Editorial: Close call on road

The beautiful Rotorua weather should be enjoyed.

They say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die.

All I saw on Saturday was the maroon car speeding head-on towards my car, having crossed the double yellow line into my passing lane as I was overtaking another vehicle.

I just had time to swerve - another fraction of a second and you would have been reading about me in yesterday's paper.

The driver behind me had to swerve too - no doubt there were racing hearts and several what-ifs in that car as well.

My whole family was in my car.

I have no idea why the maroon car crossed the centre line, but it's sobering to think maybe we could have been wiped out for the sake of a text message, phone call or lighting a cigarette. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but I got the definite impression it was a lapse of concentration on that driver's part, as opposed to an idiotic overtaking manoeuvre.

As we've seen in so many of the crashes we have reported on, and in the comments of Judge James Weir in today's front page story, that's all it takes to spark tragedy.

If you can't stand the heat ... you've probably been in Rotorua over the past few days.

Springfield weatherman Brian Holden tells us we've just had the hottest couple of days of the summer - with the mercury hitting 28C over the weekend and 29C yesterday.

While those still enjoying their holidays may welcome the extra warmth, there are those - including farmers and those heading back to the office - who could do without the pressing heat.

That said, watch this space in a couple of months' time when the clocks go back, night begins to close in, and that extra blanket is needed at night. Chances are many of us will be looking back at summer longingly, wishing we'd made more of the warm weather while it lasted.

So do make the most of the long evenings, you're in the perfect spot to engage in a bit of weekday after-work activity, be it at the lakes, in the forests or out and about in the city. Winter You will thank you for it later.