This wasn’t able to be implemented because the new law required testing for a whole range of drugs with a level of accuracy at evidentiality level. The test kit to do that did not exist internationally.
Hopefully, by the end of the year, police will have a screening test available to deal with drugged drivers in the same way Australians have done since 2005.
Then, a significantly enhanced roading maintenance programme, called the Pothole Prevention Fund, was announced in the Budget. Last week, accountability measures were also advised for road controlling authorities to fix potholes within 24 hours of their being reported. This expectation indicates they should be properly fixed and not only filled in.
In the past couple of weeks there has been the announcement of the cancellation of unlimited free driver licence test resits.
This might seem tough for young drivers facing cost pressures and maybe discouraging applicants from progressing to the full driver licence.
The reality is that unlimited free resits are clogging the system. Seventy-five per cent of learner licence applicants pass the test first time. The other 25% would often wing it, not study sufficiently, resitting the test multiple times without cost, and slowing the whole system down.
This has created waiting lists of about three months for well-prepared applicants serious about getting their licence. There are other ways to incentivise the driver licence process.
Various governments have dragged their heels about warning signs for fixed speed camera zones.
There is some controversy around making speed black spots safer, against the perception of revenue gathering. The purpose of speed cameras is to get drivers to slow down at recognised dangerous sites.
So, warning that you’ll be caught if you exceed the posted limit is just playing fair. Also fair is a mobile camera operating a few hundred metres after the identified zone to catch the real speeders.
During the past week, the minister has zeroed in on road cones, calling traffic management road cone use “out of control”. He revealed a report from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) indicating 70% of traffic management sites were unattended and, of the 800 sites studied, 26% of them were found to not be needed.
Curiously, though, the minister was not alone in declaring war on road cones, with Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown revealing his own commissioned Ernst & Young report. This concluded: “Temporary traffic management uses a time-and-materials contract basis with a heavily prescribed, one-size-fits-all model.
“The model allows providers to overkill the project, virtually allowing them to profit from having staff and equipment deployed for as long as possible.”
There is no incentive to be more efficient or effective than what is prescribed, as most construction contracts provide for. It’s kind of like allowing a lawnmowing contractor to mow the lawn with a pair of scissors while paying a prescribed hourly rate.
The two reports will hopefully initiate some efficiencies and a risk-based commonsense approach that could be competitively tendered, reducing costs and frustrations while increasing productivity.
Lastly, the minister has announced the previous blanket reduction in speed limits across the network would be reversed and speed limits revert to what they were previously.
In this area he has had some pushback. Many new speed limits on state highways and local roads have been heavily consulted and are mostly demonstrably effective while generally making sense against the nature of the roads. Some tweaks are obviously needed, but not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Overall, though, a big tick for a very active minister who seems all over his portfolio and who is seeking to achieve a commonsense balance between safety, efficiency and the effective operation of the roading network.
