. Which will get the same response from most people - "The can't mean me, I'm an above average driver". He probably is. It's just that the scale we use to judge "average driver" in NZ starts at amoeba and ends at crustacean.

You sound like too many of the public - "I can't be fucked making the effort, it's all too hard/inconvenient/time consuming".

Fuckwitted drivers depend on people like you...

(And sweet f.a. of the complaints I receive DON'T get at least the appropriate ticket if not a summons)

[Katman]

As for the reason for this thread...it is a tragedy that the innocent and vulnerable pay the price for someone else's lunacy. Drivers like this one (assuming that reports are correct, of course) should be charged with murder. Let some lawyer argue it down to manslaughter, because there was no intent to kill. But kill that driver did, and I'm not sure that the driving charge '...causing death' carries a penalty equal to the manslaughter charge. Besides, an even better prosecutor might manage to get murder through and then the game will change, eh?

And the sad fact is that 6 years down the track we still have a tribute thread going for a motorcyclist who fits that bill perfectly.

[James Deuce]

You sound like too many of the public - "I can't be fucked making the effort, it's all too hard/inconvenient/time consuming".

Fuckwitted drivers depend on people like you...

(And sweet f.a. of the complaints I receive DON'T get at least the appropriate ticket if not a summons)

No, made plenty of effort to no effect. Gave up. Pretty much like anything related to road safety, motorcycling or mental health. No one gives a shit.

[thecharmed01]

I really feel for the families who are suffering.

I hadn't seen the herald article, so I was wondering how a toy run could go so wrong - I figured it was the van at fault bearing in mind it wasn't a bunch of hoons out taking over the road but man alive. I hope he sees prison.
How the hell do you justify to yourself, that overtaking stopped traffic on a corner is a good idea??!?!?!?!?! What the hell was he thinking?????
It's always gutting when the wrong person dies because the person who made the stupid decision is the one that walks away!

[scumdog]

It's always gutting when the wrong person dies because the person who made the stupid decision is the one that walks away!

If you're gonna kill somebody in NZ do it on the roads.

It gives you the best shot for walking away with bugger all penalty.

[scumdog]

And the sad fact is that 6 years down the track we still have a tribute thread going for a motorcyclist who fits that bill perfectly.

"Must spread rep"

[007XX]

If only arguing over who's wrong could change a thing.

RIP to those lost, and all heartfelt sympathies to those affected by their passing.

It sucks so thoroughly, the needless loss of lives.