South Island police target line crossers!

[cs363]

The white van is a campervan... so a tourist. They just drive on the right-hand side, all of them. Everyone knows that!

Probably doesn't speak english either...

Not to mention that white vans are second only to Volvo's on the posing a danger to other road users scale.....

[ducatilover]

Interesting that everyone seems to have conveniently ignored the point that Virago made, that motorcyclists are forever crossing the centreline on right hand corners even though their wheels might not.

I try not to do that also. I remeber back when I was in Wainui people always hung their heads into our lane going up the hill. Same with the rimutakas too, scary shit.

[scumdog]

Yes, I believe the actual charge would be failing to keep left because as Mikkel points out it is not actually illegal to cross the centre line, as long as it's a white line of course.

I can certainly understand the Police in the South Island getting frustrated as the attached two pics taken in the Kawerau Gorge show the extent of the problem. Now in these pics the vehicles are completely illegal as not only have they crossed the centre line completely, it's also a double yellow line.
The guy on the bike should be very ashamed. Without knowing the exact corner I'd say it was fairly obvious that you would not have 100 metres clear visibility either - madness!

Those pics look like the Kawarau Gorge is not a good place to be cutting corners....

And NOBODY ever cuts a corner that they can't see completely around, 100% of the time, right????

[alanzs]

Cutting corners is a great way to get killed or to kill someone else. A friend was killed a couple years ago on a bike when someone accidently cut the corner a wee bit. Just enough to kill her as she sat on the back of the bike.

And, we live to ride again another day...

[Gareth123]

It is fair to feel angry about some idiot who did that to you. If I could get up off the road after that, he would have been in worse shape than me. But I don't think it's fair to suggest that all line-crossers care nothing about everyone elses' safety or their own. I think we are all better off on our side of the road, but for the police to target just one corner where it is just a little too easy to nick the centreline is pretty clearly revenue gathering. That's similar to hiding a speed camera on a long downhill straight with a passing lane on it. That camera is gunna have a fucked sphincter on it at the end of the day.

HOWEVER, if some asshole is taking three quarters of the opposing lane using race-track type cornering through blind corners, they deserve anything the fuzz can throw at them. Thats just fucking dangerous for everyone.

Sounds to me like some old cunt living out his misspent youth. The oldies can be really dangerous on the roads. I had one old cunt intentionally ram me many years ago, and he voluntarily handed in his license after that. (I actually think he was "persuaded" to by the fuzz.) I am surprised that oldies aren't given some speshal training on this type of vulnerability.

Sorry to hear about your crash. Thats horrible mate.

regards,
Steve

I'm not angry at him, just frustrated. My accident happened a couple of years ago, I'm over it. Bygones be bygones and all that. It just makes me wonder how people think that crossing the center line isn't a big deal. They are breaking the law. It's like getting caught speeding doing 61km/h. They still moan even though the limit is 50km/h. I can understand where they are coming from, I just can't support their arguments

Maybe my accident has biased me towards a certain point of view.

[dangerous]

but for the police to target just one corner where it is just a little too easy to nick the centreline is pretty clearly revenue gathering. That's similar to hiding a speed camera on a long downhill straight with a passing lane on it.

Not quite... every corner is like the one they wer set up on and the roads 50k long... according to you any one of the 1000+ corners on that strech of road would be revenus gathering... were actually the corner they chose was the safest place to be, lots of room and clear visability.

Cutting corners is a great way to get killed or to kill someone else. A friend was killed a couple years ago on a bike when someone accidently cut the corner a wee bit. Just enough to kill her as she sat on the back of the bike.

And, we live to ride again another day...

ya know... we post such as you have yet those that cut the corners still dont get it, they still think its ok

[Beemer]

Driving down to Waikanae today was an experience I could have done without. Got about 5kms from home and noticed a truck driving towards me and thought "shit, he's got one wheel over the centre line and he's still coming towards me!"

I then glanced up at the driver and noticed he was looking at something on a clipboard propped up on the steering wheel. I immediately started moving towards the left and he must have hit a cat's eye or something as he suddenly dropped the clipboard and swerved back into his own lane. Arsehole.

People who cross the centre line piss me off more than just about anyone else on the road.

[Laxi]

I found the kuranda range in cairns interesting when I was living there, has a lot of similaritys to rimutakas and I can see them doing this here at some point, the kurandas are camera'd and apparently there is an $80 aus fine for each wheel that crosses, found it funny because a bike can do it at half the fine of a car

[FJRider]

Those pics look like the Kawarau Gorge is not a good place to be cutting corners....

And NOBODY ever cuts a corner that they can't see completely around, 100% of the time, right????

Some things are not as bad as some may think... pictured is another view of that very same corner, from a different angle. Looking in the direction those vehicles were travelling.

[cs363]

Some things are not as bad as some may think... pictured is another view of that very same corner, from a different angle. Looking in the direction those vehicles were travelling.

As you are more local to that area than I, can you point out which direction through there those vehicles would have been travelling in your pic - towards or away from the camera?

In your shot if I assume that the vehicles are heading away from camera it seems like there would still be a momentary blindspot, even though you can see further ahead than the shots I posted indicated.

Mind you, regardless - they are still double yellow lines and that guy on the bike should be shot with a ball of his own shit!

[Ixion]

Some things are not as bad as some may think... pictured is another view of that very same corner, from a different angle. Looking in the direction those vehicles were travelling.

But what if a farmer came out of a side road? Or a horde of small children ran out in fron tof the vehicles ?

[cs363]

Those pics look like the Kawarau Gorge is not a good place to be cutting corners....

And NOBODY ever cuts a corner that they can't see completely around, 100% of the time, right????

I know you're taking the piss, but it is bloody scary how many people you see overtaking on blind corners, blind hill brows, on double yellow lines and sometimes with oncoming traffic! I'm not sure whether some of these people are just plain stupid or if they have a death wish.....hmmm maybe it's a combo....

[ducatilover]

But what if a farmer came out of a side road? Or a horde of small children ran out in fron tof the vehicles ?

Mow em down

[cs363]

But what if a farmer came out of a side road? Or a horde of small children ran out in fron tof the vehicles ?

Even though the likelihood of that happening on that stretch of road (doesn't appear to be any side roads or parking areas etc, though FJRider could confirm?) I take your point - on the odd occasion that I might cross the centreline I always use the 100m clear visibility rule - or in even simpler terms I try not to ride at speeds or in a situation where I cannot stop in the length of road visible ahead.

For instance just looking at that pic of FJ's, how do you know there isn't a car just taking off from the side of the road obscured by that bluff on the right or perhaps a slow moving tractor or similar.
I find I spend a lot of time on the road thinking about the possibilities of what may lie around the next bend etc.
Something I never did as a youth, those thoughts seem quite alien when you are young and bulletproof!

[FJRider]

In your shot if I assume that the vehicles are heading away from camera it seems like there would still be a momentary blindspot, even though you can see further ahead than the shots I posted indicated.

As I said in my original post... the photo is looking in the direction those vechicles were travelling... (away from my camera)

NO side roads or gateways for another 2 km's. Cliff on one side... river on the other. Nowhere for any hordes of kids to come from.

Yes ... I know there is double yellow lines...