Motoring

Last week, Ian rode with me while I drive the school vans.  The purpose of this 'test drive' was to make sure I knew how to fill out the logbook, to become familiar with the operation of both the old and the new van, and to generally make sure I would not kill anyone while operating a Columba vehicle.

Driving in New Zealand is an educational and challenging experience.  There is, of course, the aspect of driving on the left side of the road to deal with.  With a little thought, not insurmountable, especially with my experience driving on the left while living in the UK.  The main troubles with driving in New Zealand are the "Give Way" rules.  Currently in NZ (and nowhere else in the oil consuming world) you give way to vehicles crossing or coming from your right.  The means if you are driving on the left side of the road (and you should be) turning left, you must allow the oncoming car on the right side of the road to turn in front of you.

Intuitively, all non-Kiwis will see that this is a serious flaw in New Zealand's rules of the road. The theory is that the intersection should be treated as a roundabout and you should yield to the right.  But now, even the Kiwis see that this is not a good idea.  At 5 AM on Sunday, 25 March 2012, the law is changing and the rule is that all traffic turning right is to "give way to a vehicle coming from the opposite direction and turning left. This applies at cross roads, T-intersections and driveways where both vehicles are facing each other with no signs or signals, or the same signs or signals."

Coincidentally, vacation time for all New Zealand law enforcement, emergency, and medical personnel has been cancelled during the last week in March.