Slowpoke drivers the worst, say readers

The Times-Age put the question to its Facebook audience, who generally thought slow drivers were the biggest problem on Wairarapa roads.

Tailgating is the most annoying driving habit, something Wairarapa drivers might be guilty of, considering their hatred of slow drivers.

In a recent Colmar Brunton poll, 49 per cent of people put tailgaters in their top three worst behaviours, while drivers failing to indicate came in at 42 per cent.

Third was texting, at 32 per cent.

The Times-Age put the question to its Facebook audience, who generally thought slow drivers were the biggest problem on Wairarapa roads.

Robert Crook said his biggest annoyance was people who "speed up when reaching a passing lane after sitting on 80km/h or 90km/h beforehand".

Margaret Anderson said "slow people on Rimutaka that won't have the decency to pull into stopping bays" got her going.

Tiaka Whyte's view was that drivers who went "70km/h in a 100km/h zone then sped up to 135km/h at passing, then back to 70km/h at the end of the passing lane", were the worst thing on the road.

Karen Lentz said "kids without proper seat-belt restraints" was her gripe.

Colmar Brunton CEO Jacqueline Farmer said half of those surveyed claimed none of those habits described their own driving.

The poll also discovered that over a fifth of Kiwis felt they were better than overseas drivers.

The top three most annoying in-car behaviours for drivers or passengers were, in order, back-seat drivers, indecisive DJ's and loud talk.