Readers urge tougher measures for drivers

Readers urge tougher steps to make drivers - especially truckies - do the right thing

Peter Gordge, Whangarei.

The most important component on the car, next to brakes, are the tyres. Yet nowhere in the warrant of fitness manual in New Zealand is there reference to tyre pressures or the use of uneven tyre tread depth. When a driver is forced to apply brakes quickly with under-inflated tyres, the car gets out of balance quickly, and the consequences are usually blamed on poor brake adjustment.

Before retiring in New Zealand, I had a motor-vehicle workshop in Darwin. We were also a vehicle-testing garage and issued fitness certificates. The inspection criteria are far more thorough than I have found in New Zealand. I recently had a warrant done on a car and the tyre pressures were all over the place, yet not a thing was mentioned about it. If this car was to swerve suddenly at speed, it would be curtains, because there would be no control. Many tyre blowouts are the result of under-inflated tyres, yet how often do we hear people say the tyre had a manufacture fault?

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David Kilgour, Hillsborough.

Rodney District Council's idea of showing the number of road deaths in the area is a good one. If each town had its own sign, it might encourage motorists to slow down and keep a look out for children and pedestrians.

I notice cars around the place with expired registrations and WoFs. It would be good if there was a hotline where one could call and report these vehicles. I object to having to pay my share while others put people at risk with substandard vehicles.

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David Thew, Red Beach.

Adopt international driving rules, especially:

* Keep left unless passing.

* No overtaking on left.

* Issue traffic tickets to cars driving unnecessarily in right lanes when the left is empty.

* Issue traffic tickets to cars that drive very slowly and hold up traffic.

Traffic flows much better in the UK because everyone keeps left and no one lane hops to get around cars.

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Audrey Arnold, Whangarei.

We do seem to be thoughtless drivers.

Our poor driving - speeding in unsafe conditions, following too closely, not indicating - can be put down to thoughtlessness and poor driver training. I would like to see police emphasising courtesy, for instance, at traffic lights, and cautioning drivers who fail to indicate lane changes. We should require offenders to sit another driving test within two months, which would give them a chance to relearn the rules. Possibly, drivers could be forced to resit the test at random.

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Linda Wood, Swanson.

As the daughter of one of four ladies killed by a logging truck and driver at Tauranga in May 1999, I continue to agree with the statement of the judge who presided over the case. "The motorist on the road should be able to expect greater care and caution to be exercised by professional drivers carrying huge tonnage than the old lady who drives to the local shop to buy the milk."

The consequences of a truck rolling over into the path of other vehicles and a car doing the same are considerably different.

Unfortunately, many in the trucking fraternity do not seem to see it that way. As 90 km/h as their maximum speed, it is amazing to find myself driving on any open road or motorway at 100 km/h and have truck and trailer units speeding past, day or night, wet or dry.

With speed cameras set at 105 km/h, these truckers can continue to break their limits with ease and essentially thumb their noses at the law. There may well be a place for commercial/ freight-only lanes on roads as they have in parts of Europe, plus the displaying of their legal speed on the rear of a truck and a phone-in number for the public to report good and bad drivers to their companies.

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Reg Adams, Driving Resource Centre, Tauranga.

No matter how bad the road, or the car, or the weather, drivers should drive to the conditions.

Too many drivers never learned proper vehicle control, hazard search, or defensive driving principles, as would be taught by a professional driving instructor. They are accidents waiting to happen.

Modern cars go faster, and are a dream to drive on good roads, so many drivers drive beyond their ability.

But when something goes wrong or conditions change unexpectedly, people die.

In today's conditions, it is essential that people learn to drive properly.

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Steve Cornwall, Manurewa.

Allow Transfund to borrow $1 billion over five years, at 7 per cent, which would require $70 million a year in interest repayments. This would be offset by a saving of part of the two billion dollars a year which the economy pays for the costs of road deaths and injuries.

This money would be used to "fast- track" projects which are now being delayed due to lack of cash.

Use these funds to extend the motorways from Auckland to Warkworth and Auckland to Cambridge, as well as from Wellington to Levin.

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Frank Jones, Howick.

Far too many Kiwi males - and a growing number of females - between the ages of 16 and 30 are irresponsible, with scant regard for rules and regulations. At the same time, we have a police force and a judiciary that hasn't the guts to apply the discipline that these people need for their own good.

So, increase the driving and drinking age, increase traffic monitoring - even on suburban roads - and, most of all, come down on them hard.

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Keith Hawkins, Murrays Bay.

There seem to be a few good examples of heavy transport laws in the UK. I can't understand why they are not introduced into New Zealand.

* Spray-reduction material on the inside of wheel guards. While this is seen on some trucks, others, such as logging trucks, seem to be exempt from even having guards.

* Side-intrusion bars, which stop any smaller vehicle getting caught between front and wheels on any truck or trailer unit.

* Strict speed restrictions which are adhered to and properly policed, rather than the current free-for-all.

* On freeways, heavy transport restricted to the left lanes.

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Len Hoogerbrug, Taupo.

It should be compulsory for all large vehicles to have the wheels encased in such a manner that no water spray interferes with a clear observance of the surrounding road and traffic.

Herald Online feature: Cutting the road toll

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