Indicating our intentions
A new change to the road rules in NZ was recently publicised in the newspapers. From February 26th (I think), all driver must now signal before entering a roundabout, and then signal when they are about to exit. I always thought one had to do this anyway. For readers to whom roundabouts are a foreign concept, they are a method of controlling traffic at intersection by making them drive round a circular bit in the middle, until they need to come off onto another road. Think of the street arrangement at London's Marble Arch, or one end of Paris' Champs Elysee. England, it much be said is littered with roundabouts, expecially on smaller country highways, but they don't cause too much hassle. This is because British drivers, on the whole, are quite polite and drive well.
Over here, it is possible to get a licence from age 15. When I got mine, I even stalled the car coming back into the carpark, but passed anyway. One of my sisters, who until she got into her 20s had all the co-ordination of a newborn foal, passed hers to the amazement of my family. Standards do not seem to have gotten much better.
Roundabouts therefore, are a convenient feature of the landscape for those who get their thrills dicing with death. So in a way, the 'new' rule is understandable. There is only one problem with it. The announcement in the newspaper came out of the blue, quite close to the day of implementation. Ever since drivers are so busy concentrating on indicating at the right time they are even less concerned about watching for other traffic than ever. So right now driving here in Auckland is more dangerous than ever.
In fact, it has all become so much fun, that a 'let the train take the strain' to get to my new job. I have just one roundabout to negotiate in getting to the station from home, and encounter it just once on the way back. Bliss.
