The year has started badly, January being a horror show in terms of road deaths. As happens every year when the numbers come in, I get a phone call from the news networks for my thoughts.
And it’s the same questions I get asked but by someone new in the job, unaware of the fact this happens every year.
It’s the same problems, and yet we do the same things in regards to road safety and expect a different result.
I’ve clocked up some miles this summer and the number of vehicles littering the roadside is mind boggling. They are upside down in paddocks alongside the slightest of bends and in other ridiculous places where it seems impossible to have an accident.
This just highlights to me that people just don’t care when they are driving; they let themselves get distracted, with a blatant disrespect to other road users.
The amount of damage these drivers cause to all the barriers that have been installed is yet another telling sign that too many people are either distracted behind the wheel or are driving fatigued.
And it’s not speed that causes these incidents; this is often happening on straight bits of roads.
These barriers, put there to improve safety (and maybe they do in some instances), are now in need of constant repairs as people keep crashing into them.
How much time and money is spent on these repairs that could otherwise be used to actually improve more of our roads?
Why should the rest of us pay for these repairs? Why shouldn’t those who hit the barriers through driving distracted or fatigued be prosecuted and forced to pay for the damage they cause?
My tax dollars shouldn’t be spent this way. If I’m paying attention, being a good road user, why should I end up paying for someone else’s poor decision making.
As there’s ongoing construction of these so-called ‘safety improvements’ along our highway network, it’s only going to happen more often.
We have to create more deterrents for these bad driving behaviours. If you crash into the back of the car in front because you were looking at your phone, you need to be convicted for your stupidity.
It sounds harsh but why not? What about the people doing the right thing that get caught up in all this. Think of the time lost in traffic jams, or to chasing insurance claims. It happens all the time and it’s not right.
I believe that traffic safety cameras, if used properly, could be a big help in this area. Unfortunately, the NZTA is taking over these operations from the Police, and the organisation isn’t renowned for delivering great outcomes lately.
I see more people, especially younger drivers, committed to texting while behind the wheel. It’s rampant. More innocent people will be hurt by these types, so why should they get away with it?
I hope it’s a focus of the coalition government, using the available tools to crack down on this driver distraction. We must issue harsher penalties and deterrents to make examples of people.
And we need to make sure that money recovered goes back into the roading fund.
They disrespect the laws and other road users, so they deserve to be contributing to fixing the roads and their behaviour.
I say we should grab the money until people learn their lessons.
This article first appeared in the March 2024 issue of NZ Autocar magazine.
