Something Thoughtful

 Nicholas Reid reflects in essay form on general matters and ideas related to literature, history, popular culture and the arts, or just life in general. You are free to agree or disagree with him.

                                              SOMETHING THOUGHTFUL

                                           THE COURTESY OF TRUCKIES    

Only occasionally on this blog have I made comments about how New Zealanders drive their cars. [See the posting Suburban Dodgems.]  But recently I’ve become more and more annoyed – even angered – by the way some irresponsible people drive.

On very many journeys, I have driven around most of the North Island and a good deal of the South Island. On the open highways, most drivers drive fairly well. There is the odd road hog who wants to overtake as many cars as possible, regardless of how dangerous some overtaking at speed can be. There is also the odd very slow driver who inconveniences the traffic behind him by refusing to move over to the many passing lanes that are provided. Yes, statistics show that there have been many fatal crashes on the open roads, but personally I have witnessed only one or two in my years of driving.

For me, the problem comes when we are dealing with the multi-lane motorways. Most motorways give the speed-limit as 100kph (though some, like the Hamilton Freeway, give it as 110kph). Some people take this to mean that they have to drive at 100kph, as if it is an obligatory speed. But the fact is that the very existence of multi-lanes means one can move over and drive in the outer lanes… which is what I tend to do, happily cruising at about 80kph unless it is absolutely necessary to speed up a little more. And as I drive I see cars zipping along past me – mostly safely. But I also see frequently certifiable fools weaving their way at top speed through traffic, dodging in and out between other cars that are already going at top speed. What is the purpose of this? It’s possible that a few (a very few) have a legitimate reason for speeding. Maybe they have an urgent appointment to meet. Maybe they have some domestic crisis to deal with. But the odds are that the dangerous dodgers and weavers are just speeding for the fun of it, showing off how they can overtake others. The most dangerous drivers – the ones most likely to crash – are young men between teenager-age and mid-twenties. Again, this is shown in statistics. And young men are prone to showing off in their cars. Apart from fining more severely those who exceed the speed limit, I can see no solution to this problem. The last government we had suggested that all speed-limits should be lowered, but the incoming government has scrapped the very idea of this. So dangerous driving and many crashes will persist.

Which brings me to truckies. In my experience, truck-drivers are more courteous on the roads than most drivers are. I have never seen a truck-driver NOT using the passing lane when his truck is trundling up a hill. Truck-drivers are not road hogs. They are aware that they are carrying cargo that has to be protected and brought safely to its destination.  Truckies manoeuvre carefully, wave cars on when they have to move over, and do not speed any more than they really have to. In spite of all the stereotypes of truckies, they are better and more skilled than menaces who want to speed just for the hell of it.