South Island police target line crossers!

[Virago]

If you cant stay between the 2 white lines on your side of the road then you shouldnt be driving. U are a hazard. I dont know how many times I have come round a corner on my bike and found a car half on my side of the road...

The other side of that point is the number of bikers who think that they are quite legal and correct to take right-hand corners with their wheels just to the left of the line. The fact that their head is up to a metre across the line is immaterial...

[Gixxer peter]

Yep it pisses me off when people cross the center line, most are just lazy or going to fast for their skills or the ability of the vehicle, quite simple really, you can cross that centerline if there is enough clear road in front of you and you indicate that you are about to cross the center line, having checked your mirrors.
Guess some call that "passing".
I have nearly been cleaned out a few times by that driver that "straightlines a curve" as i am passing him, me having done all the right things (as Above) and finding out that he wants to use the peice of road that i intended to use to get by him/her.
LEARN TO DRIVE/RIDE!!!

[scumdog]

there are some corners that are perfectly safe to cross the cr line on and some that arnt

I bet bugger-all riders/drivers that had a head-on while cutting a corner thought "hmmm this corner looks like one of those ones that aren't safe to cross the centre-line on - but I'll do it anyway".

[davereid]

I bet bugger-all riders/drivers that had a head-on while cutting a corner thought "hmmm this corner looks like one of those ones that aren't safe to cross the centre-line on - but I'll do it anyway".

Dead right.. plus those like the bitch that tried to take me out today - There was a tractor on her side of the road, therefore it was ok for her to change onto my side of the road to pass.

She didn't have to wait for the road to be clear, because the tractor was going sloooww and there was ONLY a motorbike coming the other way, and the motorbiker could easily make room for her.

As she said when I confronted her "Your bike is really narrow, there was plenty of room for me to pass, it was only scary 'cos you didn't go far enough to the left."

(Actually, I went as far left, as quickly as I could... and it was still bloody scary..)

Good luck to the cops, may they take a licence off, pepper spray and baton to the ground everyone who crosses the centerline when they can't be sure the road ahead is clear.

[bogan]

Dead right.. plus those like the bitch that tried to take me out today - There was a tractor on her side of the road, therefore it was ok for her to change onto my side of the road to pass.

She didn't have to wait for the road to be clear, because the tractor was going sloooww and there was ONLY a motorbike coming the other way, and the motorbiker could easily make room for her.

As she said when I confronted her "Your bike is really narrow, there was plenty of room for me to pass, it was only scary 'cos you didn't go far enough to the left."

(Actually, I went as far left, as quickly as I could... and it was still bloody scary..)

Good luck to the cops, may they take a licence off, pepper spray and baton to the ground everyone who crosses the centerline when they can't be sure the road ahead is clear.

thats pretty piss poor on her part, waiting that extra 10 second to pass was too much of an inconveniece i guess. Good on ya for confronting her bout it.

They did the same thing in hb awhile ago, heaps of people were complaining about it, so it is good to get the message out.

[cs363]

Dead right.. plus those like the bitch that tried to take me out today - There was a tractor on her side of the road, therefore it was ok for her to change onto my side of the road to pass.

She didn't have to wait for the road to be clear, because the tractor was going sloooww and there was ONLY a motorbike coming the other way, and the motorbiker could easily make room for her.

As she said when I confronted her "Your bike is really narrow, there was plenty of room for me to pass, it was only scary 'cos you didn't go far enough to the left."

(Actually, I went as far left, as quickly as I could... and it was still bloody scary..)

Good luck to the cops, may they take a licence off, pepper spray and baton to the ground everyone who crosses the centerline when they can't be sure the road ahead is clear.

That is becoming an all too common occurrence - I'd see at least one instance of this every day, it's typical of the selfish attitude of many NZ drivers.

I agree too that the white line issue is a difficult one, there are some corners where you can clearly see whether there is oncoming traffic and whilst it's not the best public road driving habit to get into I don't see an issue with corners like this - really it comes back to being an alert, responsible driver.

I think we're too quick to jump on failings of bad drivers and introducing laws to deal with them, I'd rather see better driver training than this lowest common denominator approach so loved by the NZ authorities.

