KEY POINTS:
There has been a steady stream of outrage from cyclists trying to bike to work but feeling unsafe. This comes following the Bikewise week during which two cyclists died and three others were in hospital after a spate of accidents in what was supposed to be a week of awareness-raising for safe biking on roads.
But some motorists say they have little sympathy because of the attitude of some cyclists on the roads.
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Adrian Hills
I used to cycle to work from Newmarket to east Tamaki everyday. Being hit several times by cars and 4wds and the abuse you get from motorists ended it for me. There are a lot of selfish people in this city who care only about themselves and bugger the rest.I dont know if anyone else has noticed it, but a lot of the grief is caused by idiots driving BMWs, 4wds, and v8 cars. If you have not noticed it take a drive through Remuera sometime.
Gavin
I cycle to work most days from West Auckland into the City. I am lucky because there is a cycle lane next to the motorway which takes me in a significant distance to the city. But as soon as I enter onto the road I immediately feel vulnerable. I have only been knocked off my bike once and it wasn't too serious, a small truck decided to pull into a parking space without indicating and I was on the inside of him. The man didnt apologise but did admit he didnt see me and should have indicated. So do I feel safe cycling? Probably not. I think if you cycle you really have to take care of your own safety, take no chances, and never rely on a driver seeing you. Something I cant understand in Auckland is why motorists drive so fast and carelessly. Its not like they are going to get anywhere quicker in rush hour!
Gregor
It is pretty simple really; share the damn road! you know what "share" means? It means if you cant pass me safely as you hurry toward your humanity-saving mission to get to the next traffic light, then slow down, and wait!. Are your rights as a motorist so grieviously infringed upon that you need to intimidate,or worse, maim me because of the affront of my presence in your field of view?? Its a vicious cycle of recrimination that we're all on, but you jerks in the safety of your weatherproof gasguzzlers feel that it is you who are hard done by. And hows that? Cos you saw a cyclist run a red? or omit to signal? Or, god forbid, stay ahead of you the entire distance of your frustratingly slow commute into town that morning with you and no-one else apart from Sean Plunket in your 800 bucks a month dream machine?? So why dont you just shut it with your spoilt-brat whining, and devote your finely tuned sense of justice to the more hard-work issues like equitable distribution of wealth, or affordable house prices, or even how about cheap and readily available broadband? If you weren't such a serious threat to me, you would bore me. Like all those tax-dodgers out there; me me me . To hell with the lot of you. But when one of your kin is fatally mangled by some moron who was texting their idiot boyfriend, please dont suddenly switch sides and say its the governments fault there is not more cycle lanes. OK?
Chris
I havve been cycling in Auckland for the best part of 20 years, and so far have only had two collisions with cards, one of them quite minor. On balance I think NZ drivers are courteous and careful; the last thing they want it to hit a cyclist. However, there are the odd few who either lack awareness, especially of how fast cyclists can travel, or are ignorant, and simply don't acknowledge the right of cyclists to use the road. Then there are the small number of hoons who speed around dangerously and are a hazard to any road user.What would help, though, apart from driver education, is cycle lanes on major arterial routes across the city. I ride down Balmoral Road every morning, and there is simply no way a car driver can give me the required 1.5 metre clearance. There just isnt enough road for that. And its the same on long parts of Mt Albert Road, and many other major roads across town. Having lived in Berlin, and having also experienced Brisbane recently, its obvious that Auckland is a long way behind in building roads to accommodate cycle transport. While I continue to commute by bike, I dont readily recommend it to anyone else, as much as I would love to see Auckland become a cycle friendly city.
Nigel
The problem with bikes is that they are not fast enough for cars on busy main road to follow. And cause a massive traffic jams behind them. I have seen Police give car drivers tickets for driving too slow and blocking traffic why not cyclist. Isn't it at very least rude to hold up 50 people just so one can have a bit of exercise. I do agree about people getting out of cars with out due care. We need wider roads. And separate bike only paths for cyclist, as I note that they rarely use the cycle path on footpaths (maybe because of slower moving traffic getting in their way!)
