RULES & LESSONS FOR DRIVING IN AUCKLAND
>
> 1. Never indicate - it gives away your next move. A real Auckland driver
never uses indicators.
>
> 2. Under no circumstance should you leave a safe distance between you and
the car in front of you, this space will be filled by at least 2 cars and a
bus, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
>
> 3. The faster you drive through a red light, the less chance you have of
getting hit.
>
> 4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it
and it will only result in you being rear-ended.
>
> 5. Braking should be as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS
kicks in, giving you a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal
pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it's a chance to stretch your legs.
>
> 6. Never pass on the right when you can pass on the left. It's a good way
to check if the people entering the highway are awake.
>
> 7. Speed limits are arbitrary, given only as a guideline. They are
especially NOT applicable in Auckland during rush hour. That's why it's
called 'rush hour....'
>
> 8. Just because you're in the right lane and have no room to speed up or
move over doesn't mean that the driver flashing his high beams behind you
doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.
>
> 9. Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even
someone changing a tyre.
>
> 10. Learn to swerve abruptly. Auckland is the home of the high-speed
slalom driver thanks to the all the road works, & pot holes in key locations
to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.
>
> 11. It is traditional to honk your horn at cars that don't move the
instant the light turns green. This prevents Tuis from building nests on top
of the traffic light and birds from making deposits on your car.
>
> 12. Remember that the goal of every Auckland driver is to get there first,
by whatever means necessary.

If that isn't the damn truth. We were visiting friends that live nearby and they took us for a drive downtown. Even women pushing baby carriages in a crosswalk weren't safe from him.
I love the highway sign that's a circle with a slash. We interpreted it as, "The speed limit is 100k, but we don't think you can drive that fast on this road." Oh yeah? Watch this!

Kiwi drivers dont like sharing the road with anyone else. What makes you think we should ?

We are very aggressive drivers , especially dont like following other vehicles - to the point where we well overtake and then sit in front of that car , and slow down to just under the legal limit but speed up on passing lanes so you cant pass , then slow down again.

And never indicate..

It isnt purely an Auckland thing , this is a nationwide phenomena

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
* * *
We are very aggressive drivers , especially dont like following other vehicles - to the point where we well overtake and then sit in front of that car , and slow down to just under the legal limit but speed up on passing lanes so you cant pass, then slow down again.

That type of asshole vehicular behavior will very likely get you rammed, beat-up, and/or shot here in the states.

Ain't no faggy elves or hobbits here like you have running around down there.

You wanna play bad-ass with someone on the roads in the U.S.? ... You'd better be ready for the consequences.

Muzza,

Like Phar Lap, Russel Crowe etc., I think you exported those driving rules to Australia too!

Can't say I've noticed the kiwi drivers being worse than anyone else. Though I hated the traffic in Auckland (larger motorhome, unfamiliar place etc).

I don't think ignorant, impatient, arseholes are particular to any race/country........ unfortunately it's everywhere.

Some people just should not drive.....or use oxygen.......or be out without their carers.

I've never noticed anything unusual while driving in NZ but can imagine someone used to American litigation might, and recall my amazement at the courtesy Los Angeles drivers paid to any pedestrian who put a toe on the carriageway.

After spending a long time in Tanzania, driving a lot, my family were thoroughly unimpressed with the new driving skills I had acquired there.

I, on the other hand, couldn't believe that Aussie drivers had become such ignorant arseholes, not letting me do what I wanted on the road, like Tanz

On our trip "Down under" we rented a car in Alice Springs and drove around the countryside. Traffic? What traffic? Then from Cairns to Sydney. No need to do that again.
Rented again in Tasmania where we spent a lot of time making U turns for photos. There's a Wombat!
Then again NZ both North and South islands. Did a lot of air B & B's great trip, no troubles.

Then we went to Africa. Holy shit! Talk about scary, and I wasn't doing the driving. The trip from Nairobi over the mountain into the Great Rift was especially bad. Oncoming traffic? Just blink your lights and run them off the road. Sunovabeech!

... Not to mention the people walking along the road, never facing on-coming vehicles. In Mozambique I was told anyone who hit a pedestrian automatically went to jail, oblivious of circumstance.

In Sydney we stayed at the "Historic Old Australian Hotel" which was a great location...... geographically. There was a sign on the down stairs exterior wall. "No drinking in the street." Gotta love it.

You missed one of the most important ones.

Always slow down when entering a roundabout then dart in front of the the other drivers who are already in it.

Shucks, that's the way it's always been here
in Pueblo.
Except we drive in the R lane's most of the time.
Not even the cops don't use signals here!

George

Found the NZ drivers to be just fine. What they thought of my driving I am not sure. Someone on the South Island may still be bitching about the damn yanks not knowing which side of the road to drive on though

quote:

Originally posted by nobull00:
In Sydney we stayed at the "Historic Old Australian Hotel" which was a great location...... geographically. There was a sign on the down stairs exterior wall. "No drinking in the street." Gotta love it.

Could you explain your take on that a bit further?

In case you're wondering, in the old days before airconditioning, blokes would take their glasses of beer out on the footpath to avoid the heat and crowding inside. This crowding, in Victoria at least, was exacerbated by '6 o'clock closing', where the pubs, open since 9am, had to close just when people were ready for a drink. So, to make up for lost time, the punters would order heaps more than they would normally, just to beat the system, and woof it down in the allowed (20 or 30?) minutes after closing.

I realise some states in the US have crazy alcohol laws but this one really took the cake.

Most of the partying was outside the pub on the sidewalk. There were tables and chairs on the narrow sidewalk so if you didn't have a seat you ended up in the street. Had to step off the sidewalk to get around them as well. Just a CYA liability thing I guess. Most establishments in the US try to keep you corralled and don't allow any overflowing fun.

while reading the OP i thought i was in Whitehorse ...

Merge like a zip. I found these signs to be the most ignored of all, as well as funny.

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
* * *
We are very aggressive drivers , especially dont like following other vehicles - to the point where we well overtake and then sit in front of that car , and slow down to just under the legal limit but speed up on passing lanes so you cant pass, then slow down again.

That type of asshole vehicular behavior will very likely get you rammed, beat-up, and/or shot here in the states.

Ain't no faggy elves or hobbits here like you have running around down there.

You wanna play bad-ass with someone on the roads in the U.S.? ... You'd better be ready for the consequences.

Driver behavior may differ from State to State in the USA, so you may want to take Texas as a special case. Since so many people are packing heat in Texas restrained discourse is probably more prevalent than the above would indicate.




Driver courtesy enforcement Nazis can usually be dealt with by a simple acknowledgement.

Kiwi drivers are actually pretty good nationwide.
For some reason some NZ'rs think they have to make the place out to be worse than it is, in order to be have more street cred or something. A weekend in Sydney will change your mind the value of that.

If someone honks their horn in New Zealand its pretty damn serious, usually to indicate quite helpfully that someone is going to get killed.

This list has been around for years and I think I first saw it as a chain email. ITs been revisited here as a NZ version (I think it was originally about somewhere in the US)