what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Is September and October the common months for road deaths in the Canterbury area??

It's quite worrying, reading about all these crashes and even worse deaths.

I saw the crash at Waikuku which turns out killed a 19 year old boy. Very upsetting to hear.

What's causing it???

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Idiot kiwi drivers, they seem to think that drink driving is acceptable and have no concept of driving to the road conditions. They are allowed to drive with no insurance, often have no licence at all, and take little or no responsibility for their actions.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

The standard of driving over here has been a shock. Tailgate, don't indicate, speed, jump lights, cell phones whilst driving, eat your breakfast whilst commuting, add to that the EQ's and people that can seem to plan journey times to accommodate road works, rush rush rush. Drink drive limit being reduced in December to that of aussie, still won't stop recidivist drink drivers, its going down to 250 - in the paper this morning a guy was caught asleep at the wheel and blew about 1100. I had a customer who admitted to having 7 bans for drink driving and was appalled that I thought insurance should be mandatory because that would mean he'd never be able to drive again. Another horrible factor is tourists not used to the roads, inattentive driving whilst looking at scenery and being on the wrong side of the road. Also punishments never seem to fit the crime. A truckie who tragically killed a cyclist this year gets an 8 month ban and a $10000 fine. He'll have to live with that forever, but where is the deterrent?

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I think it's funny how the locals all blame the tourist drivers and seem to think they're all perfect behind the wheel.
Did you see the Stuff survey where about 1/3 of responders thought it was fine to text when driving?

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Makes me spit does that.

The driving standards here are atrocious. I've been driven off the road by an oncoming ute taking a bend too fast and so on the wrong side of a road. I've seen someone stopped on a roundabout to let drivers out. I've seen plenty just drive over roundabouts. The side of my vehicle was scraped by someone who just could not bear the thought of me driving down R60 at 15k under the speed limit. The weather conditions meant nothing.
I've heard someone blame two campervans for an accident he caused by overtaking & driving too fast in wet conditions. Their fault. They're foreign. He had no insurance.
Argh!

Last month alone the police caught 4 drink drivers coming out of the village. Four ! So, how many actually were not caught. We have a lesser police presence here now because of cut backs. When you think of how few people there are here, it is shocking.

Can you tell it makes me very cross. :p

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I regularly cross numerous crossings in Wellington CBD but never go until its safe and indicated to do so. Why, because people, particularly bus drivers in the CBD dont seem to know what a red light is. Just because it's red and people are starting to cross doesnt mean you can still go.

Was also tailgated the other day by a ute, who was so close, I couldnt see their headlights.

To be quite honest, given the level of bad driving, I'm surprised there arnt more accidents and deaths.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

New Zealand, a third world country with a first world veneer!

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Ah I know a certain ex-Chch poster who would love this thread, except for the fact he was recently ran down at a Chch city pedestrian crossing - car didn't stop for the green man/woman.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Yes! Every single work day I see at least one red light jumped by either a car, a bus or a pushbike.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I'm taking driving lessons in Christchurch right now from a qualified instructor. She says the same thing and is shit hot on basic road courtesy. It's basically because people don't take lessons here, they learn from parents and then take a couple of formal lessons to scoot the test and go out on the road complete with lazy habits. They are pretty freaking awful drivers and it's hilarious that they don't know it and blame tourists. Heck the tourists are probably crashing cause they're freaked out by Kiwi driving. (And I love this country).

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I do about 3000K a week with my job and have never seen such an appalling standard of driving in any country I have visited, it took me a long time to get used to it... The tourists are pretty bad especially in the campervans :thumbdown:

Neil

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

How are you enjoying learning Laura? I'm sad to say I'm 36 and in the same boat and learning in Chch as well.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

My wife just passed her restricted test. She's 39 and never drove in the UK. She's starting to enjoy the freedom now. :)

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Hehe Mark, I'm 30 so don't be too sad. UK public transport is excellent after all.

I am enjoying it so far, I am an absolute beginner though so it's all very basic right now but so far so good. Are you having proper lessons or learning with a friend?

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Proper lessons, with waimak driving school. Funny getting my head around the instructor teaching me to cross my hands over when steering. I don't think my wife wouldn't put up with teaching me.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I am an Observer with Canterbury Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists and most likely a crap car driver. Our test Examiner in Canterbury for cars and motorcyclists is ex UK driving schooled and runs his own driving school here. One of his biggest concerns for driving standards in NZ is the poor levels of some of the driving instructors that are in business in Chch. To lift the standards of defensive driving some concern has to be as to what level are trainee drivers being taken to. I have been driving for many decades but still rely on my basic driving skills taught in the UK. I realised to stay safer on two wheels I had to learn more advanced techniques and to quickly hone the skills to meet NZ road and traffic conditions. Unfortunately all of the riders that come to us to raise their riding standards onto a safer plane are ex Brits, when I say unfortunately I mean no Kiwi's as the training gene seems to be missing or pointed more to risk taking thrills!
It will always amuse me that all of us think we are above average drivers;) Think about it.......:p

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Stormer, what school did he found. I have just picked up a small company but what little I know my instructor seems to be pretty level headed and teaches well. I just don't know what a good one and bad one would look like at this stage.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Hi Laura I will send you his details and you can ask him yourself as he is very straight forward northern lad and I am not going to advertise his business..;)

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

think half the problem is that lots of people don't have a full licence and have the licence that states they are only allowed to drive at certain times during the day. I know a kiwi lady who drives at all times on this licence and says she has no intention of paying the additional cost to get a full licence.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I rode up to Nelson a couple of weeks ago to assist with a bit of motorbike training work and went up the middle via Lewis pass. I was very impressed with the road markings laid down by the transport peeps, either side of every rest stop big white arrows were laid down to show which lane drivers from abroad should be in and absolute example to French/British road safety.
The country roads in the Nelson region are a motorcyclists dream.......:thumbup:

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Funny how I bought this up, I almost had a smash myself today

On the way down from Amberley, before I get to Deadend, there's a turn off for Pegasus. I can't believe this idiot in a 4 by 4 pulled out to go left with me very close to the turn. This is a 100kmh road - I'd have thought anyone with a brain would have waited but this woman decided not to. Luckily my brakes are in good condition and I managed to slow down just in time since she crawled to Deadend doing 50kmh on a 100kmh road. Unbelievable Jeff!

I do see the tailgating a lot on Highway 1. It makes me laugh that the speeders dash as fast as they can, only to meet Mr traffic jam just after the Kainga, Christchurch turn off. You pass them and for the ones turning right towards the airport, you may get there before they do

I'd never have thought I'd hear someone being run over when crossing on a green man.. Are they really that bad????

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

There is a time limit being implemented for learner and restricted licences on 1st December.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Yes people DO zoom around corners really quickly without looking when the green man matches a green traffic light (why the code them that way I'll never know). They do it so much that I asked my instructor if they were allowed to do that (thinking the road rules might be different in NZ) she assured me not.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

there is a time limit in which they are not supposed to drive, doesn't stop them

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I think mickey meant how long you're allowed to hold one before you must try for the next class. I heard about that too.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

yes I know, are they actively going to go looking for these people who have been driving on restricted licence for more than the 5years they are now stating ?

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Pretty sure i read that you have 5 years to go from restricted to full. Failure to do so put you back at the very start on a learners.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Yes good point give the motorist the green light at the same time as the pedestrian gets the green light....recipe for disaster. OK for the city dweller of many years that are used to them but for us (not they!) newbies being immigrants and visitors from foreign lands who have not been trained on the system :thumbdown:
Imagine being confronted by one when you are on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the highway and can't read English :ohmy:

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

And we dont seem to be learning from past tragedies. Driver's second time in fatal cyclist crash | Stuff.co.nz

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I drove into town today as the weather was yucky. On the Terrace in Wellington I had one pedestrian wander out between two parked cars, about half a metre into the road (Beats headphones on) THEN he looked for traffic and was somewhat surprised to see my bright red car heading towards him at about 25kph.
100m further down there was a guy standing in the centre of my lane waiting to cross, and he refused to step back.
I had to stop behind a turning car, then as I was setting off a guy ran across the road 5m in front of me. This was 20m from a pedestrian crossing.

It was like a game of Dodge the Moron.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

"It was like a game of Dodge the Moron"

Stop dodging them, it will improve the gene pool and educate the others!

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

If I had a Landrover or something it might be tempting, though I suspect it would be considered my fault.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Where do I start without being told to go back to England you pommy barsteward amongst other racist comments. Not forgetting the recent attacks about cyclists, I mean how hard is it to share a road. We're all going from A to B and want to get there safely. Safe driving and safe usage of the roads doesn't exist in this country

Sometimes it doesn't help that the roads and quality of junctions are utterly pathetic. Examples - Boys Road junction on Rangiora/Woodend Road and the Williams St junction by State Highway 1 just after Woodend. A lot of the right turn junctions here give you a right side lane that you should stay in to build up speed and then merge in turn - another thing the idiots behind the wheel fail to understand! The Boys Road junction to start with has a right turn, I'd say 10 meters away from the Rangiora/Woodend road and I've seen many near misses because drivers are indicating to turn right (that itself is a huge shock!) but are doing it before the Rangiora/Woodend road - leaving some to think they can pull out before they get there. Doesn't always happen

The Williams St junction that I've had 8 near misses so far (one very fortunate miss) because some drivers (mainly Kiwis) indicate to turn right, they make the turn but instead of going in the right hand lane to build speed up, they go straight into the left lane where traffic is going at least 80 - 100kmh. One 4 by 4 (they're generally the most common causers) pulled out into the left lane in front of me and had I not swerved sharply to the right, i'd have gone straight into him. Madness and yet I got a bunch of middle fingers because they were in the wrong.

State Highway 1 gives me many a incidents to shake my head in disbelief so has caused me to become a defensive driver. I go 100kmh in the left lane down to work and the speeders in their done up fords etc going 120kmh will be passed by the time I get to the Johns Road turn off. What is the point? We're all going to hit the queues at that time. It seems some though don't understand that.

There are two things though that really bug me about SH1. Tailgating and mobile phone usage (yes you truck drivers and females in your tiny cars). A crash that happened a few weeks ago on a Friday was mainly down to the idiot behind the car turning right tailgating, failing to notice that the car ahead was slowing down to turn right. Smash - the result a four/five car pile up. Luckily there were no injuries. Now had the car behind not tailgated and left a 2 second gap (what's one of those the drivers here ask), they would have noticed the car slowing to turn right - therefore move to the left to avoid a collision. Oh no, and the police won't say they were tailgating - it's all about speed here. Speed this, speed that. Christ sake get some education out about tailgating, merging, indicating and mobile phone usage instead of someone turning right colliding because a driver is going 108kmh.

As for my incident with the car and the traffic lights, I knew after 3 years something like this would happen. I've had plenty a near misses because they fail to understand the red flashing man. I admit it's a silly thing to have, especially on the roads by Fitzgerald Avenue. But they do. I was relieved the transport people finally saw common sense and installed an island by the Bealey Avenue junction. That itself was a death wish waiting to happen. But that's how they operate here and it's exactly the same in Australia - it must be a down under thing. It's not nice your legs connecting to a bumper but at least it wasn't going quick - otherwise i'd have been in hospital a lot longer than a few hours.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I will admit I have taken to wandering EXTREMELY SLOWLY across the road when I see cars deciding they can't wait for me to finish crossing the road and start to turn into my path. If someone is polite and waits then I hurry over quick sharp. This is very passive aggressive but brings me great satisfaction.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

I always make good eye contact and make sure they have seen me and stopped and then give them a wave as thanks after I have crossed.
if I am driving I always wave them across.
A smile goes a long way...;)

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Kiwi drivers frighten the shit outta me lol.
Were in canterbury it's idiot drivers causing these accidents :(

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

And the really rural areas have a lot of awful drivers. They go into the big towns cities for a shop. They're used to pottering around. We live in methven we don't have the traffic then they go into ashburton chch and completely oblivious to the fact they nearly ran someone off the road.

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

One for Tom. https://www.facebook.com/chchdrivers

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Made the papers back home

Illegal parking and crazy overtaking in Christchurch revealed on Facebook page | Daily Mail Online

Now the people of the UK who are thinking about coming to Orange Cone Capital can do their research on the driving standards of the city of Christchurch

I think they should also do a number of mechanic shops in ChCh as well. That would also give a very good idea as to what to expect :)

But at least none of these people are going 2kmh over the speed limit so they won't get into any trouble with Mr Police Officer

Re: what on earth is going on in Canterbury???
 

Always makes me laugh when ever I'm out and about and I notice the outdoorsy healthy Kiwi lifestyle in full play ..... with cars parked on the pavement as close as possible to the front door of the chip shop. :sneaky:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/...age_On_thi.jpg