[steviebhoy]

I drove in Hawke's Bay while on our recce visit in June and have to buck the trend on here by saying I found the standard of driving to be very good. To set a standard I've only ever had one accident and that was just a small bump.

Don't know if that says more about Scottish drivers or if kiwi's are better drivers than they get credit for. Anyone else have positive experiences driving in NZ or am I an anomaly :-)

[Mrs Pony]

OH drove when we went for our honeymoon... He did REALLY well since we're from the US and I didn't freak out so I'll say that the drivers were ok... they did speed faster than I liked on some curves but I sure they knew the roads better than we did. :)

[vitalogy]

Sorry mate, but your experience is an anomaly :-) Next time you're in Hawke's Bay, drive up the main street of Taradale. Guaranteed, there will be some cars parked with two wheels on the curb, others randomly stopped in the middle of the street, and probably someone attempting a three point turn with traffic coming in both directions.

[Parsley]

I think bad parking and inconsiderate driving are universal - you should experience my work car park! I have, in the past, made up wee fliers and stuck them on various windshields with the legend

"Thank you for taking the time to park like an inconsiderate tw*t. Your lack of due care and attention in abandoning your vehicle means that the rest of us have to go and park somewhere else"

Maybe I just get grouchy :)

[steviebhoy]

Sorry mate, but your experience is an anomaly :-) Next time you're in Hawke's Bay, drive up the main street of Taradale. Guaranteed, there will be some cars parked with two wheels on the curb, others randomly stopped in the middle of the street, and probably someone attempting a three point turn with traffic coming in both directions.


That's funny we were in Taradale a lot but although the shopping bit on the main st was busy no real nightmare drivers were there. Do you think we were there the one week they were all away :D

[steviebhoy]

I've just had one of those self discovery moments. Now worried I'm one of the drivers everyone complains about !!!!

[Parsley]

I've just had one of those self discovery moments. Now worried I'm one of the drivers everyone complains about !!!!

If you think you are, don't worry cos you're probably not! If your first response to people talking about inconsiderate drivers is "so what?" then you might be :). However, if you're from the right side of Scotland (the west) then you will be a perfect and considerate driver :D

[steviebhoy]

If you think you are, don't worry cos you're probably not! If your first response to people talking about inconsiderate drivers is "so what?" then you might be :). However, if you're from the right side of Scotland (the west) then you will be a perfect and considerate driver :D

Glasgow born and bred hence the "h" in the name :D
Don't know if that makes me a better driver but having lived all my life in the East end I can hotwire most models in under 30 secs :eek:

[Parsley]

Ah - I'm from sunny Greenock. I remember being taught how to hotwire a car......happy days :D

[ourquest]

Sorry mate, but your experience is an anomaly :-) Next time you're in Hawke's Bay, drive up the main street of Taradale. Guaranteed, there will be some cars parked with two wheels on the curb, others randomly stopped in the middle of the street, and probably someone attempting a three point turn with traffic coming in both directions.

I will assume that you are being serious in so far as these observations you have made genuinely make you believe that the overall NZ standard of driving is poor.

Have you ever made an error on the road which someone else would have defined as poor driving? Let's say you haven't, and that you represent complete perfection. Perhaps you could imagine somebody else making a genuine error, someone else have a thoughtless moment or daydream just a bit too much. Perhaps other people have had such a genuinely rotten day that how they actually park is momentarily unimportant to them.

Assume that in a country with 2 million+ drivers that many of them might actually have a good explanation for these random violations. This is the basis for tolerance.

You might be justified in complaining, we all feel your frustration at one level or another, but the bottom line is that intolerance to relatively minor external events isn't going to do your overall health any good at all, isn't going to affect those around you positively and it certainly doesn't make steviebhoy an anomaly.

There, now you all know that I am quite happy with the general standard of driving in New Zealand:).

[Parsley]

Have you ever made an error on the road which someone else would have defined as poor driving? Let's say you haven't, and that you represent complete perfection. Perhaps you could imagine somebody else making a genuine error, someone else have a thoughtless moment or daydream just a bit too much. Perhaps other people have had such a genuinely rotten day that how they actually park is momentarily unimportant to them.

