NZ Road Toll Now Higher Than Last Year

[Drunken Monkey]

...Asian countries consist of a workforce that endures excessive hours with small pay....

I'd trade my salary for the Tokyo or Hong Kong equivalent any day, mate. From what you say, the New Zealand work force endures early mornings and we all work on farms?
Try a less rash generalisation next time...

[Zed]

...let said dickhead through and bugger me on his spare wheel cover, as he passes by, there is a picky of Ned Kelly all suited up in his armour, threateningly pointing a couple of pistols and yep the words "Back off" written underneath.
Fuck where do they come from? I aint no Sigmund Freud but this guy has to be a psycologists dream come true.

Lol, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if there are several members on this site who own one of those spare wheel covers, they were rather popular at Repco/The Warehouse a year or two back! I'm sure you meant no offense to them though...unless it was them who tailgated you of course?

[Virago]

The overwhelming view in this thread seems to be that it is the cage drivers that are the menace on the road. In my experience bikers are just as idiotic on the road.

Recently when driving (in work cage) from Christchurch to Dunedin, I got a major fright. Driving around a moderate sweeping right-hander, I was confronted with a small group of bikers overtaking other traffic in convoy, and well over the centre line. Only quick evasive action on my part saved the lead rider's life. I only hope the bastard got as much of a fright as I did.

This sort of thing is only too common. C'mon guys, let's be safe out there!

[spudchucka]

Maybe the Government and the NZ Police will get the message that their policies are not helping improve things.

Think for a moment what the carnage would be like if they did nothing.

[Marmoot]

Sorry to troll a bit, but I believe (from previous discussions elsewhere in this forum) that this high road fatalities should be blamed on Asian drivers.

If not for them, the holiday fatalities would be close to 0.

[madboy]

Think for a moment what the carnage would be like if they did nothing.

Think for a moment what the carnage would be like if they acted on a well-thought out pro-active strategy to improve road safety.

[SlashWylde]

It is to be expected. The quality of the New Zealand lifestyle is slowly diminishing. New Zealanders in general are now working long hours and spending less quality time with family. The alligning of the New Zealand economy with the growing Asian influence is contibuting to this situation. Asian countries consist of a workforce that endures excessive hours with small pay.
In the middle to low income classes, we are now seeing New Zealanders working harder & longer to maintain previous lifestyles.

Many New Zealanders just don't know how to unwind any longer and for some, the personal pace of life is revving high. This reflects on peoples road manners and patience and courtesy on the roads is almost nil existant in some cases.
There were pros and cons for NZ alligning with Asian countries as opposed to the European trade countries. This is one of the cons. New Zelanders are becoming more competitive with each other, including - On the roads.

The government knows this is to be expected. Sad thing is - This provides the government with more excuses to pull more officers from the beat and put them on the roads, It's a vicious cycle that will only worsen! I can't see long term trends showing an improvement in road tolls.

Well put, I concur...

[Quasievil]

Think for a moment what the carnage would be like if they did nothing.

i would like to see the road toll would be if they did something, it seems the only methods of improvement strategy the police and policey makers are able to see is a Fiscal one, how thick can you possibly be, is it working, has it ever worked ..... NO it hasnt and it never will.
Not until a intelligent well thought out system is introduced will there be any change, Im talking about restrictions on Power outage on new drivers cars, proper training for drivers, effective policing, getting the aged and impaired off the roads, getting truck numbers reduced, investment into our roads (especially the dangerous ones)etc etc better alternative transport ie Trains.
The sad fact of the matter is the police and the policey makers actually dont care about the road toll, not seriously if they did care you would see some real policies (as above) being intitiated on our roads. the HP is essentially pointless as a policing unit the only point relevant to them and thier exsistance is cash generation.

Personally I think those that charge around in Police cars handing out tickets are essentially misguided fools who have enabled themselves as puppets for the politicans greed. the whole damn policing situation on the road is a SHAM pure and simple one goal ,one aim ....... MONEY. I have argued this for years and years and never have I heard a reasonable arguement in defence. While Im at it (why dont I say what I really think)
Being a HP cop to me ranks as the lowest possible job a person can aspire to be involved in, and once gained you should be nothing more than ashamed of yourself.

to Qualify a bit, I have every respect for real policemen and women but the HP can fuck themselves

[Pixie]

Cop on TV the other night:

"The public don't seem to connect traffic enforcement with safety.They just see it as revenue"

God no! How can this be?
Bet he'll find a request for his resignation in his in box.

[TLDV8]

The one thing i love about NZ is the non accountability which is getting worse..it's not my fault..its the government/cops/my mum's fault etc that i drive like a !@#$wit....i need someone to blame...Keyword,i need someone to hold my hand,there was a time when Kiwi's would stand up instead of passing the buck.

