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Thread ID: 86738	2008-01-27 05:35:00	bad roads ??	tweak'e (69)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
634379	2008-01-27 20:50:00	Riding a bike in Bali was great. Almost all the roads are sealed although full of hazards - giant potholes, dogs, chickens and bikes. The rule of the road is that you drive on the left - most of the time - and use your horn as a warning to others. How it all works is that there is so much congestion that the speed limit on almost the entire island is 60km/hr and only the cops are allowed to ride "big" bikes of 250cc. We've been all over the island twice and you very rarely, if ever, see accidents. Answer is total congestion. Keeps speed down so it is safe. Auckland motorways are working on this principle nicely.	Mercury (1316)
634380	2008-01-27 21:56:00	but don't forget most people here havn't driven in any other countries, there is a lot who proberly havn't driven out of auckland! those 80km/h roads mentioed before where 100km/h and in much much worse shape even as little as 10 years ago and the quite easly did excess of a 100km/h without crashing. but now with higher traffic numbers making those little idiot mistakes we all do from time to time goes from opps to grave very easly. two things annoy me, spending heaps on some back country that gets minimal traffic while ingnoring even basic maintance on the countries buisest roads and building roads without thinking about drivers. they need to factor in the human element. Very true on all points tweak'e. More powerful cars driven by learner/idiot drivers on much busier roads does not do a lot for safety. The roading budget should be spent in areas proportionally to where the people are using them.	Bantu (52)
634381	2008-01-27 23:04:00	... building roads without thinking about drivers. they need to factor in the human element. There are two intersections near here that I go through regularly. Both are Y shaped. They set out to narrow the intersection thus slowing drivers in the left arm of the Y (think of the Y upside down to see which is left). Rather than sensibly putting an island in the middle of the road - which would slow both traffic both entering and exiting the arm - they put it on the LEFT. All this does is put cars exiting the arm into the path of traffic who misjudge their speed from the main road and cut the corner. An island in the middle would have prevented my daughter's major accident 4 years ago as it would have slowed the oncoming driver and kept her in her lane. They installed the second island 3km further on after this accident - and it is even more dangerous due to the camber of the road and the road markings. A letter to the council about them was ignored.	Mercury (1316)
634382	2008-01-27 23:14:00	You have obviously not driven anywhere else outside NZ, if not Auckland. Try driving your bike from Iran border up through Pakistan to Amaritsar, India. You will then consider your West Auckland roads like a motorway. Up as far as Quetta we spent about 2 days hardly ever getting past 1st gear. well i've driven in aussie and ridden over most of the north island now obviously poorer nations will have ****tier roads, but the job they do in auckland and alot of the lesser used highways is appalling. if they would just fix/build the road properly the first time it would save them alot more money in the long run had a mate write off his bike hitting a pothole in a highway on the corner, according to the farmer who held onto the wreck for him, that corner was always having accidents due to that whole but nothing was ever done about it. same story with my road. it's a major road with alot of traffic, but it's falling to bits with grass growing in some of the cracks and it never actually gets fixed. gets paint put on it more often than the surface actually made safe. there's one particular bit where the road is falling away responsible for over 4 accidents so far, all sending cars into oncoming traffic - thankfully only one of those accidents involved a second car and they were only clipped at the rear and didn't lose control	motorbyclist (188)
634383	2008-01-27 23:41:00	i should ad that that report i originally mentioned does not factor in minor crashes like the ones motorbyclist just mentioned. plus the fact that a lot of minor accidents are never reported and single cars ones don't always have insurance claims either. the difference between minor accident and fatal can be just an inch or two. to add: have a look at all the marks on the road gives you some idea of the amount of crashes. there is so many you don't even bother looking which explains why one guy wasn't found for a few days. they don't go marking accident sites that have been cleared so you don't go wasting your time checking to see if its a new one and someone is lying there hurt. emergency services don't exactly encourage other drivers to look out for new accidents.	tweak'e (69)
634384	2008-01-28 08:33:00	Depends on what you are comparing them to. Those roads themselves are fine. It is the inconsiderate, impatient idiots driving on them that are the problem. Drive anywhere in NZ these days even at the speed limit and there is always some moron that wants to pass you. I have driven millions of kilometers in over 40 countries and NZ roads are great compared to some places i have driven. If as you say you have "nearly been killed a few thousand times" then maybe it is time you slowed down. Well said.:thumbs:	legod (4626)
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