Dangerous roads, are we playing the blame game?

[Berries]

And now can you knock it down to 150 words so it stands a chance of being published?

[The Singing Chef]

So according to that, I'm a high risk driver because I once got caught riding a motorcycle at 56kmh in a 50kmh zone. I could have easily killed someone doing that kind of ridiculous speed around town.

Bloody hoon...

[The Singing Chef]

And now can you knock it down to 150 words so it stands a chance of being published?

What to cut? Hmmm, I'll let them cut it out if they don't want to use the whole thing, they usually pick out what they want anyway.

[actungbaby]

When i did my car test after many many years riding only bikes it was very well done i sat it 3 times as i got in automatic and
then resat when got my mx5 manuall who want s auto mx5 yuk.
And i got told few times for driving to fast and i had to pick out 3 or chould been more , pontienal accident risks
he asked me after passed stretch road what did i observe chould been a risk ie a driway obscured etc was good i thought
And when got my last test in my auto lazer i had 2 people one watching me and another watching the instructor.
They asked me weather was okay with me though i said sure. shit i was in my 40s and was nervous as hell hehe
crazy its that not wanting to fail esp going cost you more money esp the theroy.

thats not to say your wrong just another point view i think test have improved remarkable to be honest.
I did this with AA here in pammy thye reko i took to driving manuall like duck to water and was easy , just goes to show
what bit age and desire to do something can do for you , no one wants to be bad driver do they.

I rekon those mantrol adds are good thing funny too. for sure when your young u do silly things , i once jamed on brakes
and crashed of my bike (thought at the time was wonder what will happen) um yes not my finest hour

[The Singing Chef]

When i did my car test after many many years riding only bikes it was very well done i sat it 3 times as i got in automatic and
then resat when got my mx5 manuall who want s auto mx5 yuk.
And i got told few times for driving to fast and i had to pick out 3 or chould been more , pontienal accident risks
he asked me after passed stretch road what did i observe chould been a risk ie a driway obscured etc was good i thought
And when got my last test in my auto lazer i had 2 people one watching me and another watching the instructor.
They asked me weather was okay with me though i said sure. shit i was in my 40s and was nervous as hell hehe
crazy its that not wanting to fail esp going cost you more money esp the theroy.

thats not to say your wrong just another point view i think test have improved remarkable to be honest.
I did this with AA here in pammy thye reko i took to driving manuall like duck to water and was easy , just goes to show
what bit age and desire to do something can do for you , no one wants to be bad driver do they.

I rekon those mantrol adds are good thing funny too. for sure when your young u do silly things , i once jamed on brakes
and crashed of my bike (thought at the time was wonder what will happen) um yes not my finest hour

I could imagine that would have hurt.

I think that it needs to cover a wider range of skills and more in-depth test, driving through a large range of differing road conditions so as to truly assess the capabilities of drivers.

I don't think people want to consciously be bad drivers, but their attitude to other road users and ignorance in using the basic skills in road etiquette goes a long way in regards to being a bad driver.

[actungbaby]

I think u have to learn by expericne and only way to do that is acually cummute to work in a city open road riding driving not really got do that much well as much city condtions traffic.
There never going be giant hand that picks u up out harms way
I was bored out my tree driving my auto car when first got my car licnece , but i drove to auckland
And wow it was real exciting and testing driving down slops and having to brake strongly with traffic slowed in hurry in front of you , where here in palmerston north very few traffic lights as such more roundabouts . dullville though its is fun on pusbike in the mornings ;-(
I think why alot teens get into trouble should be given few challenges in there driving in safe area.
Where can push things a bit but controlled and only one way traffic

I rekon drive sim whould be the go like do with piliots but guess to dam expensive to run pity.

intresting what u say about roads over there what are made from in general , are we not one few places the world that use
tar seal i think states have concret slaps on highways anyway i dunno how chould possibly have everwhere though
we sued to use stone chip thats got more grip than black tar seal has .

onther thing i think is bit daft is how they put open road limits between two small towns you speeding up then whack u got put on the the brakes and slow to crawl 50kph u might had passing lane few hundread metres back before that seem lame
i mean fine when road is dry and its day time but give hell freight when late night and u dont know the road