Ian Parkes
I used to think cycling could be safe if you made eye contact with drivers and ride away from the verge (especially on the waterfront)to discourage motorists from squeezing past where there isn't enough room. But then I too got hit by a driver coming the other way turning right across my path (no signal). I saw him glance my way and thought he had seen me (in my fluoro top) but he did not slow a beat and we collided at at least 40km/h. As I lay in the road waitng for an ambulance with a smashed shoulder, broken fingers, torn ligaments and sundry grazes he said he didnt see me, which he seemed to think meant he wasnt really at fault. Clearly, if you don't "see" a fellow road-user you are actually admitting gross incompetance. It is the usual problem: he was looking for a car-shaped object, did not see one and kept going.
Kiwi drivers are simply not taught to look for bikes. Another key plank of driver education here is plain wrong, and here's why. I have also been hit by wing mirrors twice this year on Tamaki Drive. Those drivers must have seen me but still decided to push past a vulnerable fellow road user even though they'd never go that close to another car or truck. Clearly, like that bimbo , many drivers think cyclists should defer to them - but theres more to it than that. I think the root cause is "defensive driving". It is the wrong idea entirely. It encourages people to "defend" "their" patch of the road, which obviously goes all the way to the bumper of the car ahead, the kerb and just over the centreline. You see this in the way they aggresively fend off anyone presumptuous enough to signal an intention to move into "their" lane. Cyclists of course, are always appearing in these cordons around their cars, and as they don't immediately vaporise, they need to be reminded whose space it is by being sideswiped. Far better to teach "active driving" where drivers are encouraged to think of the road as a dynamic environment, where they need to pay attention and use the controls - especially the twirly thing and the brakes to navigate safely around hazards. I am told in France drivers actually go onto the other side of the road to give cyclists a wide berth. Imagine that.
Nikki Morris
The heated debate, which is currently raging between cyclists and drivers, is just another symptom of the appalling public transport and infrastructure of Auckland. Its is a fact that cyclists are more vulnerable than motorists and travel more slowly. It is a fact that cyclists riding two abreast or even single file on busy congested roads DO cause hold ups and delays for motorists who in frustration often pass in dangerous places or too closely to the person on the bike. This however is not the fault of the cyclists but the fault of a roading system that does not provide adequate cycle lanes (when cycle lanes are provided at all) or alternative bike routes. Auckland city council needs to get real and address this issue. Surely we can make use of our many wonderful parks and reserves to create picturesque and direct cyle routes around our city and provide decent cyle lanes for when these routes need to go along a main road. If a direct fume free and pretty ride to work on a bike through a network of parks and reserves rather than a slow crawl in heavy traffic in the car can be offered as an alternative to driving more people may start hopping on their bikes.
Andy McGregor
I am a 55 year old business executive, been riding all my life and do Ironman triathlons. In my business we must take all practicable steps to keep our work places safe. No such effort from the government and local bodies for cyclists. In fact most cyclists have been scared off the roads so the accident figures are really bad. It really worries me how dangerous cycling has become with often a couple of cyclists killed per year training for Ironman. Not good odds if you have done 14 Ironman! Our roads are diabolically dangerous for cyclists and quite unnecessarily so. The whole roading focus has been on cars and trucks and cramming as many vehicle lanes as possible into the available width of seal.
With the massive increase in road traffic since I rode to school it should have been a manditory requirement throughout that all roads are built safe for cyclists as well as motorists.
cycle safe zones at traffic lights
-always safe room for a bike on the inside of the left lane of every road
-traffic lights phased for safe cycling
-buttons so cyclists can activate lights where sensors not sensitive enough for bikes
-Cycle friendly gutters at the edge of roads
-Cycle ways on the outside of barriers on motorways and main roads
Then there is the attitude of drivers on our roads to cyclists. Not good but this should change if the roads were better designed such that cyclists didnt interfere with the motorists, and were so impatient.I have ve been run off the road by boaties rushing to go fishing at Kawakawa bay and I read a letters to your paper only a month or so ago about how an irate motorist nearly had a head-on while passing a couple of cyclists; couldnt he have waited a few seconds until the road was clear? What a goose and to take the trouble of writing to the Herald to express his goosiness! I ride a number of open roads where the inside of two lanes (say with an overtaking lane) have no space for a bike. Only a kerb. So motorists travelling at 100Kph, maybe around the corner on the inside lane, have no-where to go if encountering a cyclist. One particular road (main road from Drury to Pukekohe near Drury) is blatantly unsafe. So what to do? Legislate for a start then start to get some cycle friendly programmes going, like Perth and Melbourne.But even then, with a change of attitude and legislation, for a number of years to come our roads will continue to be death traps for cyclists because no one thought, or would commit the extra money, to make roads cycle safe. Then again when petrol is $50/litre maybe the inside lane of all roads will be designated for cyclists! I have been tempted to include in my will, that if killed on a bike, my estate should go for damages against the roading authorities for not taking all practible steps to keep me safe. Seems like, as with corrections and mental health, Thats is the only language the Government will listen to.
