Proactive on road safety
Correspondent Morgan L. Owens is correct (NZ Herald, May 4) regarding road safety: "one crash is one too many". One industry that regards safety above all else is commercial aviation: and when compared to that industry's philosophy, road safety rates a poor second.
This is because aviation safety
is proactive and preventative. Road safety on the other hand is largely reactive: reacting to the past.
Worse still, instead of concentrating on accident prevention (drink-driving excepted), the safety efforts appear to be all about mitigating the effects of an accident — making accidents more survivable rather than preventing them: "the faster you go the bigger the mess" slogan.
When the penalties for illegal parking or pedestrian infringements can be far higher than those for dangerous driving, something is sadly amiss.
Perhaps a dedicated "education blitz" might help change driver attitudes?
Robin McGrath, Birkenhead.
Hop cards better way?
At present if you want to use a bus in Auckland you must have an AT Hop card — you cannot use cash. This does not work for visitors to Auckland and as tourists return the problem must be addressed. Last week, I had three young relatives to stay with me in Epsom where we have an excellent choice of bus routes. However, to get on a bus they had to walk 2km to Newmarket to buy a Hop card. (In fact, I dropped them off). The card cost $5 and they had to put $10 on it.
They went into the city, spent the day there and took a bus to Epsom. They used $2 each on their cards.
Two of them have returned to the UK and one to Wellington. I now have three cards with a credit of $8 each on them which are no use to me.
There must be a better way of doing this. Other countries can use payWave or similar.
Stephanie Watson, Epsom.
Wealth creation
Revenue Minister David Parker has sparked debate regarding wealth tax. In these uncertain times, however, we must concentrate our energies on wealth creation, not dilution, to encourage financial independence and address anaemic productivity, a matter which has been neglected and which drives wage increases and prosperity, unlike Government's pending Fair Pay Agreement, conceived instead to lift wages artificially by centralised arbitration despite wage growth exceeding rising costs since the '80s. If enacted, this legislation will further impede businesses already struggling with recent impositions, retrograde it will revive confrontation, dormant since the 70s.
P. J. Edmondson, Tauranga.
US parks model
Garry Law (Weekend Herald, May 7) correctly says "hands off" plans to sell public reserve land. A better way of assisting our cash-strapped council would be to adopt the revenue-generating American National Parks model. Leases and concessions for restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops located sensitively within park boundaries, and using retirees as gatekeepers to collect a modest admission fee from out-of-towners and tourists can contribute to park upkeep and general council revenue.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Education overhaul
What has happened to New Zealand's world-class education system?
The reports of homelessness, rental crowding, the prevalence of foetal drug and alcohol syndrome, pre- and postnatal depression, suicides, "child farming" in early childhood centres, abysmal achievement in primary schools and up to 56 per cent truancy rates in secondary schools. This is not the way NZ wants to treat its future generation.
The whole sector needs [an overhaul].
Then start teaching parenting skills and mothercraft in secondary schools, fix antenatal and postnatal systems and give greater and longer support for mothers and fathers by bringing back Plunket funding and getting paediatric and parenting help for those in need. Only register those childcare centres that are staffed with or are required to gain ongoing mandatory qualifications, e.g. playcentres, kohanga reo, daycare etc. These should be regularly checked by qualified inspectors with set standards in curriculum, equipment, appropriate staff ratio levels and safety standards.
Home-based primary schooling could be available with resources for "stay-at-home parents". Toy libraries could run along with mobile library services.
With our highly transient population due to the housing shortage, many families are falling through the systems (especially health) by not being registered anywhere. All births must be recorded, registered and followed up by welfare personnel so no one is left behind. The bulk of the millions of dollars the Government intends to throw willy nilly at education would be better targeted at those who really need it.
Marie Kaire, Whangarei.