A significant factor in our road toll is the fact that our roads are bad by international standards. Now I'm not saying that bad roads are an excuse for bad driving, but good roads allow more room for error than bad roads. Humans are not perfect, and even the best of us will make the occasional error. In South Africa, the open roads are much better in general than NZ. I have travelled thousands of kms on South African roads, and the roads there are much wider than our roads, and are in a much better condition overall. There are huge concrete barriers to separate oncoming traffic, and very long multi laned motorways are common over there. I have driven at the 120kmh speed limit on long trips, and found that it's quite boring as the roads are so well engineered.

However, poor driver education is the main factor in our road toll I believe. Most NZ drivers lack the ability to even indicate properly at a roundabout, and if they can't even master such a basic task, then why are they even allowed to operate a motor vehicle on a public road? You wouldn't let your mate who can't even ride a 50cc scooter to ride an R1, so why are we letting these people on our roads? I have also noticed being a passenger in cars, that many people brake reasonably hard mid corner as a matter of their daily routine instead of doing all their braking before the corner. It's this lack of education that is killing us because few people actually know how to drive properly. We should have compulsory driver education in high schools, and all drivers should be made to do a practical driving test as well as a theory test every 2 - 3 years. People tend to get complacent after they have been driving for a long time, and they think that just because they haven't had a crash in 10+ years that they are a good driver.[/QUOTE]

[blue rider]

maybe the driver training needs to be formalized.
you now have parents more or less teaching kids not to hit the first tree right away, together with a 'she'll/he'll be right attitude" shit will hit the fan.

it is simply to easy, to cheap and to meaningless to get a driver/rider lisence in NZ.

as for the BHS.....what a farce, i am still amazed I am actually alive today....

[actungbaby]

I could imagine that would have hurt.
No but was embarrisng was like at 30 kph i think neibour thought was a fruitcake hehe
I think that it needs to cover a wider range of skills and more in-depth test, driving through a large range of differing road conditions so as to truly assess the capabilities of drivers.

I don't think people want to consciously be bad drivers, but their attitude to other road users and ignorance in using the basic skills in road etiquette goes a long way in regards to being a bad driver.

yes i have to agree cause you got gun to my head no just kididng
yes alot of its attitude and think we have right to drive not that its actually privlege i even think we all do that at diffrent moments , yes but just common curstosy i dont just think driving related though whole society getting more intolrent

Its case where ore seprated from each other with technogly , i mean old days u had somone whoud start screaming
just beacuse somone cut in front them (road rage) give break just childess behaviour.
These days u get people waving golf clubs at each other sometimes gezz damm i dont even like the game.
and i lost my cool couple times am no saint but...

[The Singing Chef]

maybe the driver training needs to be formalized.
you now have parents more or less teaching kids not to hit the first tree right away, together with a 'she'll/he'll be right attitude" shit will hit the fan.

it is simply to easy, to cheap and to meaningless to get a driver/rider lisence in NZ.

as for the BHS.....what a farce, i am still amazed I am actually alive today....

Though it is a little better that they have the radio ads talking about when their kids get their restricted, not to think that the job is done and leave them to their own devices because they are at the most risk of crashing.

It's something I guess. Now they just need one saying look out for motorbikes.

[blue rider]

in germany ...where many moons ago i learned how to drive, we all had to sit in class for about 10 hours....1 hour over a period of 10 weeks and learn "theory". Only after completing these 10 hours could one attempt to sit the 'scratchy' test. not in front of a computer alone at an AA building, but together with all the fellow learners in a class room. A week later one was given their test results....at a cost of (memory fails) $ 45 (NZ Dollar used to be 1 to 1 with DM) and Test Cost of about a $100 it was not cheap to just sit your theory.

followed by the obligatory Red Cross First Aid course....$ 100

followed by (again Memory) 15 - 20 hours of Inner City driving
followed by 6 hours Motorway (it is scary going a 140 for the first time ever....!)
followed by 6 hours Night Driving

all these hours at a cost of $45, plus an extra $100+ for the practical test it was not cheap to get the "Schein" Lisence.