[JimO]

I bet bugger-all riders/drivers that had a head-on while cutting a corner thought "hmmm this corner looks like one of those ones that aren't safe to cross the centre-line on - but I'll do it anyway".

i can think of a few that you can see easy a half a k down the road, apart from the fact your supposed to stay on your side of the road if there isnt a car coming you arnt going to hit it

[davereid]

That is becoming an all too common occurrence - I'd see at least one instance of this every day, it's typical of the selfish attitude of many NZ drivers.

Yeah, it seems that people who would never pass unsafely normally, forget the rules if their lane is blocked by a stationary or near stationary object, and just whip around it.

[FJRider]

I bet bugger-all riders/drivers that had a head-on while cutting a corner thought "hmmm this corner looks like one of those ones that aren't safe to cross the centre-line on - but I'll do it anyway".

... because that couldn't happen to me ... I'll be ok ... I have fast reactions, and am a good driver

[FJRider]

Yeah, it seems that people who would never pass unsafely normally, forget the rules if their lane is blocked by a stationary or near stationary object, and just whip around it.

That is because their desire to pass safely, is overruled by the desire not to be inconvenienced in any way in their journey, by any who choose to block their way.... Obviously done on purpose just to annoy everybody.

[dangerous]

Sure works well for half the unmarked country roads I play on...

Crossing the centreline should be fine, as long as you can see what's coming.

FFS... ask any one that has had a acco, and they will say "i never seen you" use ya brain if you have one, accos dont hapen deliberatly... need I remind you so far this year ONE biker dies every FIVE days... thats farking distcusting.

there are some corners that are perfectly safe to cross the cr line on and some that arnt

BULLSHIT... anyone single person that is a capable rider will NEVER need to cross the line.

[Genestho]

I bet bugger-all riders/drivers that had a head-on while cutting a corner thought "hmmm this corner looks like one of those ones that aren't safe to cross the centre-line on - but I'll do it anyway".

+1, seen it many, many times...and well, you know the rest...a game of skittles - only no-one wins

[Mikkel]

Crossing the centerline on corners with no visibility - BIG no no.

Crossing the centerline on corners with good visibility - no problem.

If you are on your bike and out riding for fun there is absolutely no good reason to cut a corner.
However, if you are in a car with passengers you can take the corner faster without slowing down (braking) or pushing it around the corner - both are actions which may reduce passenger comfort.
If you are in a big hurry and want to get from A to B as fast as possible, cutting corners will allow you to do them faster ... but that is another story.

As for fines, since they are handing them out for all sorts of non-dangerous behaviour, why should this be excempt?

[peasea]

If you open a copy of The Press at the moment and take a look at the letters section you will find numerous people have written in moaning that the police are yet again screwing innocent drivers out of more money by taking pictures of cars who have crossed the center line on a particular corner through the Hundalees then radioing ahead to get that car pulled over.

While I can understand people's arguments in regards to line crossing or corner straightening while driving, I fail to see where this practice can be considered safe.

Time and time again, when I hear someone recounting an accident that has taken place, I hear the phrase “The guy just came out of nowhere!”
This demonstrates that each time we get into a car, we are not as attentive as we should be.
This could be due to a lack of sleep, drinking, driving for a long period of time, or even passengers that we are carrying in our vehicle.

You may cross the center line 100 times and never have an accident, this creates a habit. What happens when you're tired, you don't see a car coming and this habit kicks in?

I wholly support the efforts of the police in breaking the habits of drivers who do this. Perhaps this is because I spent 9 months recovering from a motorcycle accident where I “came out of nowhere” and two years on I'm still unable to do all the things I'd like to due to the results of the crash. The person who crossed the center line and caused my accident had 40 years of spotless driving behind him. 40 years of spotless driving? Or 40 years of forming a bad habit?


What do you guys think?

If you cross the centre line you should be prepared to die/kill. Speeding is one thing, and in the right place who cares? Crossing the line? BURN THEM ALL!!

[dangerous]

However, if you are in a car with passengers you can take the corner faster without slowing down (braking) or pushing it around the corner - both are actions which may reduce passenger comfort.

You farking twat... passenger comfort you rate over being alive... if you ever try that in front of me ill have serious words mate, so you have comfortable pasangers and push me into the ditch killing my son...

IF you have to cut the corner you either cant drive for shit... or you are going to fast

PS: those dead at xmas in Taitapu 2 up... yeah i bet he was cutting the corner for the comfort of his pilion... ALL DEAD including those oncomming.