Angry drivers: an election issue

Lee Vandervis replies by email:
I am surprised by your wanting to make an election issue of angry drivers, rather than angry people generally. I personally fear an agro drunk more than an idiot driving aggressively.
Antisocial behaviour resulting from anger is common, especially when fuelled by excess alcohol or other illusions of invincibility. Being in control of a car can promote a sense of being untouchable, but I believe that the anger rather than the car is the cause of the antisocial behaviour.

Security cameras [as in the Octagon] are one way of attempting to curb angry antisocial behaviour by making consequences for offenders more likely, but long term a better sense of Community and opportunities to actively participate in the Community, will make the positive difference we all want.
Unnecessary frustrations for motorists like shrinking parking opportunities, no more free parks, and too many yellow lines and stop lights are areas the DCC has made worse recently. Much better and heavily subsidised public transport would help parking and congestion issues tremendously [possibly even anger issues], but the DCC needs to absorb the main current bus providers the Otago Redundant Council, before a unified efficient bus service is possible.

Lee Vandervis
(Dunedin mayoral candidate)

Shane Gallagher replies by email:
There are a lot of angry drivers, not only here in Dunedin, but throughout New Zealand. As an immigrant I can tell you it is one of the favourite topics of conversation at expat gatherings; how close we have all come to getting run over by angry Dunedin drivers. We all have stories. We are all shocked by the level of aggression of drivers towards other road users and pedestrians. It is not a good look. There are polite drivers - they are in the majority. However, since the minority seem at times to be actively attempting to hit you at speed with a ton of blunt steel, you have a habit of remembering them most. If we want to attract more postgrad students to this city and make it a research hub we have a bit of work to do in this area.
So what would a council, and I as a councillor, do? Well, we should continue to encourage drivers to drive safely in our city through education programmes, making our city more pedestrian friendly by implementing some local guidelines about pedestrian safety, and lobby government to change legislation so it is in line with most western countries where pedestrians have right of way. I would love to have a city where we were happy to have our school children walk to school safely. My son's school does not allow their children to cycle or skate or scoot to school because they believe that Highgate is too dangerous a road for children to be on. They are right - and that is wrong. I would work to change that for the better.
Kia ora,
Shane Gallagher
(Central Ward candidate)

We can create local rules - 2 examples:
Stopping right turns into Moray Place off George Street.
Allowing parking within 6 metres of a street corner apex.
And are you saying that all our road rules are "sane"?
The 'left turning must give way' rule is and always has been an insane rule.

Well we can't create our own local rules - sanity must prevail nationwide or not at all.

We also had the spectacle of one of the DCC traffic engineers being quoted a while back in the ODT saying that the faux-crossings downtown worked well and that cars always stopped for people - I'd like to see him walk out in front of a bus, I've never seen one of them stop for pedestrians waiting to cross.

I agree with all your comments. The give way when turning left rule is absolutely stupid. Ever been on Anzac Ave. when somebody turning left into Albany stops all Anzac traffic behind them to allow a vehicle turning right into Albany go? Dumb rule. Ever been at 100km/hr on a State Highway and forced to stop because somebody in front wants to turn left while another car coming towards them is sitting in the middle of the 100k Highway waiting to turn right? Dumb rule.

And we see it all the time around Dunedin intersections where on a marked left turning lane all traffic must wait while a right turning vehicle has right-of-way. Surely common-sense could be applied and such right turning traffic be disallowed? This was done with Moray Place. Why not the other Central Dunedin intersections? As for having a real painted pedestrian crossing in George Street, why not? It seems dumb not to have them in the area of the highest pedestrian traffic count in Dunedin. When I broached this to the DCC representative on talkback radio, his answer was that "pedestrians just cross anywhere so why bother with a pedestrian crossing" Surely we could ban cars from George Street between the Octagon and Frederick St. With so few car parks now, why not?

Kia ora Anna,
As a carless young professional, I'm keen on bikes, buses, feet, and other modes of non-car transport. I've only recently been converted to bikes as a mode of transport but I've quickly come to appreciate them as a quick, easy, healthy, fun way to get around and, if elected, I'd love to help our city become a much more bike-friendly place.

I recently blogged about some of the bike-related things I'd be keen to focus on if I was elected, so I won't go into them in detail, but they include things like making use of those tunnels, bike-racks on buses, doing all we can to keep the harbour cycleway on track for early completion, etc.

