Hanging to the Right

The political spectrum will have us on the left, the centre left, the right, the extreme right or a whole lot of inbetweens and extensions. From 5.00 am Sunday anybody turning right will have to give way. Somewhat ironic given that those on the right have long considered themselves the government of choice, giving way to nobody except Bronwyn Pullar. I think I have my head around the new intersection rules but the problem is of course it takes two to tangle and none of should assume any confidence that other motorists will play be the (new) rules. This was borne out by a survey published in the Herald today. It found that one in ten failed a driving simulation test when confronted by the new intersection rules. Drivers were put behind the wheel of a virtual Suzuki Grand Vitara and asked to make rule-based decisions at real-life intersections. They were also timed: those who answered correctly took on average five seconds; those who answered incorrectly 10 seconds. So there was some indecision, there was some time taken and there is a one in ten chance that a mistake will be made, possibly leading to a crash. It does not auger well. Or does it? We Aucklanders might find some consolation by questioning the veracity of the survey itself. The “real life” intesections were all in Hamilton, the respondents all presumambly were Hamiltonians, and the survey was conducted by that hot(not)bed of rational thinking, Waikato University. Given all that we need to ask ourselves whether the survey is responsible, representative or relevant, unless of course we are going to Hamilton, which of course we are not.