whitesand

Have to also disagree that it's only the roads which make for bad driving here. It's the stupidity of the drivers, I'm afraid. They don't drive to the conditions of the roads, are childishly impatient, and love to speed up to your backside and stay there and also break hard at roundabouts uncertain how to tackle them.

Yes, the roads are bad, but many drivers don't realise this.

brussels_sprout

It is all relative i guess, i have never been been worried about arriving at point B, like i was in French and Belgian cities. But yes, i have never driven in Auckland.

There are many Kiwi immigrants from developing countries with poor driving records, Indians, Chinese, i know who are used to corruption and bad driving. But the well policed, low speed limits are the reason why the NZ roads are so safe relative to other countries.

whitesand

Unfortunatey, brussels, many don't seem to care two hoots about the speed limit and there doesn't seem to be many traffic police around.

lapsed kiwi

You're having a laugh aren't you? The main thing I notice about driving in NZ is how the vast majority of drivers stick to within 5-10k of the limit (under or over). Then there is the 2% complete nutters who go way over the limit and weave between lanes. I have visited UK twice since being here and I was amazed at the speeding going on - doing 75mph on a motorway you feel like you're standing still - until you reach the M25, then you really are standing still.
As for cops, I see at least two cop cars each way on my daily commute to Devonport. In UK, I saw hardly any but my GPS was beeping every 50 yards or so to warn me about the next speed camera.
IMHO there's only one opinion to draw from someone who says NZ has the worst - or even very poor - standards of driving: they haven't travelled much.

janek

Bit like Italy then?


Drivers here are very impatient I agree, however the 'not driving to the conditions' is a bad habit of one or two western countries I've lived in, not unique to New Zealand.

janek

world's largest carpark

whitesand

Stand by what I've just said, that the driving in NZ is not good. And, Lapsed Kiwi, I have travelled a little bit. It's one thing travelling fast on a motorway or dual carriageway and another travelling fast on NZ's narrow roads. Having driven on many of Europe's roads, I'd say that drivers there have a greater appreciation of the road conditions and the appropriate driving (with probable exception of Paris!)

And, living in Orewa, how can you possibly say that the driving is good here. That road north of Auckland is a nightmare with the speed of the driving and the curvy, windy roads. It's like a dangerous racing track all the way for miles and miles.

In fact, Auckland feels positively safer due to the traffic, than anything you experience driving northwards.

lapsed kiwi

I've never had a problem with the roads north of Auckland - I used to live on Dartmoor and the roads there make SH1 here look like a motorway. I prefer driving on NZ-style main roads to motorways - I think there's too much risk of getting bored and falling asleep if you spend too long on the latter.
I think the scariest driving I have seen are the taxi drivers in Greece and Turkey - and minibus taxis in Africa can be pretty suicidal too. I'd say NZ was roughly comparable to UK, except NZ drivers aren't as obsessive about cars and driving as UK ones (the obvious exceptions being the hoons and the Ford vs Holden idiots)

janek

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...15123984?f=rss

It's called 'not driving to the conditions' but not in this country, not yesterday anyway, maybe today NZ will have a big pile up somewhere....in fog

BTW is it possible to tell someones nationality by the way they drive? It seems it is.

UKNZAUS

The roads/driving in Jamaica are pretty bad too! When we arrived in Negril after a gruelling hour long drive, we were offered a t-shirt that said 'I survived the road to Negril' At least they're aware of it themselves lol

Kiwiprincess

Just be grateful you aren't in the middle east where Inshallah applies to many of the drivers!

If you crash at 230kph it is because Allah wills it so! Yikes.