Transport Minister Michael Woods and Waka Kotahi are dreaming if they think that simply declaring lower speed limits on certain roads will result in a decrease in New Zealand’s high road toll. Without the strict enforcement of these new, and existing, laws nothing will be achieved. Drunk and drugged drivers must be punished by the full force of the law, and taken off the roads for as long as possible. Likewise, speedsters cannot be allowed to just be given infringement notices as a result of their lawlessness as we know most don’t pay their fines and continue speeding. If their cars are impounded for a period of time the roads will be safer for all of us. Chris Parker, Campbell Bay
Compliance required
New year, new appalling road toll numbers, new proposals to reduce injury and fatalities on our roads (NZ Herald, January 2). Reducing speed limits on some roads could be beneficial, but to be effective it will need compliance from the driving public as well as greater police presence to ensure that compliance. If you don’t see anything wrong with tailgating at 110km/h on winding, narrow roads and assume we’re all soothsayers because you’ve lane changed three times, again at high speed without indicating, then we’ve an entrenched and dangerous mindset that’s been years in the making and may take years to change. So instead of spending money on banal “road to zero” campaigns, which clearly have negligible effect, look critically at driver education starting with license renewal requirements. A 10-year renewal period up to age 75 with no assessment of a driver’s skill unless on medical grounds and previous disqualification, is a deadly and risky assumption. More than eye checks are urgently required, so start with the cohort responsible for the most road carnage, (19- to 25-year-old males) and make a practical driving test, say every three years, a requirement for license renewal and incrementally raise that renewal period for the next most at-risk group and so on. Mary Hearn, Glendowie
Lack of trust
Putin is weaponising the weather by destroying power stations in Ukraine with Iranian-made cheap drones; will China weaponise its millions as new Covid variant vectors as tourists in other countries? Both are cheap, effective methods at killing innocent people. Why is China restricting Covid information data, again; just as it did in January 2020? Until it provides the truth, not lies, China is not trustworthy. The queues for cremation services don’t lie. Is our government in danger of putting tourism profits ahead of health risks making a joke of an election promise in 2020 to put health first? What testing for new variants is occurring and will we be immune? China’s tourists will be liberated on January 8. My bet is on unbridled tourism profits winning over health in election year. Am I correct, Ardern? Steve Russell, Hillcrest
Still a problem
For those unaware, the Ministry of Health last provided Covid stats on December 28 with 32,000 cases and 43 deaths for that week and several hundred in hospital. There are still a significant number of people suffering from the after-effects of the virus. The ministry website informs us that the next update will be January 16. Unless they and the media promote these concerning figures the public will assume there is nothing to worry about. We seem to have adopted a laissez-faire attitude to the virus and politically it is a death wish to even contemplate restrictions despite the sensibility of such a move. We should be asking ourselves how is the virus spreading with strong evidence that enclosed spaces are the main culprit. But do we take precautions such as masks - no we don’t. The surge in China should act as a strong reminder that it’s foolish to close the gate after the horse has bolted. Reg Dempster, Albany
Tennis and politics
I think it is shameful to allow any Russian to take part in any New Zealand sporting event, while the leader of their country wages war, death and devastation on the people of another. How uncivilised is that, in this day and age? Any and all Russians abroad should be required to bear the approbation that any decent country should register, against such a heinous crime as Putin is perpetrating on Ukraine. Russians everywhere must be made to realise that this is not acceptable, in any way. However, NZ Tennis has reneged on this opportunity to impose this lesson, and is condoning Putin’s aggression (apparently unwittingly), by its decision to include Russian players in its tournament. This seems to be based on the now totally unsupportable mantra of “don’t mix sport and politics”. At this time, all Russians should be being penalised, and made pariahs outside their borders, so they will want to change their country’s direction and leadership from within. The world must not appear to accept what Putin is doing. Clyde Scott, Birkenhead
Services underfunded
It seems to me that every basic public service we have is severely underfunded. From the roads, to Pharmac, to the whole health system. We also undervalue and underfund those who provide our essential social services. Why don’t we value and pay for the things we really need for a decent society, instead of trying to devise ways to avoid facing the glaringly obvious fact that we need to expand and improve every aspect of our social fabric? How to do this? Get behind all moves to make a fairer tax system, increase government revenue, and discourage consumerism at all levels of society. Stop property profiteering with land and capital gains taxes, have a much more progressive tax rate on high incomes . We should aim to become a fairer, more equal society. If we do this we may also find that we don’t have ram raids, and other pesky problems like homeless beggars on our streets. V M Fergusson, Mt Eden