Oh, and as for cyclists riding two abreast, I used to think it a tad inconsiderate but it's clearly nothing compared with the arrogance of car drivers. If drivers have to wait for 20 seconds to find a place to pass, so what? In fact, they should thank the cyclists. It gives them a whole 50 metres in which to speed up to the giddy heights of maybe 40 km/h before they are once again eating the exhaust of the car ahead at 25 km/h.
Alison
I agree with other comments here . It is the attitude of a small percentage of drivers in Auckland that makes it feel like you are taking your life in your hands every time you get out on your bike. I have cycled a lot in Rotorua and Auckland, and you immediately notice the difference in attitude as soon as you get out of Auckland... we have turned into a city of arrogant drivers where it is more important to be the first in the queue, overtake the person doing the speed limit, or run the red light to get to your destination ONE minute earlier. Courteous kiwi drivers are an endangered species (in Auckland at least)! I now live in a city in the USA where they have turned their old railway beds into bike paths and it is the best thing ever. If you want to see a city that truly uses the bike as a commuting option check out Madison, Wisconsin.
Nora
As a cyclist nearly being pushed of the road and then getting my bike kicked just this morning, I have really had it. I can not believe the attitude of so many motorists in Auckland! Cyclists are accused of riding dangerously, being rude, and even of causing traffic jams on Tamaki drive (which is probably the most absurd thing I have ever heard! Have you ever been stuck on Tamaki drive in the pouring rain: where are all the traffic jam causing cyclists then?!). I have come to Auckland two years ago after riding a bike in Germany for 25 years. The number of incidents where I was nearly pushed off the road, yelled at, thwarted, nearly brushed with rear view mirrors by passing cars, ignored and shown the finger in two years in Auckland already exceed those of 25 years of cycling abroad. I am not saying that there are no irresponsible cyclists on the road, but why does nobody mention the irresponsible motorists that deliberately imperil cyclists who are obviously more vulnerable than motorists? What about all the boy racers in their pimped cars, the mothers in their four wheel drives, and frustrated business men in their Ferraris that are driving irresponsibly? Why does no one try to ban them from the roads?
I do not want any special treatment when being on the road, I just dont want to feel like I am putting my life in jeopardy every time I am driving to work or going for a little spin. Motorists should try and take a cyclists perspective every once in a while and they will notice that we are not driving all over the place to annoy them: on the far side of the white line are potholes, sticks, leaves, pebbles, glass, parked cars with randomly opening doors, stopping buses, street drains and other hazards. To avoid that, it is necessary to drive on the road. Also, riding two abreast is much safer for us since together we are wide enough to stop cars from squeezing past where they should not. I am not trying to annoy motorists, I am simply trying to survive the day.
Kesomi Siale
It is amazing how motorists have low sympathy for cyclists. Cyclists should have a "license". Dont get me wrong, I do believe cyclists should have the same knowledge of the road code. If you want to ride on the road, adhere to the road rules. A "Road Cycling License" may be food for thought. As for the motorists, a cyclist is not the bike. A cyclist is the person on the bike! Motorists and cyclists should think of the other person.
Lydia
Who are these people that tell us cyclists that we cannot ride our bikes down the waterfront? I often wonder what their reaction would be if we said, that they could not drive their cars down there. I have been riding in West Auckland for the last 6 years and the motorists, have the attitude that they come first. When a person gets on their bike to cycle to work or go for a ride, it does not mean that we suddenly evolve into another creature we are still a human being that is on a bike just the same as if the same person gets into a car. Isnt the government and scientists in New Zealand telling us that we as a nation are getting bigger and obese? So we are encouraged by SPARC and PUSH PLAY organisations to get out there and get fit?. Well at least us cyclists are doing our bit. I think motorists should think a little bit more, as a victim of a cycling accident I know what it is like to get knocked off the bike and I know how hard it is to get back on again, and these people that say that a bike has no space on the road or a driver that has knocked a person off a bike take a think next time and picture your self in their shoes! And go the bikies good on Ya!
