What is wrong with NZ drivers?

[Rossco Type-S]

What is with NZ drivers who go slow, but then go craxy when you pass them?

This morning I was driving to work, there was a Fiat uno in front of me doing about 30km/h on a clear road. When I got to an intersection with 2 lanes I went into the inside lane and then gunned it. Needless to say I dispatched with the mighty Fiat with ease. Then the dumb bastard went crazy and got right up my arse at 70 km/h.

What is wrong with these retards? How often does this happen, where people go crazy when they get passed? It is no wonder so many people die on our roads.

[Robotnik123]

What is with NZ drivers who go slow, but then go craxy when you pass them?

This morning I was driving to work, there was a Fiat uno in front of me doing about 30km/h on a clear road. When I got to an intersection with 2 lanes I went into the inside lane and then gunned it. Needless to say I dispatched with the mighty Fiat with ease. Then the dumb bastard went crazy and got right up my arse at 70 km/h.

What is wrong with these retards? How often does this happen, where people go crazy when they get passed? It is no wonder so many people die on our roads.

I think this might be more of a South Island thing, dare I say it! /Hmmm

[mpau009]

From what iv seen, i think its not that people are aggro, just that they are completely oblivious Like when you get to a passing lane on long trips, and the guy with the three kids and the boat in the 04 Holden ups the pace from 90 to 120 for the nice straight road, and the people stuck behind for hours get minced, only to be back at 90 for the next half hour... drives me nuts.

Then you get the guys in the sacked out 4 door civics with the slanted chromes who blast up the Northwestern, cutting lanes... thats a whole other story /Elmo :smash:

Still, its only as annoying as you let it be, i'm practising my 'calm' driving of late.

[Rossco Type-S]

I think this might be more of a South Island thing, dare I say it! /Hmmm

Quite possibly, drivers down here are pretty lousy. If you want to experience driving at its worst travel between Chch and Dunedin. Its a good laugh!

Drivers down here are plenty stupid as well. The amount of times vans, trucks, 4wds and crap cars pull into the lane beside me and take me off the line is unbelievable. I am talking about cars that could not beat a 1.8 Galant or Leggy off the line.

[Rossco Type-S]

From what iv seen, i think its not that people are aggro, just that they are completely oblivious Like when you get to a passing lane on long trips, and the guy with the three kids and the boat in the 04 Holden ups the pace from 90 to 120 for the nice straight road, and the people stuck behind for hours get minced, only to be back at 90 for the next half hour... drives me nuts.


You get that a lot! Drivers holding up traffic should be shot. They are the ones causing head on smashes. On boxing day I saw an Evo 1 pass a queue of about 10 cars trapped behind a slow car.

I like what the did on the Nelson/Blenheim road a year or two back using spotter planes looking for cars holding up traffic.

[Robotnik123]

Quite possibly, drivers down here are pretty lousy. If you want to experience driving at its worst travel between Chch and Dunedin. Its a good laugh!


Yeah, drove that section of highway 1 just before New Years. On more than 1 occasion people were tailgating my legnum really close. I was just minding my own business and going at about 100-110, sticking to the left lane where possible. Fair enough if they want to pass me I suppose, but these guys never did, they just kept riding on my tail. They might have wanted to race maybe, who knows...

[Rossco Type-S]

Best way to fix tailgaters is to brake hard and sudden. Make sure you have insurance though!

A person is always in the wrong if the run up the back of another person, no matter how bad the driving of the car in front is, as my friend found out a few years back. She was following a car up a hill, the woman in front's baby started crying so she slammed on the anchors in the middle of the road. My friend ran up the back of her and was liable. WOMAN DRIVERS!!!

[Robotnik123]

Best way to fix tailgaters is to brake hard and sudden. Make sure you have insurance though!


Legnums don't cope well with rear damage - a bad smack in the tail can write them off, so I'd prefer not to risk that.

My other car, a BMW has red rear foglamps which almost look like brake lights. Flicking those on and off sometimes makes tailgaters back-off.

[bradc]

Another personal peeve of mine is people doing 90 or 100kmh in the fast lane, with no intent to move over into the slow lanes. It is particularly annoying when they suddenly swerve straight across 2 or 3 lanes onto an offramp, after driving in the fast lane for a long period of time.

