Road carnage

It was heartening to see another voice of reason (Brian Andrews, Letters, March 18) calling for an increase in fine limits and longer disqualifications for those who transgress on our roads.

It should be clear even to the most short-sighted that the emphasis on ‘‘education and raising awareness’’ of the dangers of speeding, texting or using a mobile phone while driving simply is not working. There is much to commend in the UK system whereby errant drivers are strongly penalised, for example, by immediate on-the-spot loss of a licence for three months for those caught using a mobile phone while driving or even while stopped (including at traffic lights) if the engine is running: the engine has to be off!

If the same laws existed in New Zealand then 20 of 28 (yes, I counted) of the drivers who crawled past me recently while I was stopped at traffic lights by Waikato University would have walked the rest of the journey, and that includes the woman in her SUV who was eating her bowl of breakfast cereal!

Kelvin Dunn, Cambridge

I agree 100 per cent with Andrews. New Zealand driving culture is out of control, it looks like we are about to set a record for road deaths this year.

There are many things wrong with driving in New Zealand; speeding, overtaking at wrong times are the main killers – there is this fanatical desire to get in front of the car in front regardless of the speed.

If we just focused on this issue the road toll would drop, then we can focus on other problems: tailgating, phones, seatbelts, inability to zip and give way, crossing the centre line to overtake parked cars, etc, etc.

Because speeding has become part of the culture of New Zealand driving – we all see it all the time – no politician has the guts to stand up and say ‘‘enough is enough’’,

and New Zealanders will continue to die on our roads at a rate out of all proportion to other OECD countries.

Arthur Amis, Whangaparaoa