Mark Jamieson
It is true that there are some cyclists that ride irresponsibly. But how does this somehow absolve car drivers from treating cyclists with consideration, as implied in some of the correspondence? Who are the grown-ups here? If the cycling fraternity can somehow influence the 0.1 per cent of cyclists who run red lights, cut in and out of traffic or do not show lights at night, does this mean that car drivers will stop overtaking cyclists unsafely in violation of the road code, look properly at intersections rather than a quick glance while carrying out their cellphone conversation, stop opening their car doors in cyclists paths? All of these are regular occurrences when I am out on the road. Is there a quota system in place so its OK to keep on injuring cyclists through drivers aggression and inconsideration until, by some agreement, you will then drive as you should? If cyclists behaviour improves, will you then deign to drive in an appropriate manner? I really can not help what my fellow cyclists do, but could you please exercise a bit more care and responsibility, anyway? To the car driver at St Heliers Bay on Sunday who I shouted at: The reason why I shouted at you is because you nearly killed me when you just opened your door without looking. I hope you understand I was a little upset and frightened. But maybe, just maybe, you may look next time.
George Booth
Until four weeks ago, I rode my road bike almost every day in the back roads and hills around Papakura. I chose the early morning to avoid traffic. I made a point of wearing bright clothing and using a flashing light if the visibility was even slightly questionable. Added to that, I tried to meet the eyes of every driver at intersections to ensure that they had seen me. Then I saw a car with tinted windows. The driver did not see me and was too intent on fitting a gap in the traffic when turning right from a stop street. I remember thinking, "This guy has not seen me." And then I remember being wheeled into the ambulance. My right shoulder will never be the same, my left leg was broken and there are many bits that are bruised and grazed in between. The bike is damaged and the helmet smashed. I'm lucky to be alive.
Now I am another statistic, yet to hear from the driver or even the police. I have a great deal of apprehension about ever going out on a bike again. When is this country going to wake up to the foolishness of gas guzzling, greenhouse gas emitting, over powered vehicles on journeys that could be done by bicycle to the benefit of the cyclists fitness and all of our lungs and pockets?
Kathryn
As a teenager, I cycled everywhere, then I came to Auckland. 2 weeks and 2 near misses, and never again. That was a number of years ago, and I have had a certain amount of sympathy for cyclists since. Until yesterday. I read all the feedback, and noted the arrogance of the cyclists, and the concern of the motorists, then I drove home. (I would take the bus if I could, I tried it for a while, but leaving at 6.30am and getting home around 8pm for an 8 to 4.30 day seemed a bit extreme.) About half way along Mt Eden road a cyclist rode straight out in front of me, forcing me to swerve, hitting the centre island and smashing a hubcap. Lucky for him I was travelling at about 40kph as I was getting ready to turn. I might add there was no sign of a helmet, and no remorse as he sped of donw the footpath scattering young children in his wake. Cyclists if you want some sympathy, you'd better get some credibility, because you just lost one supporter!
Nigel Cliffe
I am a cyclist, on and off of many years and grew up racing and training on Auckland roads.I went off to Australia in the 90's and low and behold I return......and the roads have become an angry place! People of all types get in their car and drive because they believe it is their right. Wrong! It is a privilege, one that all must continually prove they are worthy of. It is this "rightful" attitude to driving which cyclists have now become the victim of. The bottom line is that in NZ a cyclist has the same rights and obligations as any road user. The fact that we are lighter and slower and in someones way does not give anyone the right to put a cyclists life in danger. If you can't pass....tough! You must wait and then pass.....the 30 seconds delay wont kill a motorist....a forced pass may and has kill cyclists this year alone. Cyclists are not blameless in the behaviour stakes but I challenge you to find an instance where a cyclist has killed a motorist. Michael Laws is correct (for once and only briefly) that NZ is a namby-pamby society where we do not hold people accountable for their actions. We need a change of road law where if you kill someone and you are at fault, that act is considered vehicular homicide, and you will go to prison. There needs to be the chance of huge personal loss as a deterrent to reckless behaviour on the road instead of this mindless concentration on speed alone, because speed doesnt kill, stupidity kills!
