NZ road safety ads & videos (2014)

[Virago]

...You should be able to come through an intersection at speed, you should be able to drive on our roads in reasonable safety & with the knowledge that others know what they're doing...

Ah, yes - that mythical perfect world again. Keep dreaming...

[Scuba_Steve]

Ah, yes - that mythical perfect world again. Keep dreaming...

Why's it so "mythical" to expect those with drivers licences capable of driving?
I think it perfectly reasonable to expect people to be able to drive before handing them a driver licence I mean they do it with aircraft
or maybee we should just hand them out with IRD numbers, that would achieve the same result as current only difference is everyone would have ID. Your preferred option I'm sure

[mashman]

or maybee we should just hand them out with IRD numbers, that would achieve the same result as current only difference is everyone would have ID.

If you have a berth certificate, the number giving is an absolute certainty. Fuck 'em. Pretend, just for once, that a PERSON is a human being and not a PERSON at all. Veritas Vincit.

[ducatilover]

I dislike that advert. I like safety campaigns, but I think "Check for others before driving out of a fucking intersection" would be a better slogan. The fellow was pulling out anyway, and suggesting that a knob in a Stagea would have avoided said incident doing 100km/h is silly talk, the Subaru driver is a plonker.


It's a sore subject for me any way, a mate of mine was killed by one of these pull out Catholic pricks at an intersection near Palmy a few years back.


I have completely lost faith in the NZTA bunch driving these adverts.

[Virago]

...I think it perfectly reasonable to expect people to be able to drive before handing them a driver licence I mean they do it with aircraft...

And yet people in aircraft frequently die due to human error?

People. Make. Mistakes. Be prepared for it, and make allowances for it. It's a key part of defensive driving.

No-one denies that you should be able to drive through an intersection at normal speed. But, due to human error, intersections can be very dangerous places. Easing off just a little as you approach is not a big ask.

[pzkpfw]

My $0.02:

There already have been ads aimed at certain kinds of mistake, aimed at the perpetrators (e.g. don't drink and drive; and that wheel-of-death ad a year or two back was already about intersections), so on the whole I don't mind an ad aimed at making everyone realise that they need to be careful of other peoples' mistakes, not just sit smug in their own ability to be faultless (apology for hyperbole). So at first I was quite prepared to "defend" this ad.

But, the more I think about it, the more it annoys me.

First, there have not been enough campaigns aimed at the silly mistakes that irk other drivers (I think normal human frustration is an under-appreciated cause of accidents) and can lead to accidents, and secondly, that ad with it's "Other people make mistakes" tag line is well intentioned but makes far too much of a point about the guys speed. If he was doing 100 k/h (the legal limit there) the crash would still have occurred. Yes, he was "too fast" - but the limit was not the main cause. Ignoring the speedometer and showing an alternate reality where the guy had seen the car at the intersection and backed off, or gotten ready for avoidance, might have been more on point.

The ad makers have asked the very people they directed the ad at, to ignore it.



(Me, I want to see junior cops planted at roundabouts, mailing $20 fines to people who can't indicate correctly. Stuff like that, just to raise the general need for a higher standard of thinking and awareness when driving.)

[Jantar]

And yet people in aircraft frequently die due to human error?.......

One of the big differences between aviation and road safety is that in aviation pilots are encouraged to fly safely rather than to a set selection of rules. If it is safer to NOT follow the rules then the pilot is required to take the safest option rather than to blindly follow the rule. Yes there are speed limits in aviation, and there is also a clause that says "...unless another speed is safer."

Other aspects of aviation safety that are in contrast to road safety are:
When a pilot does make a mistake he is supported in coming forward and reporting his mistake with recommendations on how other pilots can avoid that same mistake. When a driver makes a mistake he is fined and hence encouraged to hide the error.

In aviation the emphasis is on preventing accidents from happening, and that way there is less need to reduce the impact of accidents, although reducing is still a factor in design in most instances. In driving it appears that the emphasis is on reducing the impact of accidents even if that strategy will cause more accidents overall.

In aviation it is exteremly hard to get a licence. The licence test includes a test of your knowledge of technical matters so that yo need to show that you understand how the engine works, what keeps your plane in the air, what factors cause reductions in control forces etc. Even once you do get a licence there are regular reviews including a bi-enial flight test. Fail a flight test and you are reffered back for remedial training, and may not carry any passengers until you pass. In driving it is easy to get a licence, and once you have one, it is yours for life, subject to paying a fee and keeping your photo up to date.

The relevence to the ad that we are discussing here is that this ad shows just how focused the police are on reducing the impact of accidents, focus on speed, rather than reducing the cause of the accident, focus on maintaining a good lookout for other traffic.

[Voltaire]

My $0.02:

(Me, I want to see junior cops planted at roundabouts, mailing $20 fines to people who can't indicate correctly. Stuff like that, just to raise the general need for a higher standard of thinking and awareness when driving.)

You mean the ones who are going straight ahead on very small roundabouts and briefly indicate left then right...? or the ones who don't bother at all?

[Virago]

On the topic of allowing for the errors of others, we quite happliy accept allowances for children. Kids will make mistakes, in crossing the road, or chasing a ball, etc. In that regard, virtually everyone accepts lower speeds and tighter controls around schools. We all understand that the difference between hitting a child at 40k or at 60k can be quite horrific.

But beyond that, the great kiwi "fuck you" attitude prevails. This is my road, I have right of way, and I'll quite happily kill you (and your innocent kids) if you encroach on my turf. I'm in the right, and therefore any consequences are not my fault.

It's a sad reflection on our society.

[Big Dave]

Cops on roundabouts? Wouldn't happen here.

They are too busy at servos.

[Robbo]

The roundabout rules just to refresh memories.

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/kn...oundabouts.pdf

Would'nt be a bad idea if there was a maximum speed for entering a roundabout either.

[MVnut]

To be blunt, the guy doing 108km approx probably wasn't even speeding if they used a GPS, car speedos are normally about 10% generous so he was most likely under 100km in reality.

[Jantar]

....
Would'nt be a bad idea if there was a maximum speed for entering a roundabout either.

There is. As every entrance to a roundabout is via a give way sign it is illegal to enter a round about any faster than the speed at which you can determine that the way is clear for you to proceed. Just like at any other give way you must slow down and prepare to stop before proceeding through the give way.

[Virago]

...Would'nt be a bad idea if there was a maximum speed for entering a roundabout either.

There is. As every entrance to a roundabout is via a give way sign it is illegal to enter a round about any faster than the speed at which you can determine that the way is clear for you to proceed. Just like at any other give way you must slow down and prepare to stop before proceeding through the give way.

We have a local roundabout where one entry point is virtually blind. The unseen traffic approaching from the right charges through at high speed, expecting and demanding right-of-way. It's just a matter of time before someone is hurt. But it won't of course be the speedster's fault...

[Ocean1]

You mean the ones who are going straight ahead on very small roundabouts and briefly indicate left then right...? or the ones who don't bother at all?

The ones that piss me off are those waiting on the left as you enter the roundabout that get all huffy because you didn't let them know you were going straight through.

Those, and the ones indicating right going in... and then switch to indicate left and take the straight through road.

There's also a lot of roundabouts with 3 or 5 exits, or exits at angles other than left, straight ahead and right which make the rules completely unworkable.

I hate the fucking stupid roundabout indication rules, we were all much safer when you simply had to indicate before exiting the roundabout.