Kiwis don't like cycle helmets, but we ignore plenty of other laws too

Tuesday, 13 March 2018

Here are some of the laws Kiwis flagrantly ignore.

Many Kiwis illegally choose not to wear cycle helmets, but the cycle helmet law is just one of many laws we ignore every day.

A police spokeswoman said police advice to the public on cycle helmets was to always wear one. 'Not only is it the law, it is for your protection and could save your life,' she said.

So why would people elect to do the exact opposite of what was in their best interests - protecting their own noggins? Freedom of choice? Ignorance? Conscientious objecting?

Otago University associate professor Selene Mize - who specialises in legal ethics, civil liberties, and law and psychology - said people liked to make up their own minds about things.

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'People want to do what they enjoy. Many dislike the feel of wearing a helmet,' she said.

Imagine if the Government banned the sale of tainted meat. Mize said if people disagreed with the Government doing that, they could protest by eating tainted meat.

'You wouldn't do that because it isn't fun. Riding without a helmet is fun.'

Yet, she wondered if people protesting cycle helmets were aware of the likelihood of head injuries in crashes, or if they were ignorant to the risks.

'Many people tend to downplay actual risks, seeing themselves as invulnerable, or close to it … Would riders hypothetically (because, of course, they can't in reality) agree that if they were injured, they would fund their own medical care? Pay for their own convalescence and permanent disability? I tend to doubt it. At that point, they would want the 'nanny state' to kick in and take care of them.

'That doesn't mean that helmet laws are necessarily best. They protect the public purse, but they restrict individual behaviour.'

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BREAKING THE RULES

Mize acknowledged some people wanted to avoid the country turning into a 'nanny state', but she did not believe people violated laws solely to oppose the nanny state.

'I think that most people who violate helmet laws are doing it because they don't want to wear helmets. Then, they rationalise that as being a protest against the nanny state.

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''Nanny state' sounds like something bad, that should be opposed. The label can make people feel better about their choice, they can see themselves as noble resisters against government overreach,' she said.

'People resist what they see as attempted attitude control too, and there can be backlashes.'

Mize said the term 'nanny state' implied that the government was acting paternalistically, so if the motivation of the cycle helmet law was to lessen impact on the healthcare or welfare systems, then the cycle helmet law was not paternalistic or the nanny state at work.

'The real 'nanny state'/government overreach is the restriction of private behaviour with no public consequences, for example, the previous ban on gay marriage.'

OTHER LAWS WE IGNORE:

Mize said Kiwis tended to disobey laws that were in their self-interest.

'Crossing against the light or running a stop light when there is no-one else around, pirating software or music, failing to declare all income to Inland Revenue.'

Jaywalking was another common law Kiwis thumbed their noses at, with the aim of getting places quicker. But it isn't a harmless crime; a jaywalker who put a cyclist in hospital was prosecuted and fined in Wellington in 2014.

Between 2006 and 2011, 23 fines for pedestrian offences were issued nationwide. Most were for crossing against the 'red man' traffic light signal.

A psychology lecturer in Palmerston North conducted a survey this year on how many motorists fail to stop at stop signs.

He found that one in every three drivers failed to stop, even when there were other vehicles approaching from another direction.

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His research also found that if one driver failed to stop, following drivers tend to mimic the action and not stop either.

'Psychologists know people mimic other people, but they're still not sure how much conscious thought is involved,' Gilbey said.

'In this case there seems to be conscious decision-making - otherwise you would expect drivers to mimic good behaviour as well.'

Similarly, a 2017 study by Christchurch transport planners and engineers ViaStrada and Auckland-based Mackie Research concluded that drivers might be influenced by the actions of other drivers who run red lights.

The study suggested this could be either: a) a deliberate choice, because the driver was comforted by the fact they 'weren't the only one doing it', b) an oblivious moment, because the driver was focusing on the vehicle in front instead of the traffic signals, or c) because the driver was incapable of judging the situation for themselves.

ROAD SAFETY ATTITUDES

A Ministry of Transport survey in 2016 found 96.5 per cent of adults wore front seat safety belts. The finding was based on observations of about 95,000 drivers and passengers at 274 sites around the country.

A survey of backseat safety belt use in 2014 found 92 per cent of adults wore backseat belts. For that survey 11,000 adults were observed at 139 sites.

