[willsken]

Am I the only one to notice the Kiwi habit on the overtaking lanes? It seems to happen all the time. You'll be impatiently sitting behind someone doing 80km and as you come to the sign for the overtaking lane 1km they speed up and are going over 100km and you either stay behind them, just to drop straight back to 80km again once you're back to one lane, or you have to do 140 km to pass them! :roll :roll


Also while I'm on the subject of roads, has anyone noticed that you'll often be on a straight bit of road and you'll come across tyre marks going off the road for no apparent reason?? :uhoh :confused:

[Moorf]

Wow, you sound like hubby! I personally haven't experienced it but he constantly mentions it - I guess because I don't drive on those roads often.

My pet hate is those that sit on your bumper despite having a straight, clear road ahead so they could overtake... :mad:

[incredible hulse]

Nope - not just you. I must admit I hate the drivers here ! Other pet hates - the speeding up by people to close the gap when you are trying join a road or make a turn, and the fact that no-one seems to let you out (the flashing of lights to let you go is unknown it seems !) and no-one thanks you for letting them in. Rant over ;)

[willsken]

One great thing did happen the other day though. I was driving back from Hastings and 2 cars traveling towards me flashed their lights at me, now in the UK this meant "speed guns ahead"... seems it does here to!! :D :D :D Forgave the Kiwi drivers a lot of sins that day!

[incredible hulse]

They were probably brits ;)

[willsken]

mmmm probably right. OK, I'm back to "bad Kiwi drivers"!!!! :p :p

[Moorf]

Oh, strange how we all see things. If someone flashed me in the UK I used to think there was something wrong with the car!!

Here, indeed, Kiwi's flash to warn of speed cops and those little, unmarked vans that they have at the side of the roads with, if you look closely, have big lenses pointing out the back window! ;) If you flash to warn someone, as I love to do, you usually get a thumbs up or an acknowledgement (well, you do round here anyway!).

Oh, I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but speed cops can get you coming towards you, as well as from behind. Found that one out the wrong way... :o

[willsken]

Moorf, I was one of the flashers in the UK (lights, on the road!! :roll )

[willsken]

Oh and now I know Kiwis do it to, I can go back to being a flasher!! ;)

[Debbie P.]

I'm with Moorf on that - if someone flashes me, I always panic that there's something hanging off the front of the car or something! It gave me a bit of a shock when someone did that in NZ about 30 mins after collecting the hire car!

[DMcG]

The rules for driving in New Zealand are actually fairly simple:-

1) Always be the car in front - this means that no-one else will hold you up. It doesn't matter if you've got to do 140 in a passing lane to get past someone because once you're in front, you can step back down to your usual 90.

2) Never pull over to let someone pass - no matter what speed you or they are doing or how many vehicles you have behind you (see 1).

3) Change lanes as frequently as possible in order to achieve rule 1. Remember, every single vehicle you manage to overtake puts you one step closer to achieving rule 1.

4) Merging lanes, hashed out areas, shoulders and driveways are all valid areas for overtaking either on the inside or outside - see rule 1.

5) Use the size of your vehicle to force other vehicles out of the way so you can achieve rule 1

6) There are only two speed limits, 60 inside the cities and 110 everywhere else. Every sign you see telling you otherwise is just advisory. If you ever get stopped by the police, be sure to point this out to them and insist they spend more time catching real criminals.

7) Don't pay attention to weather conditions when you're driving. It doesn't matter if you're doing 110 and you can't see more than 50m - everyone else is doing exactly the same thing so you're quite safe.

I'm sure there's some others, but those are what spring to mind just now.

:exit

Dougie

[migratory birds]

I think I've seen you driving behind me once, Dougie! Trying every which way to get around me even though I'm going 130 in a 110 zone.

It's an American driving habit, too, that speeding up/not yielding to faster traffic in the passing lanes.

Human nature, modern day equivalent of survival of the fittest - that "no one's going to get past me/no one's going to get there 45 seconds before me" attitude.

Do Kiwi's yell insults out the windows of their cars and flip you off if you're driving at a safe speed on icy roads as many Americans do?

[granger]

Before we came to Christchurch I had read all sorts of negative stuff about driving in NZ. Possibly because of that I've been pleasantly surprised. It's not nearly as bad as I expected.

[Moorf]

Brilliant Dougie :clap

[sizzlingbadger]

Excellent Dougie.

Around here you have to be even more aware of the cops because they drive brand new unmarked utes, and souped up V8s :D :exit

I think I've just adopted the kiwi way of driving as I'm always being told by the OH to back off people's boots :uhoh And as I always have the biggest car at the roundabout's I always have priority :D

[thepiesleys]

NZ drivers worst in the world - IMHO. But as Cardiff Irons said to me - At least there consistently bad so you dont expect any better.

[willsken]

NZ drivers worst in the world - IMHO. But as Cardiff Irons said to me - At least there consistently bad so you dont expect any better.

They are bad, I'll give you that but have you ever been to Egypt.... now they make the Kiwis look like they have all been on an advanced drivers course!!! Scary stuff!! :exit :exit :exit

[ellenmelon]

aw, i think im a pretty good driver! i never speed up when people want to pass me (im a bit iffy sometimes with speed, after being an accident when i was younger and losing 5 close family members in accidents..), i let people in (cause i know i like it when people let me in!!), theres no way you'd see me doing 60 in town (like i have spare money to give to the cops :D )..and ive been known to actually back up to let someone in if i havent made it past an intersection..(checking that i dont back into someone of course! lol). of course, my exception to the rule is when im hideously late for college, and my stage manager FINES YOU! for being late...aaargh. lol.

what im trying to say is...well, the generalisations are a bit harsh and there are decent drivers out there. i understand peoples frustrations though!

