Two more bikers taken out by wrong-side tourist

[Big Dog]

just a thought here....

how accurate is a gps unit?

The standard is 6 feet. This is however somewhat reduced in cloud cover, odd terrain and or if the equipment is substandard.

[Grahameeboy]

That should make one less likely to go wrong. The constant presence of things in the "wrong place" serving as a reminder (gear lever on the wrong side, look out the right hand window - oops no etc ) Easier to understand forgetting on a bike, since everything is in the same place , regardless of "which side"

It is not that simple coupled with the fact that driving on the left is alien.

I ridden in Europe and riding a bike is a piece of cake on the right hand side of the road.

[scracha]

It is not that simple coupled with the fact that driving on the left is alien.
I ridden in Europe and riding a bike is a piece of cake on the right hand side of the road.

Pretty much EVERYBODY who's driven for any length of time in a country driving on the wrong side of the road will have done this. I managed about 6 weeks in France, then one day the girlfriend pointed out I had just went the wrong way round a roundabout.

You either ban tourists from driving in your country and live with the consequences (loss of tourist income and most likely their own countries will apply similar laws to kiwi tourists) or just learn to live with it.

[Bikernereid]

Wow such compasion and understanding for others. Yes the bikers are the most important poeple in our persepctive and deserve sypathy, support etc but I am sure that the Spanish person did not do this maliciously!! And as a result is probably quite 'upset' to put it lightly.

Have you ever driven in another country that drives on the opposite side of the road? Have you ever done tired, or in dark, wet conditions or on small country lanes, becuase if not then maybe you should keep your NO excuse comments to yourself. Noone is a perfect driver and acccidents sadly enough do happen and they ARE NOT all caused by tourists!!

If you are not happy with tourists driving in your country then I suggest you ask the government ro raise taxes to compensate for the lack of tourism $$ that will not come into your contry!!

Well Fuck how the Spanish Tourist is feeling right now, you should be more concerned at how the Two Motorcyclists are feeling right now. By the way, He was driving the vehicle, Not the Government, so how the hell do you figure that it's their fault.
Being a Tourist in any foreign country is NO excuse whatsoever, it is everyones responsability when travelling to understand, observe and obey the rules of the country they intend to drive in. Quite simple really. If they can't figure that one out, then don't bother comming here.
We already have enough "Dick Heads" on our roads to contend with without needing to add Imports to the mix as well.

[Bikernereid]

Oh my God it is all clear now. I have had that problem for years and found that the only soluition I have for it if to put my hands in the holy communion possition so that I can remember that it is always the right hand on top of the left. Is she right or lefy-eyed?

But as most men can't take auditory navigation instructions and drive at the same time, to avoid arguments I drive!!

Why not put stickers at somwhere on the windscreen/dashbaord that indicate right (red sticker) and left (green) or other colours just in case someone might be colourblind!

Actually, there is one - Dyslexia. Ask a dyslexic to show you their left hand and they'll have to think about it and won't always get it right. When my wife tells me which way to turn I get her to point and she's quite often pointing opposite to what she's just said.

As it relates to side of the road there are workarounds for those that have trouble with left and right; just remember that you drive on the opposite side to the side you sit on i.e. right hand drive means drive on the left. Perhaps this would help; tell this to tourists as well as left or right. This should work for all rental cars as long as their not imported sportscars.

[YellowDog]

It's a good point you make. Coming to NZ, the give way on left turn is no where else in the world and letting people find out the hard way is a little tough on both natives and foreigners.

A couple of years back, I had a visitor to the UK from the USA. He had a 2 week schedule of work. After pulling on to the wrong side of a dual caridgeway from a country road he was hospitalised for 5 days and then flew home.

You have to be careful what you try to enforce and how workable it can be however - IMO - If foreign licence holders had to take a theory test of some kind, it would alert them to the fact that they are in a foreign country with a different set of rules. The UK is unusual in that all other European countries drive on the Right side of the road and such a rule on both sides of the Channel could help avoid ruining many lives.

[Robbo]

Wow such compasion and understanding for others. Yes the bikers are the most important poeple in our persepctive and deserve sypathy, support etc but I am sure that the Spanish person did not do this maliciously!! And as a result is probably quite 'upset' to put it lightly.

Have you ever driven in another country that drives on the opposite side of the road? Have you ever done tired, or in dark, wet conditions or on small country lanes, becuase if not then maybe you should keep your NO excuse comments to yourself. Noone is a perfect driver and acccidents sadly enough do happen and they ARE NOT all caused by tourists!!

If you are not happy with tourists driving in your country then I suggest you ask the government ro raise taxes to compensate for the lack of tourism $$ that will not come into your contry!!

Pity you had'nt shown a little compassion for the injured motorcyclists in your first post, instead you were more concerned for the tourist driver that caused this accident through an obvious error of judgement on his part, so how can you refer to him as a "Perfect Driver" ???
If you had read and understood my post (which you obviously did'nt) You would not be trying to make a fool of yourself with your unqualified comments.
This thread was not about "all accidents" it was about a particular incident involving a tourist that was driving on the wrong side of the road and for that he has no one to blame but himself. I will not keep my "No excuse" comments to myself as i have driven in quite a few countries overseas and have made it my responsability to learn and understand the rules before going out on their roads and highways as it is a privilage, not a right to do so.
Tourists are always wellcome here but they must take a greater responsability for their driving especially if they are used to using the other side of the road.
So i would suggest that you get down off your soapbox and use some commonsense when posting.

[GaZBur]

...I've found the easiest rule of thumb to use when driving elsewhere is the driver should be next to the centre line (assuming you don't have a left hand drive vehicle in a left lane country etc). ...

I agree. Having driven through Europe in a Left Hand drive it is so obvious and natural to drive on the right side, it doesnt actually require thinking about. Parking does feel a bit strange though. If you are tired enough to make that sort of error then you know you should not be driving.
I can see a possible problem riding a bike though as they are ambidexterous so to speak. The only time you should need to think is at intersections due to us in NZ having unusual give way rules. I do remember roundabouts being tricky but only coz of the speeds they use. Hardly a problem on rural roads, keep the furthest wheel from the driver as close to the edge of the road as practicable and you OK whichever country the country road is in.
Serious charges should result from negligence where serious injury is a result.

[gijoe1313]

Burn them! Burn them all!

[Bikernereid]

Of course I have compassion for the riders that goes without saying, dad was knocked off his bike and uncle was killed on one so believe me I am not not just feeling sympathy for the tourist. I feel for the riders and thier families, maybe for people to get this I need to put it in black and white.

What I am saying is that people seem very quick to judge others, noone is perfect we are human. We all make mistakes and sometimes some of them have graver consequences than other. But I am not going to start screaming about this type of person and that type of person because one person made a mistake, I am sure thentourists feels bad enough without a linch mob having a go.

The point I am trying to make is that tourists do make errors and what people need to do is something positive so that these accidents don't happen as often. If find that trying to find a positive solution instead of focusing on the negative works far better.

Pity you had'nt shown a little compassion for the injured motorcyclists in your first post, instead you were more concerned for the tourist driver that caused this accident through an obvious error of judgement on his part, so how can you refer to him as a "Perfect Driver" ???
If you had read and understood my post (which you obviously did'nt) You would not be trying to make a fool of yourself with your unqualified comments.
This thread was not about "all accidents" it was about a particular incident involving a tourist that was driving on the wrong side of the road and for that he has no one to blame but himself. I will not keep my "No excuse" comments to myself as i have driven in quite a few countries overseas and have made it my responsability to learn and understand the rules before going out on their roads and highways as it is a privilage, not a right to do so.
Tourists are always wellcome here but they must take a greater responsability for their driving especially if they are used to using the other side of the road.
So i would suggest that you get down off your soapbox and use some commonsense when posting.

[Bikernereid]

Believe me the first thing I will do before I start driving/riding in NZ is see if I can get some advanced driving/riding lessons. The whole left turning thing is very odd and I would hate to be the 'immigrant' that injures a pedestrian, biker etc by not understand the road rules!!

It's a good point you make. Coming to NZ, the give way on left turn is no where else in the world and letting people find out the hard way is a little tough on both natives and foreigners.

A couple of years back, I had a visitor to the UK from the USA. He had a 2 week schedule of work. After pulling on to the wrong side of a dual caridgeway from a country road he was hospitalised for 5 days and then flew home.

You have to be careful what you try to enforce and how workable it can be however - IMO - If foreign licence holders had to take a theory test of some kind, it would alert them to the fact that they are in a foreign country with a different set of rules. The UK is unusual in that all other European countries drive on the Right side of the road and such a rule on both sides of the Channel could help avoid ruining many lives.

[pritch]

What I am saying is that people seem very quick to judge others, noone is perfect we are human. We all make mistakes and sometimes some of them have graver consequences than other.

I think that most of those who are quick to rant about driving tests and such haven't driven in Europe or the USA. When I was in those parts of the world I didn't have to drive, so I didn't offer. I admire those who have the patience, the determination, and the sheer good luck to do it successfully.

I have seen one of my party pull out of a drive way and take off at speed down the wrong side of a busy road in Holland.

The only party of motorcyclists to tour the USA, in which anyone was known to me, lost a rider who forgot where he was momentarily and placed himself between the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

That group had big arrows on their windscreens, they had talked about it, they were aware of the potential problem. Most of them were vastly experienced motorcyclists, most if not all had been involved in the industry for many years. One moments lapse was all it took.

Be careful on the tourist roads.

[scumdog]

Only time I have had a problem of which side of the road to be on was AFTER I got back from the USA.

Came out of a narrow alley in the work car lat eone night - and promptly drove down the wrong side of the quiet side street until my mate said "hey, what are you doing"??

[Bikernereid]

I have the odd exoerience of driving a left-hand drive car in the UK. Must admit that driving it over here at first did feel odd not because of which side of the road I had to drive on but because driving on the other side of the road feels more natural.

As a right handed person using my right hand for the gear stick make more sense and feels right. I have found that driving a right hand drive I sometimes go for the gear stick and find my hand heading towards the little storage section on the door!!

I think that it would make more sense if everyone drove on the same side of the road, ok it would cost money to make the changes but if it meant that the roads were safer to drive on then that alone should far outweigh the monetary costs. But then again which countries would be prepared to change??!!

Only time I have had a problem of which side of the road to be on was AFTER I got back from the USA.

Came out of a narrow alley in the work car lat eone night - and promptly drove down the wrong side of the quiet side street until my mate said "hey, what are you doing"??

[MaxB]

I have driven/ridden in Europe and it is brilliant. Riding on the right was no problem at all.

The problem I did have was one that a lot of Kiwis may not think about and that is riding on the motorway networks. Kilometers of crushingly boring high speed travel. The concentration reqiuired was enormous. I got semi freaked out by the sheer volume of traffic especially around big Euro cities. And the traffic jams. That took more getting used to than whatever side of the road I was supposed to be on.

One tip I got from a touring Brit was to tie a piece of Hi-viz fabric around your right glove. The ends flap in the breeze as a constant reminder on what side of the road to be on. It worked but hell it was annoying.