Rachel Wise
With the holiday season fast approaching it's about to be "that time again" on our roads.
School holidays kick in, the Christmas pilgrimage to holiday destinations and to visit family begins, and with it the road toll starts to tick over.
Every year the police plead with us to watch our speed and following distances, to drive only while sober and to drive to the conditions.
And every year people crash.
What is it that people just don't "get"?
And it's not just during the holidays either, although that's when the road toll gets the most attention.
Every day on Hawke's Bay's roads people are driving dangerously.
As a commuter, I am on the roads for 80 minutes every working day. In that time, I see dangerous overtaking, speeding and following too close several times a day.
I see near misses at least four times a week. Very near misses.
Last week I held my breath as a truck overtook several vehicles including a tractor and trailer, approaching a blind corner.
I suspect the driver of the vehicle that came around the corner to see a truck heading straight for them did far more than hold their breath.
The impatient truck driver was in the wrong, but so was the tractor driver who sailed past two laybys without bothering to pull over and let the blocked stream of traffic overtake.
The values of patience and courtesy seem lacking in society as a whole, of late. Maybe because we often interact with a screen rather than humans? Or are we used to things happening instantly, with a click or a tap, and we can no longer wait?
While rudeness and impatience has little payback on-screen, it does on the road.
These holidays, take care on the roads. Start practising today.
They won at either of the past two Olympic Games. Now they're headed for Hawke's Bay.