(also, have any of you driven in ireland? or been driven? i have feared for my life sometimes, honest to god!)

[Lupin]

I get that too Nic, perhaps it's a Hawkes BAy thing!

I got caught speeding by an oncoming police car!

I found driving on the dual carriageway up to Auckland terrifying as it seems that the right hand lane is not an overtaking lane here, you just weave between the two as your fancy takes you ...

[Debbie P.]

NZ drivers worst in the world - IMHO. But as Cardiff Irons said to me - At least there consistently bad so you dont expect any better.

You ever driven in Delhi? Or any Indian city, come to that?? :exit

At any one time, there are 4 or 5 lanes of traffic trying to use a 3 lane road, to say nothing of the rickshaws and mopeds weaving in and out of the traffic. However, I was always impressed by the imaculately dressed wives/girlfriends of the moped maniacs, who sat sideways on the back, holding on with just one elegantly draped hand!

[willsken]

You ever driven in Delhi? Or any Indian city, come to that?? :exit

At any one time, there are 4 or 5 lanes of traffic trying to use a 3 lane road,

That was exactly like Cairo!! Kept my eyes closed most of the time.... no, I wasn't driving but it would have made little difference if I had been! :roll :roll

[Sam B]

Totally, totally agree with the speeding up as soon as they get to the overtaking lane bit - SO annoying.

[DMcG]

It was a broad generalisation, but then I drive across the harbour bridge every day so I'm probably seeing the worst of the Auckland driving :uhoh

I think doing the speed limit on a motorway in Sicily, and then being overtaken by a hearse going a good 30km faster than me has to be my worst experience - oh, and it looked like they WERE late for a funeral :exit

Dougie

[Super_BQ]

I often wondered how long Kiwi drivers can last driving a winter in Canada? With black ice on the road, you'll learn quick not to tail-gate. Ice at the intersections makes drivers aware that they have to left off the accellerator over a half a block away from the traffic lights or else they'll never stop in time.

You would think those slower drivers that accellerate on the passing lane would have any logic? BTW, i've driven in US/Canada highways for almost 20 years and rarely see drivers doing this.

[Caniwi]

I often wondered how long Kiwi drivers can last driving a winter in Canada? With black ice on the road, you'll learn quick not to tail-gate. Ice at the intersections makes drivers aware that they have to left off the accellerator over a half a block away from the traffic lights or else they'll never stop in time.

You would think those slower drivers that accellerate on the passing lane would have any logic? BTW, i've driven in US/Canada highways for almost 20 years and rarely see drivers doing this.


Ever driven in Vancouver???????? Kiwis would probably do better than most Lower Mainlanders.........and accelerating when someone attempts to pass(and/or driving slower than the speed limit in the left hand lane, akin to the right in NZ), oy vey - I've never seen anything worse (between NZ and Canada)

[akp713]

Actually I find Kiwi drivers to be among the best I've ever seen. They always use their indicator when turning, give way at roundabouts and tailgate and weave thru traffic much less than I'm used to. Of course I was raised in Boston, notorious in the US for having the rudest, most wreckless and aggressive drivers. Massachusetts is the only state in the US that regularly builds roundabouts (We call them Rotaries) and we are thus the only ones who know how to use them, tourists cause accidents all the time and no one gives way, its a free-for-all.

I am also impressed by the speeds kiwis drive on their winding narrow roads without getting killed, their fatality rate is half the rate in the US. Their roads are in heaps better shape than any Amerian roads, I never see potholes and the curves are much better banked that in the US.

My issue with the overtaking lanes is that they are almost always on a steep upward grade, one assumes so that trucks can be passed, but my old under-powered Japanese cars that I rented for travel every week-end made it nearly impossible to pass anyone on these hills but then left me stuck going 70 behind some nervous driver. The result was I would leave significant distance in front of me and when I got within 1K of an overtaking lane I'd floor it and gain momentum as I closed the distance so I had enough power to pass before the engine maxed out at 80 on the slope!

[kzn2nz]

NZ can only be an improvement on what I am used to. I moan about the taxis in South Africa. One hit my brother with the side mirror while he was riding his bicycle this past weekend. On a country road, and riding in the emergency lane, with no other traffic in sight... Fortunately, he is fine, but very angry that the driver just flashed his hazard lights and drove on.

My dad says that China is far worse. It is literally controlled chaos on the streets of Shanghai. Add to that a million bicycles, but strangely very few serious accidents! I think that it is all about the attitude of drivers. In China they are not aggressive and seem to cooperate well compared to the maverick taxi operators here in SA, who jump queues and cut in front of people, just to stop a few metres ahead, and completely disregard traffic control measures. Jut my 2c worth!

[Croft]

Try driving in the Middle East. Saudi is atrocious, with people turning left from the far right hand lane etc. If you're a foreigner in an accident then it's automatically your fault as the accident wouldn't have happened if you weren't in the country - that is unless you have quite a high grading on your ID card as my father found out when he had an accident. Police were very cooperative and blamed the other driver (who fault incidentally it was).

The further south you go the better - Oman is relatively good though Dubai is getting worse and worse. Not surprising as 88% of the population and climbing is non-Emirate. Last year they installed barriers down the centre of all the main thoroughfares in Dubai to try and stop Indians running out into traffic and killing themselves - until recently the law was the driver had to then provide blood money to their relatives back home in India; that has now been changed.

[Sam B]

Wow ... what are we moaning about? Those places sound unbelievable!

[veronica]

have got to say that while I do moan at the lack of courtesy shown by drivers in NZ they are far from being the worst in the world. its all relative.