I guess we'll all view "poor driving" differently; agreeing on some common factors (excessive tailgating), disagreeing on others (how close to the bay line in the car park you are). It'll also be influenced by how you're feeling and what you're doing at the time. If I'm on my way to a meeting and percieve myself to be held-up or inconvenienced by other people's driving, then I'll probably be in a foul mood. If I'm not in any great hurry, I'm a bit more chilled-out. I can't say I found NZ drivers to be any better or worse that any other place I've driven in - apart from my one driving experience in Melbourne which I'm never going to repeat :)

[Mickstim]

The thing that gets us is that so many Kiwi drivers don't use lights. Yesterday we drove over the Kaimais in very misty and damp conditions. Visibility at the top was very poor indeed, yet so many drivers didn't have headlights on. Trying to save power maybe?

Bx

[benandclare]

Both my work here and in UK means I spend a lot of my time on the roads and IMHO the driving standards here compared to UK is poor, having said that I reckon both countries have room for improvement and it cant all be put down to "Folks having a bad day"
It's a lack of consideration for other drivers that really irks me here. I can be waiting at a junction to pull out for the car I've been waiting to go by when 5 metres from the junction signals left :mad:
The tailgating, the speeding , the reversing across both sides of the road, reverse into your house it's not hard :mad:
And dont get me started on roundabouts, ye Gods you'd think the Martians had landed folks are so scared to move........

[IanW99]

...
And dont get me started on roundabouts, ye Gods you'd think the Martians had landed folks are so scared to move........

To be fair though, you do come from the land of the roundabouts...

And if you do grow up with lot's of roundabouts then you very quickly learn to pull out, or end up staying where you are for the day :laugh

Most kiwis have just never had this level of practice as there just aren't enough cars around especially on SI.

Ian

[vitalogy]

Have you ever made an error on the road which someone else would have defined as poor driving? Let's say you haven't, and that you represent complete perfection.


Like any male, yes, I believe I am the world's best driver. ;-)

Cheers,
Alistair

[ourquest]

it cant all be put down to "Folks having a bad day"
It's a lack of consideration for other drivers that really irks me here. I can be waiting at a junction to pull out for the car I've been waiting to go by when 5 metres from the junction signals left :mad:


Is it not a case that one of the symptoms of a "slower pace of life" is that time is considered a less important commodity? It is therefore somewhat more socially acceptable to keep someone waiting...or if you unwittingly keep someone waiting as in the intersection above then it isn't as bigger deal. Isn't it part of the charm of NZ that there is this underlying recognition that a few minutes in a lifetime just isn't as significant as fast pace countries would like you to believe? I intend this as a genuine observation, and not specifically in criticism of Ben's post. I really think it might represent a cultural difference.

OK, that doesn't explain speeding. However, in my own experience speeding is mostly evident on small side roads mostly driven by the same people (?) residents (?) or contractors who get to know the road very well and although I agree it is not safe it's more about their level of comfort and not about willfully wanting to drive fast. On SH1, in contrast, I find it unusual to find someone passing me if I am travelling at 100, and surprisingly few if I am doing 90.

[ourquest]

Like any male, yes, I believe I am the world's best driver. ;-)

Cheers,
Alistair

I hope it wasn't you I ran off the road last week in my wife's Hummer. That would really add insult to injury. Sorry. :laugh

[Moorf]

My $0.02 worth ... I think there are a couple of things that contribute to the poor driving here. I think it is poor, but in a different way to the UK. Here I think they are still driving as if the roads are empty and they are the only ones on a road. Hence the lack of lights, crap parking at sides of road, tail gating (I mean, what are YOU doing in front of him, eh?) and lack of stopping at junctions. In the UK I drove far more defensively and faster, here I can really chill out on the roads around here, which isn't always a good thing.

At least, that's what I'm finding living in rural Canterbury. The same drivers get all "bunny in the headlights" on excursions in to town when faced with numbers of cars in double digits using the same stretch of road...

And don't get me started on hoons... :mad: http://britintheboonies.blogspot.com/search?q=hoons

[Familyofmonkeys]

Well in the last 15 months we have driven all over Auckland, all the way down to and around South Island, round wellington etc. IMO the general driving standard here is far worse than we were used to in UK....and we have lived in several palces from rural Wales to Surrey/London, midlands and 'up north'.

