Is it too easy for tourists to come here and kill people?

[Katman]

With regard to the tourist that went through the stop sign I read in another forum where the guy who had the right of way should have seen him coming and stopped for him. Just imagine the traffic chaos and rear end collisions if people who had the right of way on roads started doing that on the remote change a person does not stop at a stop sign.

Your post is so incredibly simplistic it could only have been written by someone incredibly simple.

Giving way when you are in fact entitled to the right of way does not necessarily require coming to a stop.

A bit of forethought and reduction of speed (if there is doubt whether the other driver is going to concede right of way) is usually all it would take to avoid a crash. (Please note - I'm making no call on this particular crash as I'm not privy to any details).

Your implication that, if people started giving way when they weren't legally required to, it would lead to absolute chaos on our roads is moronic.

[Swoop]

I remember coming round a corner on the West Coast on the bike and some useless cunt is stopped in the middle of the road taking pictures. I missed him by about 300mm because he was standing on the driver side of the van taking photos of the other side of the road. Fucker.

A mate in the tourism industry bitches about this ALL the time. Tourists in their portable maggot vans simply STOP! when a nice view is seen. Get the camera out since there are so few other road users about...

... on the remote change a person does not stop at a stop sign.

Remote? Come to Auckland and take your chances at any of the intersections here! Luckily the pigs do nothing about this safety issue.

did it myself on Maui, pulled out of our condo and drove on the wrong side into a corner, almost had a headon with a car coming the other way, its easy to do

Hawaii has been sensible. All rental cars have number plates that explain that it is a fucking visitor behind the wheel, so locals are aware of the problem.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Your implication that, if people started giving way when they weren't legally required to, it would lead to absolute chaos on our roads is moronic.

Shouldn't be too much of a surprise mate.

[munster]

PM doesn't see it as a problem

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11266142

[Katman]

In fact, what percentage of fatal vehicle accidents do those attributed to tourists make up?

It would be wise to keep it in perspective.

[gammaguy]

I am all about the broad brush.

I see your broad brush and raise you a spray booth


If its OK for tourists to come here and get killed by kiwis in a hot air balloon,it must be OK for them to come here and kill kiwis in their cars

Or conversely the whole tourist industry in this country needs a overhaul

Pick one,answers on a postcard

[Virago]

...I remember coming round a corner on the West Coast on the bike and some useless cunt is stopped in the middle of the road taking pictures. I missed him by about 300mm because he was standing on the driver side of the van taking photos of the other side of the road. Fucker...

My father-in-law was caught the same way. Came over a blind crest to find a car parked right in the middle of the road - the Dutch family had parked their rental there and wandered off to take photos. He couldn't go round it (on-coming cars) so went down the left side - just clipping the car. The real kicker was that the father-in-law was held liable (not able to stop in the visible distance blah-blah).

[R650R]

Just imagine the traffic chaos and rear end collisions if people who had the right of way on roads started doing that on the remote change a person does not stop at a stop sign.

We already have this problem.
Try approaching a roundabout in a truck with good views every which way. There seems to be many drivers who cant extrapolate in their head the flight paths of two vehicles and work out that if they both mind their own business they will not collide. So instead they reduce their speed and enter into a possible collision scenario.
Many of these types of drivers seem to think that anyone else approaching a roundabout must come to a dead stop while their orbiting it.
Oh well buddy if your stopping guess I don't need to now...

Watching the news report I couldn't help but notice as the reporter remarked "these are the exact same fine conditions as when crash happened" and the sun appeared to be right behind the stop sign blinding the offending motorist.
I often wonder if roading authorities consider the sun position and sunstrike at all when marking junctions and putting signs up etc.
Something bikers should be aware of too is the equally dangerous practice of placing signs on traffic islands at car window level almost creating blindspots...
Pic of best example I could find, small sign but you get the idea....

[Berries]

With regard to the tourist that went through the stop sign I read in another forum where the guy who had the right of way should have seen him coming and stopped for him. Just imagine the traffic chaos and rear end collisions if people who had the right of way on roads started doing that on the remote change a person does not stop at a stop sign.

