Eric Thompson: Road rage a national concern

Some New Zealand cyclists amaze visitors with their disregard for motor vehicles. Photo / Janna Dixon

I went to Tauranga over the weekend for a mate's knees-up, and while the drive down on Saturday was pretty much grief-free, the return trip on Sunday was an adventure - but more of that later.

My mate had a number of folk over to his house, including a couple of Americans, and I was curious to hear what they had to say about New Zealanders and their driving skills - or lack thereof.

Now readers of this column are well aware of my stance on this most vexed of issues, and that I think it's a gross lie to think the majority of Kiwis are in command of their vehicles 100 per cent of the time.

I was both saddened and heartened to be told that New Zealanders are indeed woefully inadequate behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

Saddened because said visitors were shocked by the aggressiveness and lack of courtesy on our roads, and heartened because the drum I have been banging for years is the right one.

Others joined the conversation, and one person said she was amazed by how angry drivers could be in New Zealand when they did something wrong and it was pointed out to them. Their reaction is: "I've done something really stupid and been found out but I'll get aggressive and tell the person who I nearly took out to F-off."

I experienced similar behaviour recently but it involved a pedestrian - another bane of my life. Why can't they use the footpath and pedestrian crossings, indicated by the thick white lines painted across the road?

In this most recent encounter with a pedestrian with a death wish, the person was chatting away on their phone and just stepped off the pavement without the slightest hesitation or glance in any direction - right in front of me as I was turning right into a side road.

I wound down the window, as I always do in these circumstances, to make a suggestion that it would be safer to remain on the pavement, look left, look right and look left again before stepping off. I've never known a young woman who knew such language and I thought for a moment it was going to be all on for young and old.

I swear she even looked like she was going to hurl her phone at me, such was her aggressive stance. I've heard how people have different reactions to getting a fright, but when a car's bearing down on you I would have thought getting the hell out of its way would be the preferred option. Youngsters today, eh.

Having heard this story, the American guests at the party said that was not too bad compared with living in California. Apparently the inhabitants of this west coast state have more rights of way than the governor.

The couple said pedestrians here in New Zealand have a way to go to reach the heights, or should I say lows, of those in the Golden State. It is said that to drive in California you have to be able to read a pedestrian's mind so that you know the exact moment they are going to launch themselves in front of your car.

The state has an almost preservation-esque order on its pedestrians and car drivers will always be in the wrong no matter what the circumstances. We were told how pedestrians simply wander across multi-lane roads full of traffic, and God help any driver who hits one.

May I strongly suggest that pedestrians in New Zealand do not attempt this feat. Thankfully the car is still king of the tarmac here, but I have noticed a worrying trend towards the American school of pedestrianism.

The other interesting observation made by the couple referred to cyclists. In California, pushbike riders show a lot more respect for car drivers. They were amazed by what cyclists do on narrow New Zealand country roads and some of the dangerous positions they put themselves in. As I have often mentioned before, you earn respect - you don't demand it.

As I noted earlier, my drive down to Tauranga was a joy with the traffic flowing wonderfully, and even the odd truck pulled over to let the traffic past. Having said that, the return trip was fraught with danger. The rain probably didn't help, but all you have to do is slow down a bit and give the car in front some room and then you won't get into trouble.

Also, suddenly crossing three lanes of traffic without so much as a second thought about indicating isn't a good look, either.

I can't leave out the mention of the two trucks driving side-by-side on the entire 1.5km of a passing lane, reducing all the traffic to a mere crawl. And the number of road maggots who refused to pull over on steep climbs to help with the traffic flow.

Before any self-proclaimed speed monitors email in to tell me to drive slower, I wasn't in hurry but I didn't want to spend eight hours on the road for a journey that should only take about four hours.

Then we had the, I'll-get-so-close-to-your-bumper-that-you-can't-see-my-headlights" idiot. Mind you, he got a hell of a fright when I touched the brake pedal. The look on his face was a peach as the red tail-lights lit up the interior of his car. Guess what happened next, though? You got it. He started yelling and waving his fist at me, and roared past at about 130km/h when I pulled into the inside lane.

Where the heck are the cops when you need them?