It seems to us that a lot of people driving around Auckland seem to make the kind of driving errors that really wouldn't have caused much of an issue 10/20 years ago when there were a lot less cars on the road....but these days are downright dangerous. It does mean you have to assume every other car on the road is going to do something stupid...when the vast majority of drivers are OK, but if you don't watch out you will run into an idiot and not be ready. The kind of things i'm talking about is complete lack or incorrect signalling, pulling out of junctions/changing lanes without looking, swerving across lanes on motorway at speed so others have to slam brakes on etc etc. It did occur to us that this is an area of high immigration and people from all over world ....it takes time to get used to NZ road rules while being allowed to drive a year before getting NZ licence....so maybe more mistakes happen because of this...who knows?

In rural areas we notice a different sort of driving....sooo many people speed like nutters, take bends far far too fast etc. It's like people asume that because they know the road well, this is safe....they seem to forget that someone else coming the opposite way might have the same idea and cross the centre line too. While down in Canterbury we noticed quite a few cars come racing out of junctions without stopping to look or slow down.....just assuming no traffic on the road. But apparently this is a well known problem in the area?

And my pet hate....and i'm sure it happens all over the world, but people 'seem' to get pulled less for it here.....parking on pavements and over crossings. How do they think people with pushchairs on in wheelchairs are going to get around them....just plain inconsiderate.

[YouMeAndThree]

To be fair though, you do come from the land of the roundabouts...

And if you do grow up with lot's of roundabouts then you very quickly learn to pull out, or end up staying where you are for the day :laugh

Most kiwis have just never had this level of practice as there just aren't enough cars around especially on SI.

Ian

:laugh:laugh I lived near here (http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=115&ss=289&t=THE+MAGIC+ROUNDABOUT) for a fair few number of years - should I find driving in NZ to be a walk in the park in comparison? ;)
Lx

[slider]

IMHO these stories of driving in NZ make it sound just like the UK, but with reduced volume.
People park in on the pavement or just double park to 'nip in to the shop', they speed, they dawdle, they tailgate, they don't indicate, they drive with no lights in poor conditions, they drive with fog lights on in clear conditions etc, etc.

At least you don't mention the idiots who will pull out and overtake a wagon forcing oncoming traffic to take to the verge to avoid a head-on collision with a closing speed of around 120mph :eek:. Saw 2 such incidents within half a mile of each other on the way in to work at 06:30 this morning.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever had was to treat everyone else as if they may suddenly do something unexpected and to drive accordingly. :D

No, I'm not the perfect driver. I know my faults as a driver and have had the speeding points to prove it :o but I do drive with consideration for other road users - surely that's really what we all want?

I could go on, but that's enough ranting for one day. :exit

[Incognito]

Try living in Asia...........might change your mind about the driving standards in NZ..........and many other places. :D

[dharder]

I moved to the UK 12 years ago from Germany, and I found the driving standards there awful. At that time (that has changed now), people from Germany went to the UK to get their driving licenses because it was cheaper, quicker and easier than in Germany.

We're in Germany at the moment on vacation, and the differences in driving habits are striking (obviously no one is perfect). I think it is partly due to the fact that teenagers are allowed to drive without proper instruction in NZ, only tought by people who themselves learned as teenagers from people who have never been tought properly... you get my idea.

I have decided that if we are still here when the children learn how to drive, they will get the driving lessons from a professional instructor, the swearing at other drivers, they'll learn from me.... :)

Daniela

[Philip10]

I cycle every day in London – do not own a car- the general standard of driving is appalling. Car drivers show very little consideration or duty of care to pedestrians and cyclist, or each other I suspect. Cars kill and maim children and adults everyday, whether the victims are pedestrians or cyclists, or in fact travelling in a car. For so long society has considered that four wheel vehicles have priority over everything else, which leaves cyclist and pedestrians in mortal danger. Also bad driving is often considered to be humorous. I have read many threads on this forum where fun is made of bad car driving even if it is done in jest. “Watch out for me when I’m on the road” and “You should have seen the dent in the tree” type of thing. There is no excuse for dangerous driving. It is like saying “well I had my gun out, I had so much on my mind, bad day at work the children where shouting and my finger slipped on the trigger, and I shot a child crossing the road and a old lady in the back waiting at the curb.

