Tourists driving in the South Island

[Berries]

They are out there, and it's getting worse.

Is it really getting worse? Two lads roll a Subaru off the road near Outram on Saturday night, one paragraph in the ODT. Dude drives in to power pole on Friday afternoon closing the road for hours, couple of paragraphs. A head on on the northern motorway last week only just made the ODT. Now if they had been from overseas they would have been front page, regardless of whether they were at fault or not.

The media are driving this, leading to incidents like the one on the top road that was in the papers. The guy is an arse if he couldn't pass there but he has been whipped up in to a frenzy by all the other stories and now thinks he has the power. I hope he gets punched in the face next time he tries it.

I suspect it is getting worse just because more Chinese are driving and they are shit. But the media are making it far far worse than it really is and I hate to think what the conclusion will be, a campervan being shunted off the road in to a gorge somewhere or a rental car driving off with a vigilante being dragged along the road by a panicked driver.

[Murray]

The media are driving this, leading to incidents like the one on the top road that was in the papers. The guy is an arse if he couldn't pass there

Yep totally agree. the guy stopped on side of road - bit silly - but hey he held up 7 cars?? picture looks like there plenty of room to pass a stopped car. And then he drove at 20 km for a while well HELLO speed kills so was he not driving safe?? Then huge media stories.. Whip de fucking do - get real, What about the truck that dropped a port a loo that caused a french visitor to die (RIP). medias total focus on him being a foreigner.

sorry cannot give you more bling

[neels]

Current subject matter for sensationalist journalism

I've rolled off a plane in the morning in europe, jumped in a rental car and driven a couple of hundred k's to where I'm going without any issues, no problem on the road but pretty sure I'd fail a written road code test after a long haul flight. Just like I'd probably fail a test here after a week of working nights and too much other shit going on, not an accurate measure of ability to drive.

I've been scared shitless being in the car with people overseas, and had to constantly remind them what side of the road they should be on, the same people scare me shitless when they drive here and I find any excuse to not let them.

There is a percentage of drivers in any population that are crap, whether they are in their own country or another one, still doesn't justify the media beat up and associated vigilante shit from people who are (of course) awesome drivers themselves.

[unstuck]

Our roads are full of people with crappy attitudes, and sweet fa driving skills. All the more reason to take responsibility for our safety out there, kinda makes me more aware of who is around me or coming towards me when I'm out. So there is a positive side to the problem.

[Murray]

The more I look at the picture of the guy on the Otago Peninsula it occurs to me that the tourist is pulled 1/2 over to the side on a reasonably straight bit of road - yet Mr do gooder is stopped bang smack in the middle of the lane while going to give some words of advice.

So much has been made of 7-8 cars stuck behind the tourist when actually its more likely they would have been stuck behind Mr do gooder

[Bikemad]

All the more reason to take responsibility for our safety out there

WTF......can i reefer you back to the truck driver shortage thread........

[Moi]

So much has been made of 7-8 cars stuck behind the tourist when actually its more likely they would have been stuck behind Mr do gooder

Only 7 to 8 cars behind him? Where does this man live that there's so little traffic? Walk to the top of our street and stand on the footpath of a main arterial and the traffic is a continuous stream in both directions...

On a serious note, Berries made a good point about all the other crashes and so little media attention but this one gets national news! If the others were treated the same as this then perhaps people might realise that driving standards in this country are not that brilliant. And don't say we have special character roads! Our roads are what we have and we have to ride/drive on them and ride/drive to the conditions.

My penny-ha'penny's worth...

[unstuck]

WTF......can i reefer you back to the truck driver shortage thread........

Any particular post, or would you like me to read the whole thread?

[Paul in NZ]

Despite the passing of the years the average slack jawed yokel still loves a good old fashioned witch hunt... Turns out its more fun in real life than on line too...

[JimO]

Only 7 to 8 cars behind him? Where does this man live that there's so little traffic? Walk to the top of our street and stand on the footpath of a main arterial and the traffic is a continuous stream in both directions...
.

the road in question is the top road over the peninsular which is a tight twisting road with banks on one side and drops on the other, lots of tourist traffic going to Lanarks Castle and to the Albatross colony, last time i was up there on the bike i almost got taken out by a campervan coming around a blind corner in the middle of the road. luckily i was hugging the inside of the corner, i wont be using that road again

[jasonu]

I suspect it is getting worse just because more Chinese are driving and they are shit..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWO7CMF5otY

[jasonu]

.

So much has been made of 7-8 cars stuck behind the tourist when actually its more likely they would have been stuck behind Mr do gooder

Dead right mate. I have been in a line of more than 7-8 cars stuck behind some cunt pulling a caravan and it didn't make the news. No one took the drivers keys away either.

[Moi]

the road in question is the top road over the peninsular which is a tight twisting road with banks on one side and drops on the other, lots of tourist traffic going to Lanarks Castle and to the Albatross colony, last time i was up there on the bike i almost got taken out by a campervan coming around a blind corner in the middle of the road. luckily i was hugging the inside of the corner, i wont be using that road again

If you had been driving that campervan could you have been further to the left on that particular corner? I am assuming it was a right hand corner for the campervan...

Have driven both of those roads in the past - do wonder if they were in fact narrower then than now, that is they have been improved over the years - and would suggest that there are other roads round the country that are as narrow as the top road, such as the Akatarawa Road between Upper Hutt and Waikanae.

Also wonder if there is a slight case of "we are locals and these people should not be on our road" and "how dare they want to drive carefully on a road they have never driven on before"? Wonder if there would be the same reaction to someone who is obviously a New Zealander who is driving slowly?

My penny's worth...

[JimO]

the road is pretty much as it was years ago, i would have been keeping left on all the corners if i was driving the camper, they had room to move over

[caspernz]

Dunno about the South Island and tourists, but up here around Jafa town it's much of a muchness. Some days I wonder how to tell the tourists and the locals apart...but then I drive a truck on a 24/7 routine and I get the ahem, pleasure, of observing all manner of goofiness.

Tourists must drive trucks too, for the degree of fuckwittery observed from some of our so-called truck drivers makes a campervan over the centreline on a tourist track seem like a walk in the park.

Tourists might also be tradesmen, for ditching all manner of tools/ladders/parts on the road seems to be a specialty for this group.

Tourists might also be the daily commuters, for is there any other group of motorists around that seems hell bent on a life or death experience to get to that job they seem to hate with a passion?

Nah, it's mostly a media beat-up in my view...