Port future
Gordon Roger’s letter succinctly encompasses all the false narratives about moving Auckland’s port north. That landed motor vehicles would be trucked by road to Auckland thus clogging the highways, and the money spent on upgrading rail would be better deployed on doubling down on Auckland’s moribund container port and all the resultant inner city congestion that comes with it. The Port of Auckland is rootbound, unable to expand in any direction to accommodate growing cargo volumes and larger ships. Prudent triage would dictate to pre-emptively save that which can be saved and let go that which can’t. The port handles a mere 8 per cent of the country’s exports with Tauranga already handling 40 per cent of Auckland’s imports, and with a Kaimai Rail Tunnel failure at some point a real supply risk to the city is not farfetched. Northport is closer to Auckland and with an efficient rail corridor a massive reduction of thousands of weekly half-empty truck journeys clogging the city’s roading network could take pressure off the massive cost of a new harbour crossing as actual car journeys are approaching static. Aucklanders get to retrieve that which has always been denied them: our beloved harbour front, something that could reinvent the central city and unleash the city’s true potential. Phil O’Reilly, Auckland central
Key and China
Full credit to John Key for putting China in perspective (NZ Herald, January 2). The best article on New Zealand-China relations I have read for a long time with views relatively close to NZ current government’s. We must form our own views considering our very important relationship with China and not just follow those who shout loudest. Ganging up on and trying to hold back what is the major trading partner of most nations seems contrary to the interests of NZ and many other countries. China has lifted 500 million of its people out of abject poverty which is a remarkable achievement. That China will become the biggest economy in the world with four times the population of America and its focus on spreading higher education widely is inevitable, and therefore futile and backwards to try to counter. The opportunity for a continued win-win relationship for NZ is enormous and should not be squandered. Frank Olsson, Freemans Bay
Surely Key’s puff piece promoting Chinese interests should have come with a disclaimer - given that he claims to be BFF with the dictatorial leader of that repressive country and has extensive business interests there which earn him considerable income, this cringing “nothing to see here” drivel was plainly nothing more than an attempt to further ingrate himself with Xi and protect his own financial position. It has been perfectly apparent for many years that Sir Johnhas only his own interests at heart - despite many farcical examples of his supposedly non-biased utterances in the media: such as this latest piece of pathetic puffery promoting New Zealand “forming its own opinions”. Martin Adlington, Browns Bay
UK drivers
Just to add to Glenn J Pacey’s comment, I’d like to say that English drivers are so much less aggressive than Auckland drivers. We drove around Lancashire and Gloucester with a diversion to Wales and everyone was just so polite to each other. If you got in the wrong lane, at their numerous roundabouts, you’d indicate where you wanted to be, and people would just let you in. It was also wonderful just driving locally without traffic lights at every intersection. At t-intersections, 95 per cent of the time, was a mini roundabout where you just gave way to your right. The traffic flowed very well without the stopping and starting that you get driving around Auckland. Liz Sampson, Mission Bay
Short and sweet
On neighbours
The Hello Project campaign now running is a wonderful initiative created by Greg Partington. Not everyone has family keeping an eye on them, and so encouraging people to be more observant and therefore notice when something doesn’t seem right at their elderly neighbour’s home has to be a good thing. The simple act of checking everything is okay really could save a life. Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth
On driving
Reducing speed limits will not help to lower the road toll. The me-firsts will still drive in the manner and at the speed that suits them. Anne Martin, Helensville
On e-scooters
If ACC can pay out $30 million for claims for injuries by e-scooter riders in the last three years with no contributions from them, then surely motorcyclists, who pay very hefty ACC levies, in fairness, should have a reduction in their ACC fees? Richard Underwood, Whakatane
On Covid
Given the Chinese Government’s obfuscation and lack of transparency regarding recent Covid cases (and deaths) in that country, how do we trust them on other important issues like food safety and quality? Fiona McAllister, Mt Maunganui
Early January 2020 is when it all started turning pear-shaped around the world regarding the Covid-19 spread out of China. Why are we procrastinating on potential infected arrivals here? Not because the Beehive is on holiday, I hope. Glenn Forsyth, Taupo