Rant over, Southland cycling here I come. :)

[Familyofmonkeys]

IMHO these stories of driving in NZ make it sound just like the UK, but with reduced volume.

Most of the bad driving people mentioned are just the same as UK....difference here is that IMO a lot of the roads are nowhere near as good. Many, many main roads in NZ are like narrow windy B roads in UK......yet people still pelt along them at over 100kph and act like nutters. Even in Auckland, the infrastructure is very poor in some areas......might not be the traffic volume of UK, but some of the roads are like spaghetti junction with almost no warning of signposts...and sliproads going off the RHL.....whose bad idea was that???

[chocolate cake]

Totally agree with many of the points above, I've found the standard of driving in New Zealand and Auckland in particular to be dreadful. I cycle into work everyday, and to be safe you have to treat every car like an enemy as if they want to kill you.

They don't drive to the conditions either, monsoon conditions today, but everybody was racing along as bumper to bumper as normal.

The problem is car ownership is so high, and public transport for a city of well over a million absolutely dreadful. The roads aren't in great condition, badly designed many of them, poor roadsigning, and also street lighting often none existant.

[Moorf]

Many, many main roads in NZ are like narrow windy B roads in UK

We have a different problem in many areas of Canterbury (plains) - the roads are dead straight (some for 30-40km stretches) and people get bored and distracted and their accelerator foot gets heavy....

[akp713]

Well I know I'm a bad driver, no doubt being cursed at as I zip over the outside lanes of the Harbour Bridge every morning to jump the queue by cutting in just before the Fanshawe St exit. But even as one of the bad drivers here I have to agree the standard of driving in Auckland is poor.

I'm a Boston driver born and bred, and we're known as the worst drivers in the US. We never use an indicator to switch lanes because that is a sign of weakness and most time the driver in the next lane will floor it to prevent us merging in. We tailgate to keep anyone else from pulling in front of us. Driving is a competitive sport in Boston.

I lived in Washington DC where half the people on the road are tourists busy gawking at monuments and trying to read directions while driving. The result is the highest accident rate in the US. I've never seen anywhere near the level of bad driving I saw on a daily basis in DC. I used to drive with my hand over the horn, expecting every car to suddenly cut into my lane. DC also had the worst road rage I've ever encountered.

In Auckland I notice that peole drive far faster on residential roads than anywhere I've been in the US. They also take corners far faster than American drivers and use their indicators very briefly before making a turn. Even in Boston drivers indicate far longer before exiting a motorway. Tailgating is common here as well. Yet I rarely see car accidents and I never find myself cursing or or getting angry at other drivers here as I did in the US. Somehow I find driving in Auckland much more relaxing than DC or Boston so they must be better drivers by comparison.

[Parsley]

Having spent time in Egypt, where headlights at night are a novelty, and the taxi drivers mostly look at you instead of the road driving in most westernised countries is a breath of fresh air.

Me: "Waaaahhhh LOOOK!"
Him: "It will be fine, In'shallah

Where we have two miles of contraflow and speed restrictions to change a lightbulb in a sign, Egyptians have a massive hole in the road, a ginormous pile of gravel, and a small traffic cone, sans light, in front of it. The overtaking and turning left rules are mind-boggling, and camels and herds of men in robes waft to and fro across the road. You become used to it. I guess I'll become used to Kiwi driving, but I suspect that they don't all drive like loonies and put their faith in God not to prang the car! :D

[dharder]

but I suspect that they don't all drive like loonies and put their faith in God not to prang the car! :D

I really, really, really wouldn't bet on that.

:)

Daniela

[PeteS]

The roundabouts are the clincher for us! Both in Taranaki and in Marlborough, the locals come into town and just sit there looking confused as the pom traffic wizzes round them......

Some of the roundabouts have lanes going round them, this is really confusing to many drivers, so Marlborough District Council just issued a flyer that came out to every household detailing every roundabout in the district and how to go round it. It seems that traffic flowing round something is a hard concept to grasp, so they all stop and stare.

[migratory birds]

...and have to buck the trend on here by saying I found the standard of driving to be very good.

I have to agree with you. I was expecting far worse based on reports. Sure, some drove very fast on the stretch between Picton and Nelson but there was no anger/irritation behind the wheel as someone waited to pass you (as there often is in America).

