Revisting the Road Code

Revisiting the Road Code
 
The turning misadventures of the New Zealand motorist; a disturbing tour of the minds of our road rule makers.
 
The road rules changed this week, or was it last week? The police are trialling a period of 'warning' rather than issuing infringement notices to coincide with the new turning laws. Nice of them I thought, but I have since learnt that the issuing of warnings for minor offences for the five month period will save thousands of hours of paper work for the police; so you decide just what the true motivation really is!
 
So, after spending much of my driving life having a very clear understanding of who gives way to who (or is that whom gives way to whom) I now have to re-learn the road rules.
 
We all know that change is not something we cope with well! And whether you are ready for it or not, this new road rule is a significant change.
 
By significant, what I am referring to is that the consequence of the change may well be life threatening! After all it is not just about you and me and our understanding of the new rules, it is also about the other 99.9% of road users who share our roads, crossroads and intersections!
 
The view from my office affords me an excellent view of a busy intersection. Each day I witness at least half a dozen close calls and at least one accident a week.
 
None of these 'moments' are a result of motorists being confused over which road rules are current or not, but rather a result of; a lack of care, a lack of patience, a lack of common sense and mostly just a lack of any sort of ability to drive safely.
 
Now throw in a good measure of confusion over a new 'give-way' rule and I definitely suggest that we all check our car insurance is up-to-date!
 
The old rule kind of made sense to me. It meant that cars on a busy road turning right across the on-coming traffic could get off the centre portion of the road as a priority. It also meant that the driver of the right turning car was always prioritised out of harm's way by always having the right-of-way! All very logical!
 
Perhaps I am just being old and cynical. Unlikely, but just in case I decided to visit the website of the NZTA to gain a better appreciation of just why the change is happening.
Tony Marshall