I was driving up the bombay hills today just before the offramp at the top where the bp and caltex are. I was in the slow lane doing about 105kmh, and this early 90's patrol comes flying up in the fast lane probably doing 130kmh or so. She pulled straight across in front of my nose, and went onto the offramp, she needed to hit the brakes very hard because of all the traffic on the offramp, nearly ramming the car in front.

The thing I don't understand is what the **** is going through that stupid bitches head? She didn't save any time at all, and even if I was going down the offramp as well, she would have saved 1 car length.

I also had some people in a diesel ute try and drag me for 3 sets of traffic lights in a row. The road had 2 lanes for each set of lights which merged about 100m up the road, then split again for the next set of lights. I ended up beside them at each set, and they floored it off each set of lights, not getting any further down the road than me. I let them have it on the last set though :D

[Robotnik123]

Another personal peeve of mine is people doing 90 or 100kmh in the fast lane, with no intent to move over into the slow lanes. It is particularly annoying when they suddenly swerve straight across 2 or 3 lanes onto an offramp, after driving in the fast lane for a long period of time.


Yes, this annoying. At least in NZ we can legally pass them in the slow lane on the motorway. In some countries you can get copped for doing that.

[bradc]

I think I would break the law at least twice a day then ;)

[KiwiTT]

A lot of people only drive, 1 or 2 seconds ahead. I drive, 10-15 seconds ahead and most good drivers do too!

[Xeroid]

Tailgaters.. ? wot tailgaters ...? I only seem to see cars in the rear view mirror receding behind either of the VR4's.

Slowpokers up front can be a real hassle but ya get by them eventually then see above....

I don't brake for tailgaters, just take my foot off the accelerator and coast down till about 2/3' wotever the legal limit is. They either get pissed off or back off. I then tend to floor it and see above......

Hills is best, I ain't found any car that can handle a good hill with twisties and kinks like the VR4. They either chicken out in the corners ( good ol' AYC ) or can't accelerate away up the hill so again see above......

I've even chased a Harley up a hill and passed it, Taupo > Napier, some awesome long climbs with bends. Kinda pissed the rider off, he chased us all the way through to the Esk Valley but never got the nerve to get by again.....

I thought in Dunedin the boy racers do 200 kph in morning 'rush' hour on the motorway ...? and the cops can't catch them.....

Wasn't you was it ??


LOL

[Rossco Type-S]

I thought in Dunedin the boy racers do 200 kph in morning 'rush' hour on the motorway ...? and the cops can't catch them.....

Wasn't you was it ??


LOL

No, but that was crazy. I think it was a skyline. Rush hour is a little bit different down here! It is usually faster to get anywhere during rush hour here.

There has been another couple clocked at 200km odd on that same stretch of road in the past few weeks. The other day a 16 yr old got clocked doing over 200 in his dads new BMW v8.

You get cars doing speeds around 200km in residential neighbourhoods here, its only a matter of time till someone dies.

BTW I am certainly not a boy racer :rifle:

[Kenneth]

I'll tell you whats wrong with NZ drivers...

They are selfish. It's all about them and what they want to do, or where they want to go and when.

Of course this is a generalisation and not all New Zealanders are like this. You will find this is also a reflection of our society, we tend to be more 'independant' of others and this leads us to think about number one. Again a generalisation so if you dont think this is you, don't have a stroke over it :joker:

[bradc]

Xeriod, my favourite trick with tailgaters is to lift off the throttle and drop into 4th gear, you engine brake fairly quickly, and some people don't see you slow down at all because you have no brake lights on of course ;)

[GroundControl]

How is that a good idea though? All you're asking for there is an accident, which is no fun even if it is their fault. (Not disagreeing that tailgating is stupid and dangerous, but I'd rather not be involved in an accident because of it)

[bradc]

I won't let someone crash into me though, I will make sure that I keep a good eye on them. If someone is tailgating me I automatically increase my following distance to about 5 seconds so I can be sure the person behind me will actually stop as well.

I don't want anyone touching my baby!

[Rossco Type-S]

/Hmmm Rear mounted machine guns!

[bradc]

laptop in the front with an output to a 10" LCD that is mounted in the boot. Just keep a heap of saved notepad files on the desktop

stop ****ing tailgating
if you're a cop this is a 1.8 N/A and most importantly:
if I just pulled in front of you, and you are doing less than 110kmh in the fast lane, and there is no-one in the slow lane, pull the **** over!