You do have some weird views. Without commenting on the crash in question, if you are happily rolling along at 100km/h and you see a car on a side road heading towards a crossroads intersection ahead and he does not look like he is slowing down at all then you would be a complete idiot to just keep going at 100km/h. You don't need to stop, but you do need to be not at the intersection at the same time as him. There would be no traffic chaos.

This type of crash happens all the time, the fact this one had a tourist driving means everyone jumps on tourists when it could just as easily have been a local. So many rural crossroads are laid out poorly with one shitty sign competing against shelter belts and power lines that take your eyes straight through the intersection.

Pic of best example I could find, small sign but you get the idea....

Totally agree with your comments re sunstrike, but that sign had absolutely nothing to do with the crash in the picture.

[slofox]

The common fault of Kiwi drivers ... they drive through STOP signs too ...

I think I am the only driver in The Tron who actually stops at stop signs. From what I can see anyway.

I went to the trouble of videoing a stop sign here for about 15 minutes one weekend morning. Only one car actually stopped. Another did stop but only because someone was coming along the road. The rest treated it like a give way sign.

Nobody seemed interested in seeing that video...maybe the cops don't care about stop signs any more.

[slofox]

With regard to the tourist that went through the stop sign I read in another forum where the guy who had the right of way should have seen him coming and stopped for him. Just imagine the traffic chaos and rear end collisions if people who had the right of way on roads started doing that on the remote change a person does not stop at a stop sign.

Anyone who rides a bike with any degree of sense at all should be prepared to take evasive action at any intersection when another vehicle is on that piece of road. If I see someone who looks like they might not give way to me when they should, I'll make fucking sure I am not in his way if he comes through. And I get plenty of practice riding round a city.

Common fucking sense. Same should apply when driving any vehicle. Better stopped when you shouldn't than dead.

[Berries]

I went to the trouble of videoing a stop sign here for about 15 minutes one weekend morning. Only one car actually stopped. Another did stop but only because someone was coming along the road. The rest treated it like a give way sign.

A lot of them should be and that is why they don't get complied with. Too much crying wolf.

To be fair though, it does not sound like this crash was someone rolling through a stop sign at low speed and not coming to a complete stop.

[Virago]

You do have some weird views. Without commenting on the crash in question, if you are happily rolling along at 100km/h and you see a car on a side road heading towards a crossroads intersection ahead and he does not look like he is slowing down at all then you would be a complete idiot to just keep going at 100km/h. You don't need to stop, but you do need to be not at the intersection at the same time as him. There would be no traffic chaos...

Yup.

This is precisely the point of the "others make mistakes" advert, which was widely condemned on here. Some people simply can't see past the "right of way" rule, to the concept of defensive driving.

[R650R]

Nobody seemed interested in seeing that video...maybe the cops don't care about stop signs any more.

That's because stuff like that catches everybody including the VIPs and offduty cops etc... and creates a headache for them...
That pushbike nut in Auckland ruined the whole video evidence thing by overdoing it and now they prob assume anyone doing it is just as nutty as him.
Plus think of the workload if every joe blow was doing these types of vids...

[george formby]

If I see someone who looks like they might not give way to me when they should, I'll make fucking sure I am not in his way if he comes through.

Concur. But I would guess that your intuitiveness with other road users is very conscious & constant. Spidey sense. You jump on the bike & tune in. I don't think this is the average mentality of road users, years on a bike with an open mind & the ability to learn kind of make us a bit different.
On a recent ride with a mate & my n00b G/F I spotted an elderly gentleman about to exit a golf club. All the alarm bells rang, I knew he was going to pull out, sure as the sun comes up. My mate who was tail end charlie felt the same thing. My G/F thought he might but was sure he would not..... I was well out of dodge but my G/F stuck to her guns & ended up being forced out of lane as he barged his way out. No harm done but the only difference between the 3 of us was attitude. 2 assumed he would pull out & were proactive, 1 assumed he would not & had to be reactive.
Just another day on the roads.

Summit else I have noticed with tourists is how busy they are when driving, talking, fiddling with sat navs, looking at maps and views or being directed by passengers, a major indicator of unawareness. All attention is on the passenger talking & pointing, not what is happening on the road.
I also get the impression that some tourists feel that their campervan will roll over at the merest hint of a corner, the tension is palpable when your stuck behind them.