Whatever your preference, traffic lights or roundabouts, let’s try to be nice, courteous drivers, especially at this time of year when everyone is stressed and in a hurry.
Whatever your preference, traffic lights or roundabouts, let’s try to be nice, courteous drivers, especially at this time of year when everyone is stressed and in a hurry.
OPINION
Would you go the roundabout way to your destination to avoid traffic lights?
What do you prefer — roundabouts or traffic lights? Which of the two do you think is the safest?
These questions were bandied about in a conversation I had with several people recently.
One person saidthey take the long road to avoid traffic lights at all costs. They say they can’t stand being at a standstill when they are on a mission to get somewhere.
I try to avoid traffic lights as much as possible. Especially the ones on the corner of Karamu and Grove roads. They are a nightmare at peak traffic times and at this time of the year peak times are all times.
I don’t know how many close calls I’ve had at roundabouts. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve muttered under my breath ‘you are going to stop aren’t you because I have already entered the roundabout’?
But no. The driver clocks you out of the corner of their eye and is either going too fast to stop or thinks ‘I can beat her’. They then plant the boot and look straight ahead. No-one makes eye contact when they make a manoeuvre like that.
Maybe it takes them back to their childhood when they thought if I can’t see you, then you can’t see me. When in fact mum or dad saw everything because they had “eyes in the back” of their head.
Sometimes, when I’m driving, I wish I had eyes in the side and back of my head.
At traffic lights everybody knows that the red signal means stop and the green means go. People get confused about the orange light though. To some people it means go as fast as you can to get through, others know that actually, you should stop if it’s safe to do so.
However, accidents at traffic lights tend to involve speed as drivers try to beat the red light to avoid stopping.
Whatever your preference, let’s try to be nice, courteous drivers, especially at this time of year when everyone is stressed and in a hurry.
I think Hawke’s Bay drivers are getting better at letting cars into lines of traffic — a little bit better. We could all do much better but good things take time.
This is my last column for 2023. It’s been a very difficult year, to say the least.
It makes you realise how important it is to simply be nice. You never know what’s going on in other people’s lives and thousands of people in Hawke’s Bay and the wider region have a a lot of awful stuff going on.
I remember writing at the end of the last two years that I was glad to see the back of the year and was looking forward to a better year.
Spending time with family and friends is what makes Christmas so special.
I’m not going to say that this year.
Instead, I’ll say a huge thank you to all the amazing people in our wonderful community who dropped everything to go to the aid of people affected by the cyclone.
People gave their time, their love, their support, donations — it was awesome.
I hope everyone in our region has the chance to take some downtime over Christmas and New Year.
Enjoy some laughter with your friends and family.
Times might be tough, but smiles are free.
Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.
Linda Hall is a Hastings-based assistant editor for Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 30 years of experience in newsrooms. She writes regularly on arts and entertainment, lifestyle and hospitality, and pens a column.