;)

[p1_]

Mate - my conclusion is that motorways are new to NZ, and therefore only Ex-pats know how to use them properly (slow traffic on the inside land, fast traffic in the outside lane - and only when overtaking)

A spell on the M25 at night when its hammering down with rain, doing 90mph in the thick spray from the trucks, following traffic doing the same speed, is probably a good place to start the training :inquisiti

[jaimz]

I agree with the statement that it's NZ drivers' AWARENESS which is all up the wop.

They don't realise if they're holding someone up. They don't realise that they're breaking the speed limit. They don't realise that a sacked 4 door Civic on slanted chromes is NOT cool, and makes them look stupidy.

mpau009 has hit it on the head. Calm driving... mostly. :2thumbsup

[Kenneth]

Have to say that I disagree somewhat. In my opinion (and from discussion with some who drive in a manner I disagree with) most of these drivers KNOW what they are doing, they just think its their given right to drive that way.

They believe that doing the advertised speed limit (100km/h etc) gives them the right to be in the right lane and to hell with the impatient drivers that want to get past.

The people that drive dangerously around traffic KNOW they are braking the speed limit and that their driving would probably get them it court but they believe that their skill (and often their vehicle) is capable of handling the situation.

Most of us drive too fast (ie above the speed limit) in certian situations but believe that in the situation and the performance of our vehicles along with our skill level means that we are safe to do so.

People KNOW when they are holding up traffic, because they look in their rear view mirror and see the queue building up behind them or the person who is sitting on their bumper wanting to get past.
What we lack is
A) education: In our driving tests we dont get tested on what to do when we are holding up traffic, what to do when we are driving on a multi-lane highway or what to do when comming to a passing lane. This should be tested from the point of view of the fast AND slow party
We also dont get it drilled into us that frustrating other drivers is bad and is more likely to cause an accident than going 10% or 20% over the "limit". Instead we get it drilled into us that going over the speed "limit" is highly dangerous and if we do this we should be prepared to be a murderer (as if ANY driving doesn't hold this possibility)

B) There is no law enforcement of "common sense". We get enforced only with revenue generating tickets. Instead the officers should be educating those who's driving is causing traffic congestion, frustration and the like.

I could go on, but I am at work and have spent more time on this than I should have already.

Rant over for now.

/edit:
I suppose the argument about awareness is then from point of view. I believe people are aware of what is going on, but dont think in a manner that promotes the safe and stress free resolution of the situation.

ie: im holding up that dude behind me but f*** him, im doing the speed limit so let him get agro its not MY problem.

[bradc]

you're definately right Kenneth, there are definately big problems with what drivers are taught in regards to things like that.

[jaimz]

Yeah, some good points Kenneth - it's hard (and dangerous) to make general statements about the way an ENTIRE country drives - I mean.. where do we all fit into the scheme of things..? We're NZ drivers right?

Certainly the use of the rear view mirror is worth some debate. I often look at the driver in front's eyes in their rear view mirror, and more often than not their eyes are fixed forward. You're right though, once they DO know I'm there, the attitude you mentioned kicks in.

Driver training in this country is absolutely shocking. That's the root of the problem.

[dreamer]

Right on Kenneth.

I drive in excess of 200 kms daily, and even though 80 -90% of the time I'm a calm and collected driver, cruising down the Motorways around the greater Auckland region sooner or later that Mother f***er in the middle lane sees me approach and instantly jumps into the fast lane because up ahead of him/her is another car, then they only go 1 or 2 km/h faster than the middle lane car, so they essentially block the motorway for the 4km's it takes them to pass the car, then they still don't pull back in when the left lane is clear! :furious3: :furious3:

Heck they could move into the left lane, keep going the same speed they were (therefore not being held up or slowed down), those faster cars can pass easily and safely, and then they can move into the fast lane again when they approach another car for them to pass.

That's what I do. I don't weave down the motorway, but I do use the left lane unless passing. Unfortunately a lot of people... "Normal" people, don't do this, they sit in the fast lane no matter what, causing the faster guys to cut into the left lane, pass them from the inside, and pull back out.

Really grinds my bones.

Solution?
Don't know

Work around: Just let it go, try and think - what's the rush? I'm not going to let this little piss stain ruin my day. I'll hang back a bit more, take 'time out' and switch to "mental" cruise control. Heck, it means you can smile confidently when you pass the :-policema policeman :-policema with the laser pointed straight at you.