[SlashWylde]

i would like to see the road toll would be if they did something...

True but the problem is this requires time effort and money to implement. It is not a relatively easy quick action to take, unlike passing new legislation to lowwer speed limits or take passive action by the use of speed cameras and radars.

The problem is that this govt is focussed on threatening the public with a big stick to try and prevent them from speeding, because the offical line is that speeding is what causes the biggest mess. The reality is that attacking speeding is the easiest way to try and lower the road toll. The reality is, as we all know, that it is poor skills and aggressive driving that is to blame for road crashes.

Problem is to really deal with the root cause would involve too much time effort and money and would put too many voters and workers off the road, so it is inherently against the govts best interests, so nothing is ever going to change.

This is all patently obvious to anyone with half a brain but what can you do?...

No really...what can WE do? I'd really like to know 'cause I am tired of hearing the same old bullshit from the powers that be. It's not JUST speed you fuckwits...work it out.

[inlinefour]

Think for a moment what the carnage would be like if they did nothing.

Are you trying to imply that they are actually doing something worth while at the moment? If so, its really working - Tui ad.
Be nice to see what would happen if the powers that be engaged the brain, utilised common sense and thought logically. Usually when someone trys something and fails a few times, they rethink and come up with a new stratigy to sort it out. But not with this eh, were is it all going to end if they cannot realise that their current way of thinking is inadequate?

[Kickaha]

Are you trying to imply that they are actually doing something worth while at the moment? If so, its really working - Tui ad.

So you think the road toll would improve if there was no enforcement?
Yeah right - Tui Add

Although the only way to test whether the current enforcement procedures are working would be to do just that and see what the results were

[Indoo]

Im talking about restrictions on Power outage on new drivers cars, proper training for drivers, effective policing, getting the aged and impaired off the roads, getting truck numbers reduced, investment into our roads (especially the dangerous ones)etc etc better alternative transport ie Trains.

What do you mean by effective policing? And I really don't think those things aside from the power outage will have any impact at all. Its not truck drivers overtaking on blind corners causing collisions or Grandma Jones overtaking a line of traffic on double yellow lines or a road that decides to suddenly buck up and throw cars off it that cause people to die. Even driver training will only have a limited impact, people who overtake on double yellows and dangerously into blind corners know that what they are doing is dangerous but do it anyway.

Its just simple stupidity its the same kind of people causing crashes who would manage to shoot themselves if you gave them an unloaded gun and no ammo. You can give them all the training in the world, they will still be just as stupid and still do stupid things on the road. Its not driver training that stops most people from crossing the centre line or overtaking on a blind corner, its simply the existence of a base level of intellect and sense. A base level of intelligence and a survival instinct would tell them that placing there vehicle doing 100k+ into the lane of another vehicle coming the other way doing 100k+ isn't a very good idea.

There are two options really, you can focus on speed and reduce the damage done by crashes which are inevitable when you have a proportion of drivers who are stupid and dangerous. Or you can focus on removing those dangerous drivers from the roads, which would involve having a heap of unmarked cars patrolling the road and catching these idiots when they overtake stupidly etc. Its pointless having marked cars because everyones a model driver when they see a police car parked on the side of the road, that is until they get 5kmh down the road.

You would also then have to have a judiciary which would actually punish careless/reckless/dangerous/drunken drivers and remove them from the roads. At the moment there simply are no penalties and you have people with a multitude of drink driving, careless, dangerous convictions who are allowed time and time again to continue to offend and continue to drive.

But the first option is by far the easiest and cheapest, its basically an acknowledgement that we know people will crash, we can't do anything about it so we will just try to reduce the speed at which they crash. Its logical in its own way and does have an impact on reducing fatalities, its just not going to stop people from crashing in the first place which should be the primary aim.

Being a HP cop to me ranks as the lowest possible job a person can aspire to be involved in, and once gained you should be nothing more than ashamed of yourself.

I don't normally defend the HP but they do a hell of alot more than just catching speeders. They have to deal with the carnage and chaos of fatal crashes on a weekly basis in many areas. They are often working alone and have to deal with angry drunken drivers, gang members etc out any effective back up. They also catch a few criminals who strangely enough also drive vehicles. You might not like the fact the government tells them to focus on speed, but without them would you be volunteering to be first on the scene to fatal crashes?

[Lou Girardin]

And also find out how many more drivers and cars we have on the road compared with the same time last year?

This excuse doesn't fly anymore Scummy, LTNZ and your lapdog bosses set a goal of less than 300 fatals by 2010. They knew the expected growth in the vehicle fleet and still mouthed off. If they didn't think of that, it's one more reason for a purge of the halfwits.