And the Lisence was on probation for 2 years, fuck up and start the whole procedure again. Kaching...

And the first things we heard in theory ........Defensive Driving.......Road Side Communication.....Courtesy......if you want to get somewhere for sure, take your time.....

[The Singing Chef]

in germany ...where many moons ago i learned how to drive, we all had to sit in class for about 10 hours....1 hour over a period of 10 weeks and learn "theory". Only after completing these 10 hours could one attempt to sit the 'scratchy' test. not in front of a computer alone at an AA building, but together with all the fellow learners in a class room. A week later one was given their test results....at a cost of (memory fails) $ 45 (NZ Dollar used to be 1 to 1 with DM) and Test Cost of about a $100 it was not cheap to just sit your theory.

followed by the obligatory Red Cross First Aid course....$ 100

followed by (again Memory) 15 - 20 hours of Inner City driving
followed by 6 hours Motorway (it is scary going a 140 for the first time ever....!)
followed by 6 hours Night Driving

all these hours at a cost of $45, plus an extra $100+ for the practical test it was not cheap to get the "Schein" Lisence.

And the Lisence was on probation for 2 years, fuck up and start the whole procedure again. Kaching...

And the first things we heard in theory ........Defensive Driving.......Road Side Communication.....Courtesy......if you want to get somewhere for sure, take your time.....

Yea I have heard it is really expensive, even more so now I think? That is what we need!! Real lessons! FFS New Zealand.

[blue rider]

i spent around 2000 DM, which made the License the most expensive thing I owned at the time.
No way was I going to loose the "Lappen" due to running over a Stop sign, or some excess speed.

to be fair, the Nato Ralley on Sunday nights is fun to participate in, and if on the correct motorway no speeding tickets will be handed out! All you need is a good motorised something brummmmmm brummmm

[GPXchick]

Well articulated bro, I agree with most on here the BHS test was an absolute joke and i was truly not ready to be on the road even though licensed to do so. I think an interesting note to add about our license system is i will use my friend "BOB" as an example. He wants a Big harley and won;t been seen dead on a 250 so he is just waiting out the 18 months until he can get his full licence, gonna do the 15 minute full licence test and go and buy his first bike 1000cc+. I can see why we are resctricted in power whilst learning. I feel they could maybe allow for 400cc though. However your ungrade to your next licence should be on the KM's you have racked up in experience. E.g 6000 qualifies learners to restricted, then an additional 10,000 kms to gain your full. Or something along those lines. It wouldn't be hard to pop into a VTNZ have them take a quick looksy at your speedo and put against your licence like demerit points.

I wish you luck with this article matt. Well done mate. WOOOOOOO track day on sunday

[James Deuce]

GPXchick, the rules for learner bikes change this year. Up to 660cc and maximum power to weight ratio instead of a blanket 250cc.

[nosebleed]

in germany ...where many moons ago i learned how to drive, we all had to sit in class for about 10 hours....1 hour over a period of 10 weeks and learn "theory". Only after completing these 10 hours could one attempt to sit the 'scratchy' test. not in front of a computer alone at an AA building, but together with all the fellow learners in a class room. A week later one was given their test results....at a cost of (memory fails) $ 45 (NZ Dollar used to be 1 to 1 with DM) and Test Cost of about a $100 it was not cheap to just sit your theory.

followed by the obligatory Red Cross First Aid course....$ 100

followed by (again Memory) 15 - 20 hours of Inner City driving
followed by 6 hours Motorway (it is scary going a 140 for the first time ever....!)
followed by 6 hours Night Driving

all these hours at a cost of $45, plus an extra $100+ for the practical test it was not cheap to get the "Schein" Lisence.

And the Lisence was on probation for 2 years, fuck up and start the whole procedure again. Kaching...

And the first things we heard in theory ........Defensive Driving.......Road Side Communication.....Courtesy......if you want to get somewhere for sure, take your time.....

Bling for putting this writing. If only it would fit in a signature box.

If Brian407 is still around, I'd suggest that this is the cause that MCSAC et al are looking for, and it's a more sure-fire way for bikers and biking organisations to be taken seriously if this is the agenda we use.