Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 128546	2012-12-27 20:26:00	Welcome to NZ, our roads will drive you insane	Trev (427)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1320433	2013-01-02 19:20:00	There's no single factor, it's a combination of all of them (driver behaviour, skill, road quality, driving conditions, etc, etc) that cause accidents. But yes enough studies and statistics have been published to indicate NZ drivers are below par world wide, personally I don't think it's skill I think it's attitude - we all think we are awesome and bullet proof. As for the road quality, it'd be nice if they could improve them all but I've heard it's the big easy sweeping bends on major highways that cause a lot of accidents and narrow windy country roads actually have a fairly low accident rate when compared to traffic flow. Basically if you drive on a windy road you have to pay attention because there is constantly steering to do whereas on a highway attention can lapse with long straights and gentle bends and cruise control. When the view out of your passenger side window is a massive drop off the side of a cliff you can't see the bottom of you tend to corner a bit more conservatively (well unless you're insane or under 25).	dugimodo (138)
1320434	2013-01-02 20:16:00	Narrow roads what tosh, where i learnt to drive you could touch the hedgerows with both mirrors at the same time. We had two weeks driving around Cornwall, Devon and Dorset in May. Hubby was moaning about how narrow the roads were and commented that they should just bulldoze the "hedges" to make the roads wider. He got quite a shock when I told him that those "hedges" were actually solid stone walls dressed in leafy vegetation. Funny how he made sure not to get too close to them after that. :D :D	FoxyMX (5)
1320435	2013-01-02 20:23:00	Most NZ roads were designed when the speed limit was 50 mph (or 80 kmh in the new-fangled measures), there's been a lot of redesign gone into the roads over the last 40 years Also NZ is a geologically young country so the base isn't that strong, so that leaves drivers as the main cause of dings	Whenu (9358)
1320436	2013-01-02 20:40:00	And yes, apart from in Christchurch, there is nothing wrong with New Zealand's roads, it is the people driving on them . They are inconsiderate, selfish, impatient and act like they own the country . The drivers in Europe have a completely different attitude entirely . Whilst we did see a full-blown row between two drivers on a very busy street in Paris where both parties were screaming at each other whilst stopped in the middle of the road, holding up all the traffic, everyone else just sat there patiently waiting for them to sort it out . Here in NZ everyone would be leaning on their horns or else getting out to express their frustration verbally or physically . In another city in France we couldn't figure out how to get out of a carpark and was stuck at the barrier with half a dozen cars behind us so I had to go and ask the people in the car behind us (fortunately one of them spoke English!) how to use the barrier ticket machine as I can't speak or read French . While following their instructions a man from several cars along came up to hubby and said to him very calmly and politely, "Excuse me, do you think perhaps you could move out of the way so that we could get through?" By now our car was completely hemmed in so he couldn't oblige but he was amazed at how polite the man was . Here he would have been sworn and yelled at, not to mention having everyone's horns going . In Europe people use their indicators, give way to you and let you in when traffic is busy . Here drivers deliberately block you out and tail gate when you are doing the speed limit . After eight weeks in England, France and Italy I am struggling to remember whether we ever heard anyone using their horn .	FoxyMX (5)
1320437	2013-01-02 21:16:00	but I've heard it's the big easy sweeping bends on major highways that cause a lot of accidents and narrow windy country roads actually have a fairly low accident rate when compared to traffic flow. My guess would be that inattention would be the major cause of accidents. Having seen a few YouTube videos of drivers in Russia I have no wish to drive there. I suspect a lot of them have had a few too many vodkas.	mikebartnz (21)
1320438	2013-01-02 21:22:00	Some of the Asian Countries roads look pretty chaotic. Wouldn't like to drive there. I was watching an episode of Top Gear on TV the other where the team were driving through some middle eastern countries to get too Bethlehem. They were driving on this 4 lane road in Syria I think it was, and as they came over a rise there were these trucks bearing down on them on the wrong side of the road. :)	Trev (427)
1 2 3 4 5