Having been in a period of enforced inaction due to an operation, I've had the good fortune to be able to catch up on some quiet reading time. At the moment I've nearly finished reading Backblocks America, Jo and Gareth Morgan's excellent account of their biking adventure around the US, Canada, and Mexico.
One chapter that NZ lawmakers could really take heed of and entitled 'No, after you', was particulary pertinent, and having driven around most of the US myself, made me very nostalgic for the good ol US common sense approach to driving. The Yanks may have their faults, but they are polite and tend not to treat all drivers as idiots.
Here's a few examples.
One thing we noticed right away about biking in the US - the home of the automobile - is that motorist behaviour is infinitely more courteous than it is back home. While the traffic tends to move a lot faster than is permitted in New Zealand there's a notable lack of aggression in everything they do.
Then again, we've noticed the same thing in most of the countries we've travelled in.
The thing that America has in common with Germany, say, or Bulgaria and that sets it apart from New Zealand is that there is far less regulation of driver behaviour. Drivers are expected to be responsible for their own actions and dependant upon the courtesey of others. Rather than relying on a rule to tell them how to behave, they are guided by the principle of cooperation.
It's a clever discretion of the rule makers. Regulatory latitude gives rise to a 'do as you would be done by' ethos.
Drivers have no choice but to make decisions themselves and, surprise, surprise, they rise to the challenge. It turns out there's no need for a rule for every situation. People work it out among themselves.
Better yet, courtesy - like king of the road aggression - is infectious and prevails in every situation drivers encounter.
There were plenty of examples of how lightly the hand of regulation sits - and how much faith the regulator has in the capacity of individuals to make intelligent choices for themselves. If you're at a red light but you can turn to the right (left in NZ) without danger, you can go ahead and do it. On the open road a speed limit can be exceeded by up to 15 kmh without placing you at risk of receiving a ticket.
This convention had us stumped until, sick of being passed while riding piously at the limit, Jo decided to interrogate a radar gunning cop about how the system worked. Our Kiwi paranoia naturally had us thinking every mile per hour over the limit would see us stung a tidy sum in fines.
'Well little lady' CHiPs responded 'over here we like to see you get from A to B as quickly as possible. So as long as the traffic is orderly we don't worry too much about the speed. Way we figure it, highways are supposed to be of service to the travelling public. I'm just after the maniacs'.
Jo congatulated him on the sanity of this approach to law enforcement and made to leave.
'Hey!' he called after her. 'Make sure you keep up with the traffic. You'll be safe that way'.
The only time Jo did get pulled up was in Montana, by a cop who saw rain a coming and was worried that she didn't have her wet weather gear on.
'You'll get five minutes down the road' he told her, 'then them clouds are going to open right up. You'll be soaked through'.
He finished by asking if she'd like some maps of the area! Does this seem a long way from cop behaviour in New Zealand?
Motorcyclists in many states of America are free to choose whether or not to wear helmets. We wore ours most of the time but it was great having the right to shed them every now and then at our discretion and feel the wind in our hair. Remember when it was like that in New Zealand? That was before we sank into a swill of smothering maternalistic supervision.
Stifling over-regulation such as the laws that prevail in New Zealand creates automatons; morons who need rules and regulations to determine their behaviour for them. People lose the skills that the feedom to make decisions fosters. Sure, lower speeds lower the road toll - but so would banning driving altogether.
This is not to say the power of the state in America is not there, hovering in the background. Their road code has fewer rules but it also has far higher fines - and there is also the fear of being sued if you screw up. Responsibility is very much on individuals - the law treats them almost as though they're grown ups.
Marvelous, and almost makes me feel like doing 106
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Originally Posted by 86GSXR
BlackAdda
The only fiercely enforced speed limits we encountered were coming down out of the Los Angeles hills after driving through Angeles Forest (largely a misnomer - it was mostly lowish scrub), there were flashing speed signs (35, IIRC), speed cameras, and cops lurking.
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