An AA Driving School survey, published in October, of 3000 AA members found that within seven days of driving, 85 per cent saw other drivers exceed the speed limit, 64 per cent saw drivers drift out of a lane or park inconsiderately, and 63 per cent reported seeing someone run a red light.

A 2013 Ministry of Transport survey found 1.3 per cent of drivers were holding mobile phones to their ears, and 2 per cent were considered to be probably texting. Surveyors standing on the roadside at 52 sites observed more than 37,000 drivers in seven urban centres and one rural town. Aucklanders had by far the highet proportion of drivers probably texting at 3.8 per cent.

In comparison, a Ministry of Transport 2016 survey on public attitudes to road safety found 38 per cent of those surveyed said they had used a mobile phone for sending or receiving texts while driving in the past month. 22 per cent said they had made calls using hand held phones while driving, 37 per cent said they had used a cell phone for navigation while driving. For the survey, 1666 people were interviewed, of which 1527 held driver licences.

The survey also found 38 per cent of drivers said they enjoyed driving fast on the open road - 42 per cent of males and 34 per cent of females. 'Young drivers were more likely to say they liked driving fast than older ones: 49 percent of drivers aged 15 to 24 said they liked it, compared to 39 percent of those aged 25 to 59, and 29 percent of those aged 60 and over. Fifty-six percent of male drivers aged 15-24 said that they liked driving fast.'

A Ministry of Transport survey of 14,632 cars on the open road in 2015 found 23 per cent were travelling over the 100kmh speed limit. Of 19,520 cars on urban roads, 46 per cent were going faster than the 50kmh speed limit. In both cases, those numbers are well down on the proportion of speeding drivers from 20 years earlier. The drivers surveyed were not impeded by the presence of other vehicles.

In Christchurch, efforts are under way to try to quantify how much of a problem is posed by red light running (RLR). The work by ViaStrada and Mackie Research was outlined to a transport research forum in Auckland in November.

The Christchurch Transport Operations Centre and Christchurch City Council considered there was a 'high level' of RLR in the city, the presentation said. RLR crashes accounted for about 35 per cent of all injury crashes at signalised intersections in Christchurch.

The paper uses the term to mean all instances when a driver fails to stop for a traffic signal they should have stopped for, including a yellow signal when a driver could, or should, have been able to stop safely. The researchers drew up a proposed framework of factors that could influence RLR.

Personal disposition was seen as a reason drivers might choose to run red lights. That could be influenced by the behaviour of other drivers and crowd mentality, the paper said. Drivers who chose to run a red light deliberately, with a clear understanding of the risks, had a high risk-tolerance. Drivers may also not fully understand the dangers involved.

Specific factors that might increase a driver's inclination to run a red light could include congestion and a lack of opposing traffic, with a driver perceiving little or no risk of a crash.

Some drivers may be running late, while others' personal circumstances could cause anger or frustration that could lower a person's fear of consequences, the paper said.

Drivers who understood how a specific intersection was operated could identify times when their signal was red but there was no crash risk. In such situations they might be more likely to continue through at the start of a red phase, or start just before their light turns green.

'Also, if a driver perceives that the consequences of stopping for a red signal are particularly high (eg they know that the intersection has a particularly long cycle time) they may be more likely to tolerate the risks involved in running a red light, in favour of being subjected to the certain consequences of waiting.'

More than a third of people feel unsafe on New Zealand roads, according to a survey by the Automobile Association Driving School, which had almost 3000 responses. It also found 85 per cent of people had witnessed other motorists breaking the speed limit, while 64 per cent had seen drivers drift out of a lane, and 63 per cent had seen someone run a red light.

Driving school general manager Roger Venn told Stuff there was a disconnect between the number of people driving badly and those taking ownership for it.

'One of the main reasons for the lack of confidence in others' abilities is people claiming to see plenty of motorists ignoring basic road rules and road courtesies.'

The results showed an 'incredible level' of lazy and dangerous driving, Venn said.

Bad habits often crept into drivers' behaviour over time, including not indicating, not checking blind spots, using cellphones and tailgating.

It was time people owned up to their mistakes, Venn said.

ROAD SAFETY ENFORCEMENT ATTITUDES

The Ministry of Transport conducted a survey on public attitudes to road safety in 2015, finding that 33 per cent of Kiwis said police efforts to catch people breaking road safety laws should be increased. Only 7 per cent thought efforts should be decreased, and 58 per cent said the current level was about right.

'Since these questions were first asked in 1995, there has been a shift away from thinking there should be more police enforcement,' the Ministry said.