That’s what I said out loud when I saw you. In fact, there was another word that came before the idiot bit but I won’t repeat that.
And you’re the type of idiot that motor racing legend and road safety campaigner Greg Murphy probably had in mind when he said on TV last night that we’ve let people get licences without the skills they need to be competent and safe on the roads.
Couldn’t agree with him more.
And he thinks that every driver should be having regular safety refresher courses. Again, couldn’t agree with him more.
And that’s just based on the clowns I saw driving this morning in the rain. And it wasn't just the ones screaming through the surface flooding - I even saw one clown without their lights on! Not to mention all the others I’ve seen over my time as a driver.
And he thinks that every driver should be having regular safety refresher courses. Again, couldn’t agree with him more.
And that’s just based on the clowns I saw driving this morning in the rain. And it wasn't just the ones screaming through the surface flooding - I even saw one clown without their lights on! Not to mention all the others I’ve seen over my time as a driver.
Murphy’s view is that everyone is responsible for their own driving and decisions. And he reckons that if everyone went and got some proper skills and awareness training to understand what it takes to drive a car safely, for every minute they’re behind the wheel we would see a massive change in the statistics and road deaths.
So why wouldn’t you do it? The money maybe? There’s plenty of money - don’t let that curb your enthusiasm. How much money has been spent on the old Road to Zero ads? Truckloads. Put some or all of that into better driver training and we’d be well on the way to what Greg Murphy thinks we need.
The funny thing is, even when I refer to“driver training”, the image of a teenager instantly comes into my head. I didn’t think about oldies like me.
And that’s the mindset change we need to make if ideas like Greg Murphy’s are going to get any traction. Because I bet a whole lot of the people who saw Greg on TV last night nodded their heads about their being hopeless drivers and how they shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a vehicle and how they should be trained better, but didn't put themselves in that category.
Because most of us think we are brilliant drivers, don’t we? It’s everyone else on the road who are the idiots. Not me.
And, yes, you might accuse me of being exactly the same with my criticism earlier of those clowns on Brougham Street - ploughing through the surface flooding doing at least 50 kph. But do you really think I’m going to claim that I’ve never done stupid things behind the wheel? Of course I’m not.
Just the other day, for reasons I can’t explain, I was doing a right-hand turn and sitting in the middle of the road waiting for the traffic to go past. And, instead of waiting for the last car in the line of traffic coming towards me to go past, I turned right and realised pretty quickly that it was coming towards me at quite a speed and I had to gun it.
And as soon as I’d done it, I knew it was a mistake. I even said to myself ‘why the hell did you do that?’
So yes, I can be an idiot behind the wheel just like you. And, on that occasion, it was just impatience. Which is nuts, isn’t it? Putting myself in danger to get where I was going a few seconds earlier. That's what it came down to. And can you imagine how I'd be feeling if the worst had happened? Just to cut off a few seconds of travelling time.
But maybe what makes my idiocy different from the other idiocy I see on the roads, is that at least I know I’ve been an idiot. There are others out there, aren’t there, who have no idea.
The ones doing stupid turns like I did. The ones who tailgate you even when it’s pouring with rain.
We aren’t a nation of brilliant drivers. Some of us are worse than others. But, when it comes to it, we would all benefit from doing a refresher course every now and then. And if Greg Murphy thinks it would make a massive difference when it comes to reducing injuries and deaths on the roads, then I’m all for it.
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
So why wouldn’t you do it? The money maybe? There’s plenty of money - don’t let that curb your enthusiasm. How much money has been spent on the old Road to Zero ads? Truckloads. Put some or all of that into better driver training and we’d be well on the way to what Greg Murphy thinks we need.
The funny thing is, even when I refer to“driver training”, the image of a teenager instantly comes into my head. I didn’t think about oldies like me.
And that’s the mindset change we need to make if ideas like Greg Murphy’s are going to get any traction. Because I bet a whole lot of the people who saw Greg on TV last night nodded their heads about their being hopeless drivers and how they shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a vehicle and how they should be trained better, but didn't put themselves in that category.
Because most of us think we are brilliant drivers, don’t we? It’s everyone else on the road who are the idiots. Not me.
And, yes, you might accuse me of being exactly the same with my criticism earlier of those clowns on Brougham Street - ploughing through the surface flooding doing at least 50 kph. But do you really think I’m going to claim that I’ve never done stupid things behind the wheel? Of course I’m not.
Just the other day, for reasons I can’t explain, I was doing a right-hand turn and sitting in the middle of the road waiting for the traffic to go past. And, instead of waiting for the last car in the line of traffic coming towards me to go past, I turned right and realised pretty quickly that it was coming towards me at quite a speed and I had to gun it.
And as soon as I’d done it, I knew it was a mistake. I even said to myself ‘why the hell did you do that?’
So yes, I can be an idiot behind the wheel just like you. And, on that occasion, it was just impatience. Which is nuts, isn’t it? Putting myself in danger to get where I was going a few seconds earlier. That's what it came down to. And can you imagine how I'd be feeling if the worst had happened? Just to cut off a few seconds of travelling time.
But maybe what makes my idiocy different from the other idiocy I see on the roads, is that at least I know I’ve been an idiot. There are others out there, aren’t there, who have no idea.
The ones doing stupid turns like I did. The ones who tailgate you even when it’s pouring with rain.
We aren’t a nation of brilliant drivers. Some of us are worse than others. But, when it comes to it, we would all benefit from doing a refresher course every now and then. And if Greg Murphy thinks it would make a massive difference when it comes to reducing injuries and deaths on the roads, then I’m all for it.
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
3 comments:
My daughter just tried her Practice Restricted Test to see if she's ready to do the real thing.
She spent a good chunk of it being told to check her blind spot. There are genuine cases for doing this but in the real world we only do it occasionally because there's no real need otherwise. But in test world you have to do it even if you're just thinking about turning. Turning left, right, merging, changing lanes - even when leaving a roundabout! So instead of looking ahead to make sure you're not going to collide with the car in front, you're expected to crane your neck around and look backwards at the roundabout you've just left.
Tests are all well and good but when they insist on nonsense actions that NOBODY does in real life their practical use is diminished.
Oh great …. let’s add another couple of hundred government employees to our already way over bloated public service. Another excuse to increase taxes. Why not just force the idiots who cause the problems to resit a license test ? Why should the 95%+ good drivers be inconvenienced by more government bullshit ? Sorry John but I think it’s a stupid idea.
Re DeeM. Testers monitor eye movement to observe mirror use. Is that what was referred to? The situation on the left now requires considerable attention. For decades one could turn or swerve left at any time secure that no one would be or legally could be there. But not now. With special rules for cyclists, cycle and transit lanes, multi lane roads, drivers are required to divert much of their attention to mirrors instead of observing cars ahead stopping, cyclists ahead, children wandering etc. And often vital speed and other signs.
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