I'm with Fliss on the car-free spaces. Local business owners were turned down last summer when they asked for a trial of the lower Octagon being closed to traffic on weekends. I'd push for this to be reconsidered by the next council - what a wonderful opportunity to try out a community-initiated concept in a small area, and see what works and how the idea could be improved. I understand there was a bit of concern amongst other affected businesses, but I wonder if they were presented with the abundance of stories from other countries showing how profitable (environmentally, socially and economically) such spaces can be.

Finally, with high oil prices on the not-so-distant horizon, it's my belief that we should be focusing on accessibility of services as much as we should be focusing on the mobility of people. How would it be if there was a public library and community hub in South Dunedin? Could the council play a role in supporting schools with falling roll numbers, to prevent them from closing? Focusing on accessibility of services reduces the need for community members to commute (saving money and time) and has the added benefit of building stronger, more connected communities.

Oh! And trains. Surely there's a case for the Council to be lobbying for the return of the Southerner. There's been an 11% increase in train patronage nationwide over the last year, only set to grow with rising oil prices.

jmactavish2010@gmail.com
Jinty MacTavish

Candidate for Dunedin Central

I think that the real reason that cars tend to drive more slowly in the US is because the speed limit is lower in urban areas (25mph compared to the approx. 30mph we have). Four-way stops are also a great way to slow traffic down and are ubiquitous all over the US - in general give way signs are rare in the US. Stop signs are the norm, especially to slow traffic in neighbourhoods.

Another feature of some US states (California, for example) is that there are legal zebra crossings at every uncontrolled intersections whether they are marked in or not - and drivers are required to stop for pedestrians. This means that jay-walkers are ticketed everywhere else. Down on George street we have these rather bogus traffic calming pretend crossings that confuse both drivers and pedestrians. No-one stops for pedestrians - when I do I get honked at by the cars behind me. We need to replace them with real zebra crossings. George St is largely a place for people on foot, and cars should be encouraged to drive around it

I agree that we need to get rid of the silly left turn rule - and I'm a big fan of the US-style left turn rule where traffic can turn left through a red light after stopping provided they give way to all other traffic and pedestrians.

Prefer the John Lennon approach Anna. Some people find it easier to lash out and be angry when something confronts that they don't agree with (hence some of the negative comments referring back to my suggestions on this blog for last few days). But I'll hang in there and still go for the opportunity for the DCC to start establishing car free areas in the city where pedestrians do come first.
The city of Copenhagen has achieved this - albeit by using a tax on a public that asked for it. Creating car free areas where walkers, cyclists, skateboarders and pram pushers have priority over cars will make for happy places. I go for happy sustainble places over angry poorly designed unsustainble places any day and am looking forward to continue to use my role as a city councillor, if re-elected, to do this.

Those who wish to turn right in particular, pull up at an intersection and then put their indicator turn light on. We are also not very good at merging from one lane to another. Probably the cause of most 'anger'. Drivers need to think of it working like a zip fastener. Pedestrians wandering across the intersections - even against the lights - in George Street instead of walking 'briskly' is more a cause of frustration than anger but is very prevalent.
Maybe an on-the-spot 'education' course or two is needed but I am not certain that Council now has the power it once had in this area. As for doing away with traffic signals, the problem is the physical characteristics of our long-established and relatively narrow roads. Where there is space, roundabouts for intersections work very well but one idea I really like is the four compulsory stops at a + intersection used in Nevada I believe but certainly in the Greater area of Las Vegas and Clark County where my youngest daughter presently lives. The first car that pulls up at the intersection has 'the right-of-way' and so on. I have experienced it as a driver and it works very well.
Mind you Americans are generally very courteous and that is reflected in the way they tend to drive and at slower speeds than we do when on any road but a motorway. With 'education' I can see it working in the ‘burbs but not in the central city.
As some will know, I am a fan of the Kettle Grid in the central area (our original roading layout) which we have interfered with to our disadvantage, especially south of High Street. The one way system was never needed. It was supposed to whisk traffic through the city but with only about 8% "going straight through" what was the point?
Finally, we have to go back to giving way to cars turning left. We are now the only country I believe that persists with this rule. It just frustrates.
So maybe this is not so much about angry drivers but you did open the subject up, Anna.
Well, that's my tuppence worth anyway. And tuppence brought me a tram ride from Andy Bay to The Exchange and back when I was ‘knee-high to the proverbial grasshopper". Cheers.