Learning to drive to survive
Police say you can’t break the speed limit, but they know overtaking sometimes requires people to go above it.
They also know slow drivers frustrate the drivers behind them, which can lead to risky manoeuvres and crashes.
The AA agrees with the cops - overtaking usually means going over the speed limit. But AA also doesn’t think the speed limit should be broken.
Even so, AA members tell the organisation that slow drivers and tailgaters are their biggest pet peeves.
Website roadsafetynz.org quotes two peer-reviewed studies that say to pass a car on a rural road, drivers must travel 13kmh faster than the vehicle they want to overtake for 12.5 seconds.
So what to do? Waikato roading police manager Inspector Freda Grace has a bob each way. She says police have discretionary powers around ticketing for speeding.
‘‘We accept that sometimes people do speed to overtake,’’ Grace says. But speed limits are in place for a reason, she says.
‘‘Rules are designed to keep us safe.
‘‘They are clear-cut. You shouldn’t exceed the speed limit when driving.’’
A huge number of overtaking manoeuvres are done safely throughout New Zealand each day, Grace says.
‘‘So I think the majority of Kiwis know how to drive and generally people know how to overtake.’’
Grace thinks the real issue is the Kiwi driving culture.
People need to recalculate how long it will take to get somewhere, Grace says.
‘‘We have a real desire and a need to get to a place at a certain time.
‘‘We need expectations.
‘‘Just because Google Maps says it’s going to take a certain to change our time to get there, it doesn’t mean it will,’’ Grace says.
Surely arriving at a destination is better than not arriving at all, she says.
AA general manager for roading affairs Mike Noon wholeheartedly agrees.
Breaking the speed limit is not something drivers should be doing.
‘‘The speed limit isn’t a target,’’ Noon says.
‘‘Speed limits are in place for a reason.
‘‘They shouldn’t be broken.’’