There's an awful and inaccurate saying that says "if it bleeds it leads". It means if there's anything gory, bad or tragic, news agencies will make it their lead story. This is not how this newspaper, and many others, operate. As I head into my 20th year at the Rotorua Daily Post, I can put my hand on my heart and say we welcome positive news stories, particularly ones that show community spirit, development and progress, on our front pages.
But sadly, tragedies are still news. It's reality readers want to hear about it. Today is the second day in three that horrific smashes have made the front page. We will continue to report on these crashes if people continue to drive like idiots.
Each time we update our website and Facebook page with yet another shocking crash, the public response is the same. People wonder what is happening out there, they beg drivers to slow down, be more careful and think of others. In media releases, police, fire and ambulance officers plead with drivers to do the same. But still the shocking driving continues.
Our reporter at the fatal crash scene on State Highway 5 north of Rotorua yesterday spent a couple of hours waiting at the traffic cordon while emergency services cleared the scene. He said the driver behaviour he witnessed in that time was shocking. There were six signs up warning drivers about the crash ahead yet still people were driving at speed and some on the wrong side of the road. He was amazed another serious crash didn't occur.
I was coming back from Lake Tarawera at the weekend and saw a car pull out and pass a line of traffic on a bend. It was just sheer luck they got past because they wouldn't have been able to see what was coming around the corner. Please remember. You are precious and everyone else on the road is previous to someone. Don't be an idiot.