John Lieswyn
Cycling in New Zealand is actually pretty safe. I have ridden a bike all over the world and find it pretty good here. Not as safe as Europe or Asia, but good for an English speaking, car orientated country. The real question should be "why is the car being catered for in roading changes and upgrades, to the detriment of people who choose not to drive?" The wider the road, the faster motorists will drive, and the less likely people will make the choice to cycle or walk. You can see it here in Palmerston North- the more that infrastructure caters to motorists, the higher fences get and the further people go to build new houses in an attempt to get away from traffic noise. It is a vicious cycle which is not sustainable considering that there is no good alternative to oil for powering our economies and transport systems.
Kirstie
I have no problem with cyclists riding 2 or 3 abreast. It is safer because as a motorist I can see them. Riding close to the curb as we were taught as children is inherently unsafe these days because of parked cars. Swerve out around a parked car and you run the risk of being shaved by a motorist with nowhere else to move his car to or being swatted by an opening door with bone breaking results. However sometimes cyclists are their own worst enemy. A few years ago I used to be a frequent pedestrian near Auckland Hospital and crossed at the traffic lights at the end of Grafton Bridge. It was a daily dodgem with cyclists riding on the road deciding that they were pedestrians when the cross signal came on. One day I was too closely shaved by a cyclist while crossing - he was going at nearly the speed limit at the time and missed my foot by 2 inches and did hit the bag I was carrying. He didnt fall but would have got no sympathy from me if he had.
Pam
Cyclists continue to be unsafe because they ride in an unsafe manner. Most of the time they have themselves to blame if there is an accident. They hog the road sometimes three abreast in rush hour traffic. I drive the Auckland waterfront daily. The traffic jams are a nightmare, mostly caused by cyclists. Cyclists make the journey treacherous. They do not use the dedicated cycle lanes and insist on trying to compete with cars. They have an "I have just as much right to be here as the cars attitude" but forget they are much smaller and slower. Motorists become frustrated and try to pass them and in doing so have to cross into the centre lane stream of traffic (which makes the traffic jam worse) to avoid them and some don't judge it correctly. You ought to try to drive past the massive "pelaton" in rush hour to see how dangerous it is. Motorists yell at them to move over but usually get a rude gesture or expletive as a response. One motorist I know had a drink bottle hurl ed through his open car window. Huge potential for road rage.
Bevan
I have been a keen cyclist for years. When I used to ride to work in Auckland it was mostly life-threatening stuff. The safest part was when I was on the ferry from Devonport to the bottom of Queen St. How did I make it safer? I moved to Melbourne. A powerful cycle lobby group, dedicated cycle paths and drivers who are more courteous than their kiwi counterparts make this a bike friendly city. I have been here 8 years now and the cycling infrastructure is increasing at a rapid rate. It is seen as a legitimate form of transport; the number of commuting cyclists on the Yarra trail each morning is outstanding. Why would you sit in traffic when you could ride along the mighty Yarra into the heart of the CBD (the Yarra's not that mighty when compared to Kiwi rivers, but don't tell the Aussies, they are a bit sensitive after the cricket and other sporting losses).
Send some of the kiwi councilors and politicians over here on a proper fact finding mission, not just a junket to get the low down on how it is done!
Fran
We have just biked 5000kms around the Uk and France. We were so impressed with the cycleways that have been developed.W e were impressed with the cycle lanes across London and Paris. The problem was cars parked on them!! The best concept is the footpath, then the cycle lane, then the car parking and then the road rather than having the cycleway between the parked cars and the road. Cyclists also need to wear high vis gear and this should be compulsory. Unfortunately our main highways do not cater for cyclists and there is little margin for them to cycle. We are deeply saddened with the two deaths at the weekend.
Pamela Moresby
On the ordinary roads in Auckland I feel sorry for anyone on a motorbike or bicycle. We could use some bicycle lanes exclusively for them. Motorbikes can survive. Cycles are often hard to see in the traffic, motorists often dont see them. Motorists need to become more wary and less impatient.