[Pete M]

I think the problem is some of both lack of awareness (start engine, switch off brain) and stupidity (I'm going at the speed limit, so they can all stay behind me).
Before the days of serious NZ speed control (in the 1980's and before), I used to tour in cars and on bikes at around 120km/h. Not too fast for safety, but comfortable. Now, I stick very close to 100, as I don't want to give the government any more money. It makes me smile how doing 80mph on a NZ motorway is a serious crime, yet I spent five years going up and down UK motorways at that speed with no incidents at all.
Living and driving in the UK and in Europe was a great experience. It taught me to be considerate of other drivers, and to actually observe and react to the traffic around me. In NZ, 'letting someone in' is so rarely practised that I think only ex-UK drivers do it. Other times I've left a space for someone to turn right in front of me, and they've taken so long to react that the opportunity was lost. Brain dead!
When drivers here turn a corner in the city, they can go into any of the lanes that are there. Staying in the same lane around the corner is quite rare, even though the road code mentions it. It's not nice when white van man tries to sideswipe me in my Mini, just because he thought he was going to be faster (which he wasn't).
Has anyone in NZ realised that you now have to wait for a pedestrian to clear a crossing completely, or that it is now illegal to use fog lights in clear conditions?

A major overhaul and tightening up of driving standards is overdue here. Driver testing needs to be more stringent, and more tickets for bad driving in the cities would help too.

Don't get me started on cyclists that don't wear helmets and ride through red lights.....

[Xeroid]

Hey Brad, drop it into third, then you can really blow them away, especially up hill. Slow down ( coast ) till they are struggling then light her up and go.
I like watching cars in the rear view mirror losing it around corners when they try to match you. Holdens and Fords are real funny, even Audi's get real pissed off, we almost had one take out a power pole trying to catch us....

You want one of those scrolling ad signs done in leds for the rear window, run yr message up there like ..... 'Come closer, I'm about to fart ' .....

[Rossco Type-S]

I think overall the quality (not to mention attitude) of NZ drivers on average is lousy, and the Government don't have the balls or the brains to fix it. Instead they use boy racers as a scape goat. Sure there are a lot of boy racers who are a menance to society, but the worst examples of driving I have seen are:
1) middle aged men in new Ford Falcons, Commodores, 4WDs etc.
2) Old people who don't know where they are.
3) Older women in general.
4) 4WDs.

[Robotnik123]

I am a bit dubious about various comments in this thread about how great UK drivers are. I've seen plenty of bad drivers in the UK. I don't think they can be much better as a group. No offence to UK drivers on here of course! :thumbsup:

[bradc]

you are right Rossco, there are lots of people who are middle aged business type people who think they are more important than you because they own a glorified taxi ;)

Jaimz, very few people look in their rear view mirrors, I notice that with most people. Very few people actually pull over for an emergancy vehicle straight away. I normally see them about 5 cars back, and get out of the way well before. It was particularly frustrating once when I was on a section of road which was quite wide, probably enough for 2 cars, but it was only marked as one lane. There was no traffic coming the other way, and the Ambulance was about 4 cars back, I put my left indicator on and moved over to the left and slowed down to 30kmh or so. The person directly behind me tooted at me and gave me the fingers as they couldn't quite fit past me without going onto the wrong side of the road. The guys in the ambulance were very angry with them ;)

Dreamer, I drive the same roads as you, I know what you are talking about, it's easiest to sit at about 105 or 110kmh and just cruise along trying to keep everyone happy, and not worry too much about it at all.

Pete, I personally think driving at 80mph/130kmh is perfectly safe on the motorways around Auckland, I think that a lot of country roads should stay limited to 90 or 100, but most motorways are maintained very very well, and lots of other countries around the world have higher speed limits with no serious problems on their motorways. The main problem does come down to driver training. My restricted test took 5 minutes, and all it showed was that I could drive a car at 50kmh in a straight line, and use indicators correctly.

Xeriod, while I do drop it into 3rd from time to time to blast away from someone, most of the time I just cruise around, it is fun though from time to time, especially other boy racers that think they have fast cars ;) As you know from our meeting today, my exhausts attract quite a bit of attention, people can hear me from miles away ;)

[You See]

My restricted test took 5 minutes, and all it showed was that I could drive a car at 50kmh in a straight line, and use indicators correctly.
How long did it take you when you sat your full? ...oh that's right! /duh :P

[Kenneth]

I am a bit dubious about various comments in this thread about how great UK drivers are. I've seen plenty of bad drivers in the UK. I don't think they can be much better as a group. No offence to UK drivers on here of course! :thumbsup:

Actually, after beeing in the UK i would agree that on average they are more considerate drivers.
you still get the egg-rolls but when you think about the sheer number of people who use the roads its a much better percentage.

