Editorial: Let's be careful out there

In less than 24 hours we're all going to need to switch gear when driving. In our heads, that is.

As I've written before, many of us will have to overcome instinct driven by decades of driving as we head out on the roads after 5am tomorrow.

That's when the new give-way rules come in for New Zealand drivers.

But you probably know that, because it has been the subject of a major publicity blitz over the past two weeks.

Whether two weeks is enough to change the habits of a lifetime is a question worth asking. It seems to be NZTA's logic that a short promotional campaign lessens the chance of people making the switch early. If anyone is to have such little faith in Kiwi drivers, then fair enough, they should know. But with such a short campaign, how many people will tomorrow still be waking up to what's required of them?

From tomorrow, drivers turning right must give way to oncoming traffic turning left into the same street. And drivers approaching the end of a road at a T intersection must give way to traffic turning toward them into the road.

It seems a little too easy to say many will adapt by simply doing the opposite of what they do now. That gets tricky when they realise they've been doing it the wrong way all along - particularly at T intersections.

The one thing that should be clear to everybody is that these new rules will require a lot of patience from road users.

And with one day to go it would pay for anyone still unsure about the rules to swot up - check out the excellent interactive quizzes at www.giveway.co.nz/interactive and www.nzta.govt.nz if you haven't already.