Dan
Comments about cyclists by drivers seem to me to be borne of ignorance more than anything else. It appears that we are an easy scapegoat for the frustration of driving around Auckland of late. For example I hear comments about drivers being held up by groups of cyclists riding 3+ abreast.... really? How many times has that happened to you? Maybe the odd occasion over a couple of years... yet it is trotted out as a major reason why cyclists get hit and why they are a target on the roads. But conveniently they probably forget to mention about the number of cars they encounter on a daily basis that are driven in a dangerous manner, yet I dont hear any call for cars to be taken off the roads? I ride both in large bunches, small groups and on my own and I very rarely find anyone riding 3+ abreast and even if we wanted to it would be almost impossible due to the abuse we would get! Another is riding outside the white line of the curb.... has anyone in a car lately had a look at the metre of road verge that you are expecting us to ride on? It is littered with junk, glass, broken bottles & rubbish and in alot of cases badly potholed or graveled. Unless we want to stop every 500m to change a tyre it is just not practical to ride within that area, so instead we move outside the line and try to hug as close as we can to the inside. As a cyclist I could list over two pages of near misses and accidents that have happened to me. But I don't get up in arms and demand the roads cleared of cars! We all need to share the road, lets all be a little more courteous of each other. I have ridden in Italy and roads there are narrower, traffic is heavier yet because there is respect for cyclists I felt completely safe. It proved to me it all has to do with attitude. Also I feel that the roading infrastructure in Auckland is part of the problem... I mean where else in the world do you find dedicated cycle lanes shared with buses! Thanks, I will take my chances with !
Fiona MacCormack
Many times cyclists are a hazard on the road. Riding two or more abreast means the whole road is taken up and cars are forced to drive at cyclist's speed. It is impossible to go around them and not worry about oncoming traffic, or if you are in a 4 lane road you may have a car going the same direction on your right and nowhere to go despite a cyclist blocking off most of your lane. They are completely oblivous to what is going on the road and I find it particularly frustrating that if you do hoot at them they really take offence, even though often it is the only way you can get their attention. Same with opening car doors when you get out of your car. 9 out of 10 times people will think to check for them but by the same token if you are riding around parked cars you should keep an eye out, people are busy and distracted with kids etc and don't always think to check. What really upsets me is often their behaviour endangers their own life but if anything happens the car driver is likely to end up in jail when drivers have many many hazards to concentrate on.
Justin
I recently spent 2 weeks in the North Island while on holiday. As an avid cyclist I was very excited to have the chance to ride in such a beautiful country as New Zealand. However, I found your complete lack of cycling/alternative transportation infrastructure quite appalling.
Even now, as I read some of the comments regarding this story, I see blatant ignorance in the opinions of Auckland urbanites-- ignorance that we typically only hear from the suburbs and country towns in the U.S... Why dont cyclists ride closer to the curb, you ask? If you had ever tried riding a bicycle in traffic, (which is doubtful), you'd understand the severe danger posed to cyclists by car doors, especially in places like Auckland, which lack proper cycle lanes. Why don't the cyclists "stick to the bike lane" when going through Mission Bay? Again, had you ever attempted to use that pathetic excuse for an alternate cycle path, you'd have the answer to your question. It is positively more dangerous than riding with the rush hour traffic. Trees and unmarked lamposts leave not nearly enough room for pedestrians and cyclists. Since the speed of a cyclist is much closer to that of a vehicle, it makes no sense to put them on the same path as a jogger or walker. As a final note, let me inform you of the general consensus we have in my home city of San Francisco: if you are in your car, you have chosen a selfish means of transportation. Compared to walkers, cyclists, and those on trains, you are consuming more space, burning more energy, endangering more pedestrians, and stinking up a far greater share of the air than other travellers. For this reason, it is only proper for you to yield to those who have chosen a less selfish, less imposing means of travel. Consider the possibility that the frustration you feel when "stuck" behind cyclists riding 3 abreast is simply your own overdeveloped sense of entitlement rearing its ugly head.
Tim Saunders
I have cycled many thousands of kilometers in London, Glasgow and Auckland. What makes cycling in Auckland particularly dangerous is that motorists frequently break the rules. It is common to see motorists running red lights, cutting corners, not using indicators or drifting across lanes. Worst of all, few motorists are aware of the Road Code requirement to allow space when overtaking cyclists. It is ironic that the accusatory finger is frequently levelled at cyclists for traffic infractions when motorists' infringements are not only common but more dangerous.
Paul Hufflett
Your Auckland based readers may be interested to learn that while Auckland roads are crowded they are not necessarily New Zealands most dangerous. I have lived and cycled (and driven) extensively in uckland,Wellington,Nelson and Christchurch. Nelson for instance has some roads which are just as dangerous if not more dangerous than Aucklands. Its difficult to generalised about Auckland because its so big. West Auckland has arguably the worst of all drivers I've encountered in NZ. Its not uncommon to have at least one car throw something at you (either verbal or object) in the course of a two hour ride in West Auckland. Mind you my wife says 2 or 3 "verbal" incidence
