Tons of resources spent on making sure our vehicles are licensed and fit to be operated on our roads year after year, but not a jot towards making sure their operators are similarly roadworthy. Maybe it's about time we got over ourselves and addressed this.
Reckless driving is a part of NZ's ever-present 'wild-west' mentality. TBH the deaths of those engaging in it are no-ones concern other than their own- we could view this as 'Darwinism in action' or 'good riddance to bad rubbish'. The collateral death of innocents is another matter entirely. We could start by removing the offence of 'causing death by careless / dangerous driving' which is an anachronism, and making these into offences of manslaughter / murder respectively.
Manslaughter may be appropriate in some cases but I don’t think you could ever pin someone with murder unless there was a heavy element of premeditation. You can still get a life sentence in NZ for manslaughter.
> TBH the deaths of those engaging in it are no-ones concern other than their own
Try telling that to the volunteer fire fighters who have to clean up after road accidents. And of course the colleagues, friends and families of these people. What a callous attitude.
Absolutely agree regarding the emergency services personel having to clear up after these arseholes. I worked on the rail many years ago and saw the impact of those who thought 'suicide by train' was a good idea. The effect on the unfortunate drivers- many had to quit driving altogether- and the transport police officers who had to scrape up the bits of bodies from the track. Of course "colleagues, friends and families" are, as passengers, also often killed by reckless drivers.
Speaking of a black day on the roads - as a result of scrapping the Clean Car Scheme the share of EV registrations fell from 39% to 3% in January overall, or 50% to 5% for new vehicles only. If you look at October or November instead of December in order to allow for people rushing to buy after the decision was announced, it's still around 20% to 3%.
Tons of resources spent on making sure our vehicles are licensed and fit to be operated on our roads year after year, but not a jot towards making sure their operators are similarly roadworthy. Maybe it's about time we got over ourselves and addressed this.
Well said
Reckless driving is a part of NZ's ever-present 'wild-west' mentality. TBH the deaths of those engaging in it are no-ones concern other than their own- we could view this as 'Darwinism in action' or 'good riddance to bad rubbish'. The collateral death of innocents is another matter entirely. We could start by removing the offence of 'causing death by careless / dangerous driving' which is an anachronism, and making these into offences of manslaughter / murder respectively.
Manslaughter may be appropriate in some cases but I don’t think you could ever pin someone with murder unless there was a heavy element of premeditation. You can still get a life sentence in NZ for manslaughter.
> TBH the deaths of those engaging in it are no-ones concern other than their own
Try telling that to the volunteer fire fighters who have to clean up after road accidents. And of course the colleagues, friends and families of these people. What a callous attitude.
Absolutely agree regarding the emergency services personel having to clear up after these arseholes. I worked on the rail many years ago and saw the impact of those who thought 'suicide by train' was a good idea. The effect on the unfortunate drivers- many had to quit driving altogether- and the transport police officers who had to scrape up the bits of bodies from the track. Of course "colleagues, friends and families" are, as passengers, also often killed by reckless drivers.
Speaking of a black day on the roads - as a result of scrapping the Clean Car Scheme the share of EV registrations fell from 39% to 3% in January overall, or 50% to 5% for new vehicles only. If you look at October or November instead of December in order to allow for people rushing to buy after the decision was announced, it's still around 20% to 3%.
https://evdb.nz/ev-stats