Wishful thinking on Seymour bill
Our heavy road toll
The Dominion Post is subject to the NZ Media Council. Complaints must be directed to editor@dompost .co.nz. If the complainant is unsatisfied with the response, the complaint may be referred to the Media Council, PO Box 10-879, Wellington, 6143 or info@media council.org.nz. Further details at presscouncil.org.nz Email: letters@ dompost.co.nz No attachments. Write: Letters to the Editor, PO Box 1297, Wellington, 6040. Letters must include the writer’s full name, home address and daytime phone number. Letters should not exceed 200 words and must be exclusive. Letters may be edited for clarity and length. Take any journey on the roads these days and you will see many examples of drivers deliberately making poor decisions, some of which are without any consideration for other road users, crash risk or the consequences should things go wrong. The number of drivers who cannot follow the vehicle ahead at a safe distance is amazing, and at all costs must get one car ahead.
Current efforts to improve the roading environment will support driver decision-making, although this can also be seen as placing the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. As with many overseas countries (the UK, as an example), modifying the behaviour of those drivers with poor decision-making attributes and higher crash-risk profiles has been successful.
I wonder what examples these drivers may have for their family members around being patient, responsible and thoughtful when venturing on to the highways.
Perhaps some of the 185 drivers who lost their lives in 2018 may have the answers.
Peter Sheppard, Whitby
Regarding Jim Friel’s letter (Jan 4) questioning the difference between New Zealand and Ireland’s methods of reducing the number of road deaths, I would like to point out, as a regular driver in both countries, some differences that I see (with no empirical evidence).
Car culture: Ireland doesn’t appear to have as many boy racers, Holden/Ford zealots, motorcyclists, racing events or skid marks on its roads.
Drink driving: this has become a major taboo in Ireland with lower limits, pubs running bus services, and rural areas having bigger populations which increases the risk of being caught or having an accident. People still appear more relaxed about this here.
Better roads: with the Celtic Tiger economy and EU funding, Ireland has some of the best road infrastructure in the world. Most driving happens on multi-lane, 120kmh, straight, weather-handling motorways, as opposed to the winding, single-lane, nervy ‘‘highways’’ here, which make mistakes more likely.
Surely openness and analysis of the data we collect on road accidents would easily identify cause and effect, but that may identify speed cameras as purely revenue-raising?
Liam Talbot, Brooklyn
Absent a joint statement from the ministers of roading and police, I offer comments on Jim Friel’s query.
The Irish may travel half as far on their roads as we do because of urban population density and the resultant availability of economic public transport. Climate-related lifestyle, higher per capita GDP and a much younger vehicle fleet could also be factors. This would immediately make our road death numbers similar. The measure used by Friel is not relevant.
Nevertheless, it is likely the more relevant measure, of deaths per 100,000km travelled, would also favour Ireland. The simple explanation would be that the drivers are Irish, not New Zealanders. This well merits an answer as to why they are safer. Who is responsible for doing this?
Mike Williams, Tawa