One Born Every Minute

 There is a story on NewstalkZB's site at the moment about an accident involving a turning milk-tanker and an idiot.

There can, of course, be no doubt in the idiocy of the Audi driver.... BUT .......

 there can be doubt as to the actions of the tanker driver.

As a young fart so many years ago (and a long-standing professional driver since) I was taught (and practiced) that when turning right it is safer to, when possible, pull to the left and let any following traffic clear before turning right.

Based on the video, that was possible in this case.

On South Island roads, at least, this practice has been discontinued and I have at times been forced to brake hurriedly to avoid some idiot "parked" in the centre of the road. 

The standard of driving in this country has been dropping remarkably in recent years and the NZTA would help make the roads safer if they addressed issues like this rather than continue their competition to create the most dangerous road designs ever and push newly-made-up gobblety-gook onto the public.

Road Toll Increases

The "holiday" road toll has doubled this year and it's only at the half-way point.

As a professional driver I find this unsurprising, the standard of driving on South Island roads has deteriorated badly over the last few years.

Notably the dramatic reduction in "Asian" and foreign drivers has not improved safety on the roads, their places seemingly taken by old farts who should not have a license and young women (of either sex) too distracted to concentrate on what they and other road users are doing.

The pigs, of course, have taken their usual, bloody stupid to the point of brain dead, position and blamed speeding instead of the halfwits who's slow, inconsiderate driving is causing most of the angst among road users.

The other thing of note is that the anti-car scum influenced, ridiculously slow speed limits are simply being ignored by most - to the point where it confirms these are only in place as revenue gathering devices and nothing at all to do with safety.

A serious rethink on what roads are for is needed desperately.

Travelling

 I have been away covering much of the South Island. Today I head North.

This spring is certainly providing interest, in the last few days I have encountered a lot of rain, snow and hail interspersed with patches of sunshine accompanied by freezing-cold gale-force winds.

Just a normal week in spring in the South Island then. Where the hell is this bloody global warming?

One thing I have noticed is that the driving standards on the roads is as bad, if not worse, than before the Panic even though traffic is considerably lighter.

Maybe it wasn't the Asian tourists after all.