Also they dont push the "speed kills" so much (from what I saw) instead they have billboards saying things like "frustrated drivers cause accidents, let them past" which is much closer than "speed kills kids, slow down" who gives their kids speed anyway??? /pan

[Rossco Type-S]

What we lack is
A) education: In our driving tests we dont get tested on what to do when we are holding up traffic, what to do when we are driving on a multi-lane highway or what to do when comming to a passing lane. This should be tested from the point of view of the fast AND slow party
We also dont get it drilled into us that frustrating other drivers is bad and is more likely to cause an accident than going 10% or 20% over the "limit". Instead we get it drilled into us that going over the speed "limit" is highly dangerous and if we do this we should be prepared to be a murderer (as if ANY driving doesn't hold this possibility)


The problem with education is dumb people don't learn, all of the Government advertising campaigns have no impact on the people they are aimed at. Just look how many people still drink and drive.

Bullet-tooth Tony said it best in the movie Snatch: "you cannot underestimate the predicability of stupidity"

[michaeli]

In answer to your original question: What is wrong with NZ drivers?





























You all drive on the wrong side of the road!!! :thumbsup: /grr :rolleyes4 /yes /help /Steeringw :smug:

[Wouter]

In answer to your original question: What is wrong with NZ drivers?

You all drive on the wrong side of the road!!! :thumbsup: /grr :rolleyes4 /yes /help /Steeringw :smug:

:inquisiti

Hello!!! Earth to Michaeli!!!! /pan

They drive on the same side as we do........

[Robotnik123]

:inquisiti

Hello!!! Earth to Michaeli!!!! /pan

They drive on the same side as we do........

Unless rather than being an Englander, he is actually an American and has only set his country to England too fool us all! /Hmmm

[Wouter]

Unless rather than being an Englander, he is actually an American and has only set his country to England too fool us all! /Hmmm

No, that I have met him...... in England.... at a number of car shows....... (And yes he is blonde) /yes :smug:

[michaeli]

That was kind of the joke... :joker:

We drive on the wrong side too.... :embarasse

Thanks for your kind words Wouter!!! /pan Blonde indeed... it's more of a browny blonde....







To explain further, my Mrs is from Spain... where they drive on the right side... Well the right hand side...

A running joke with her family.... :drummer:

[Wouter]

Thanks for your kind words Wouter!!! /pan Blonde indeed... it's more of a browny blonde....


No probs :smug:

I lied about the hair colour tho.... it's more grey than blonde.... :evil2:

/run and hides in a cupboard!

[dreamer]

How long did it take you when you sat your full? ...oh that's right! /duh :P


Bahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
Good Call. /yes

Classic!. :thumbsup:

ROFL

[p1_]

Right on Kenneth.

I drive in excess of 200 kms daily, and even though 80 -90% of the time I'm a calm and collected driver, cruising down the Motorways around the greater Auckland region sooner or later that Mother f***er in the middle lane sees me approach and instantly jumps into the fast lane because up ahead of him/her is another car, then they only go 1 or 2 km/h faster than the middle lane car, so they essentially block the motorway for the 4km's it takes them to pass the car, then they still don't pull back in when the left lane is clear! :furious3: :furious3:

Heck they could move into the left lane, keep going the same speed they were (therefore not being held up or slowed down), those faster cars can pass easily and safely, and then they can move into the fast lane again when they approach another car for them to pass.

That's what I do. I don't weave down the motorway, but I do use the left lane unless passing. Unfortunately a lot of people... "Normal" people, don't do this, they sit in the fast lane no matter what, causing the faster guys to cut into the left lane, pass them from the inside, and pull back out.

Really grinds my bones.

Solution?
Don't know

Work around: Just let it go, try and think - what's the rush? I'm not going to let this little piss stain ruin my day. I'll hang back a bit more, take 'time out' and switch to "mental" cruise control. Heck, it means you can smile confidently when you pass the :-policema policeman :-policema with the laser pointed straight at you.

Solution? James Bond style front mounted machine guns :rifle: , or maybe bazooka (depending on your bent), or alternatively hire the A-Team
:Mr-T: