Herald on Sunday editorial: Driving home is part of the holiday, savour it

Relax, be safe, come back alive. Photo / Dean Purcell

All too soon, the holiday fortnight is finishing and many will heading back home on the highways today.

Perhaps not as many as would have been on the roads today if the weather had not broken with a vengeance before the weekend. But the storm damage is one more reason to take extra care if you are coming home today.

Homeward traffic has a different temper from the pleasure of heading out of town for a holiday. Homeward thoughts are of work to be done, normal life to resume, business and chores to attend to.

The journey can become just the first task on the agenda. Move it along, get it done.

In that state of mind, it is no wonder accidents happen. Drivers get impatient with any vehicle holding them up.

If the road is narrow and winding, as most of our highways still are, the impatient drivers sit too close behind the car in front waiting for their chance to pounce.

If they are sensible they will wait for a passing lane, on most main roads these are never far away. But passing lane behaviour is not as good as it should be.

Too often the sign "passing lane" seems to wake up the sedate driver who then decides to increase speed, much to the annoyance of a following driver who has been waiting for the chance to get past.

A writer in the Herald this week suggested drivers should be allowed to exceed the 100km/h speed limit when passing. He argued it would be safer since overtaking would mean less time and distance on the wrong side of the road.

In passing lanes it would avoid the annoyance of a car taking the whole lane to pass another without exceeding the speed limit.

It is a fair point but does anyone ever need to be in that much of a hurry?

Not many of our highways are well designed for even 100 km/h, while our motorways and new expressways suit higher speeds, as do most cars nowadays. Drive according to the condition of the road.

There's no shame in a sedate journey home. If it is the last day of your holiday, savour it. Why be in a hurry to get home?

Take your time, enjoy the countryside if you are unlikely to see it again for a while. Help cars get past you if they wish.

Relax, be safe, come back alive.