In fact, when they did finally get a chance to pass on an open stretch or in a passing lane, they have gave a FRIENDLY toot (a short beep) and a cheery WAVE! Unlike in the US where they blare the horn for several seconds and flip you off as they roar by.

I was pretty impressed with the courtesy of most drivers :yes

[migratory birds]

Try living in Asia...........might change your mind about the driving standards in NZ..........and many other places. :D

I absolutely have to agree with this one :laugh

In China and Viet Nam, there seem to be no rules on the road.

In China, I was passenger on wildly speeding buses going at their own paces this way round another and that way round another racing down mountainsides. No keeping to one half of the road - if there was a little space for a milisecond drivers would go for it even if it didn't exist when they arrived in what used to be an opening :exit

In Sai Gon (Ho Chi Minh City) mostly bikes, scooters, a few cars but no stop lights and the human traffic controllers stood on pedestals mid-intersection but nobody seemed to pay any heed.

Very chi-like movement to traffic in these countries. It was a wonder I came out alive with no broken limbs or bloodied head! Perhaps it was because I was completely at peace (oddly) while a passenger - completely letting go of all fear.

[mylesdw]

Is it not a case that one of the symptoms of a "slower pace of life" is that time is considered a less important commodity? It is therefore somewhat more socially acceptable to keep someone waiting...or if you unwittingly keep someone waiting as in the intersection above then it isn't as bigger deal. Isn't it part of the charm of NZ that there is this underlying recognition that a few minutes in a lifetime just isn't as significant as fast pace countries would like you to believe? I intend this as a genuine observation, and not specifically in criticism of Ben's post. I really think it might represent a cultural difference.

OK, that doesn't explain speeding. However, in my own experience speeding is mostly evident on small side roads mostly driven by the same people (?) residents (?) or contractors who get to know the road very well and although I agree it is not safe it's more about their level of comfort and not about willfully wanting to drive fast. On SH1, in contrast, I find it unusual to find someone passing me if I am travelling at 100, and surprisingly few if I am doing 90.

What a well thought and well put post! My thoughts entirely! In rural areas it is quite normal to come across two vehicles stopped in the road with the drivers chatting, or someone doing a three point turn in the road. You just wait quietly until they have finished and then continue with a friendly wave; it will probably be someone you know anyway.

Driving seems generally no better or worse than the UK, just different in some areas. The thing I really noticed was how unusual it was for anyone to be exceeding the speed limit, it makes driving much easier.

[benandclare]

I'd agree with that in the rural areas it's a joy to drive...... well no cars :D

[benandclare]

Saw 3 fine examples of driving on the way back from Mount Hutt yesterday.

First, whilst on side road coming up to main highway was overtaken by 2 Prado's racing each other, not a problem with that but what happened next buggerd belief. The 1st Prado stopped at the stop sign but the 2nd one overtook him on the wrong side of the road and at pace across the main road.

Second, at roundabout on outskirts of Chch had to break sharply as camper van entered roundabout without seeing me.

Thirdly, at another roundabout in left land waiting to turn left behind another car which then indicated right and went straight ahead :roll

Hey ho

[JandM]

Sounds much like what can happen near UK Chch, on the edge of the New Forest, prime tourist area. At this season of the year, our part of the world (just next to that in Dorset) is full of people who usually only do local driving, suddenly on their holidays on unfamiliar roads, and also trying to watch the scenery as well as (instead of) the traffic.:mad:

[AndyR]

I have to admit that on my first day I was worried as I almost saw two accidents but since driving around for almost a week I've been quite happy with the driving and it seems to be on a par with the Uk.

[mylesdw]

Thirdly, at another roundabout in left land waiting to turn left behind another car which then indicated right and went straight ahead

This has become a very common one, I've seen it lots of times, particularly trucks and buses who should know better! It started a year or so ago when there was a police publicity campaign saying that they were going to start fining people who don't indicate on roundabouts.

[Bozeman]

I haven't read through the entire thread but I have to say that the standard of driving in NZ is much better than we were led to expect. Of course, before moving here we lived in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok...

My only real pet peeve is people that don't signal to indicate when they are leaving a roundabout.

[sweetpea]

I have to say, I have found the driving here to be fine. Then again, maybe I'm a bad driver myself? :D