The traffic dangers of Otago Peninsula roads have been highlightedrecently. While Peter Johnson welcomes the news reduced speedlimits are being considered, he offers his own plan. There is more to speed than just speed limits. It's called roadnonsense. Those large red-ringed signs indicate speed limits of 50kmh,100kmh, or whatever, but we all know that 100kmh, for example,really equates to 109kmh before you get a ticket.
How nice to receive this amount of grace from the law, except fortimes such as February and Easter, when police announce an excessspeed of only 4kmh will be tolerated. Presumably the radar detectors are accurate to this level, so whynot enforce this limit all the time? Is there one law or is therenot? Would it not be a comparable nonsense to have variableblood-alcohol tolerances: a bit more on Thursdays, a bit less onSaturdays? One problem I have with driving at 100kmh on the open road is thatit is not long before faster vehicles are sitting right on my tail,out towards the centre line, and so close you get a mirror-view ofimpatient fingers drumming along the steering wheel. My answer is to go a bit faster for a while, until lucky enough tofind a pull-over place. There are not many such places on our highways, and even trickierwhen you have a trailer and you are faced with many kilometres ofnarrow sloping gravel shoulder. Having driven recently in foreign places, including Auckland,Indonesia, and Australia, I realise every region has its own blendof driving standards, abuses, and courtesies.
So apart from any New Zealand-wide codes for speed or roadbehaviour, it seems to me that in our patch, Otago Peninsula, weshould agree to a common sensibility for safe and consideratedriving. Before offering any holier-than-thou suggestions, I should declareI have had a speeding ticket (62kmh) in Broad Bay (just the one;lesson learned), have been driving for only 51 years, but have noway of knowing whether I am an above-average driver. I enjoy driving, and fully appreciate the fun (still) of doingcontrolled wheelies on appropriate gravel roads. Portobello Rd is a winding carriageway with lots of blind corners,a steep bank rising up on one side, and a splashy harbour on theother.
Its particular dangers include narrow lanes and shoulders, somebadly cambered corners, slippery surfaces (frost, wet road film,diesel spills), fallen rocks, sea-splash when high tides coincidewith wind, sunstrike, roadside mower tractors, sea-wallreconstruction teams, wide commuter buses, tour coaches andcampervans unfamiliar with the road, and trucks being driven likesports cars. These combine with a mix of commuters, racy service vans, motherstalking to children in the back seat, texters, corner-cuttingbullies in high-powered tanks, hoons, boy racers, teen learners,dithery oldies, and gradual learners like me. Try walking or cycling along Portobello Rd and you get a reminderof the presumed supremacy of vehicle drivers and a clear measure ofthe high proportion of tail-gaters. Two-second rule? What's that? Next, try driving along Portobello Rd on a wet and stormy night,the bright multiple headlights of a following vehicle filling yourrearview mirrors.
Four-second rule? Check the online New Zealand Road Code. Now, while I fully agree with suggestions to reduce peninsula speedlimits below the absurd 100kmh, and also support road upgradinginitiatives, surely much of the answer to road danger lies with us,the community. I know people who have died and been injured along Portobello Rd,and I once witnessed a car rolling into the drink (and probablybecause of drink). Of course we all think we are good drivers, and that the freedom ofcar driving is a right, and we should not criticise anyone else onthe topic.
Nevertheless, I have, twice, managed to accost a dangerous driverand had a wee chat without getting a road-rage thumping. I have reported instances of appalling driving to police, withenough details to allow the local constable to report back that hehad given the offender a verbal bum-kicking (perhaps more effectivethan a court case). And, on occasion as an anxious passenger, I have plucked up thecourage to make a concerned comment to the driver, which isactually quite difficult when it might muddy the vibes with friendsor family. So how might we, as a community, encourage driving standards thatfit with our own circumstances and safety? Suppose the Otago Peninsula Community Board was to instigate afliyer to all households, outlining crash statistics, describingthe main road hazards, and suggesting driving protocols ofrelevance to peninsula roads.
A similar flier or information sheet could be made available at thePortsmouth Dr information kiosk. In addition, a bumper- or back-window sticker could be madeavailable to all residents saying "OP Safe Driving" or similar, fordisplay by all drivers who concur with these local drivingprotocols. Maybe a groundswell of sticker-announced "joiners" would help toencourage or shame those drivers whom we might simply note as beingless attentive or more error-prone. There is an old saying that "the bay road straightens out aftermidnight".
True or false? Sense or nonsense? Peter Johnson is a writer and botanist who lives at Broad Bay onOtago Peninsula.
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