Not the land of milk and honey?

Welcome to NZ - a land of petty crime and dodgy roads
Friday July 21, 2006
By James Ihaka

A leading British insurance provider has warned travellers of the dangers prevalent when visiting New Zealand.

Aviva, the largest insurance services provider in the United Kingdom, has released findings on travel hot-spots around the globe, listing the countries most likely to pose a risk to tourists based on its claims database.

While Thailand leads the list, appearing in almost every category as a 'hotbed for theft, tummy problems, traffic accidents and lost belongings', and South Africa comes out on top for robbery with violence, New Zealand also appears on three lists.

It is rated fourth behind Thailand, South Africa and India as the most dangerous country to drive in, and features highly for incidents of theft against British tourists, coming in at fourth place behind Thailand, South Africa and islands in the Caribbean.

British tourists also report more lost or misplaced belongings while visiting New Zealand.

The National Party's tourism spokesman, David Carter, said he was disappointed by the survey's results.

'New Zealand appears to be developing a reputation for petty crime and dodgy roads,' he said. 'Perhaps if the Government had set sensible police priorities earlier, we could have dealt with this poor perception. And if the roading crisis had been taken seriously, we would have fewer accidents.'

Mr Carter said tourism was now vital to the New Zealand economy and the country could not afford to have its 'image sullied by a perception of lawlessness and petty crime'.

Aviva's research revealed the safest countries for travelling Brits were in Western Europe.

Ireland came out on top, followed by Belgium, Holland, Germany and France.

HOW WE RATE

Lost/misplaced items

1 Thailand.
2 Mexico.
3 Caribbean.
4 Australia.
5 New Zealand.

Road accidents

1 Thailand.
2 South Africa.
3 India.
4 New Zealand.
5 Canada.

Theft

1 Thailand.
2 South Africa.
3 Caribbean.
4 New Zealand.
5 Mexico.

Source: www.aviva.com

I have to say I'm surprised at those findings! Theft is more higher in NZ than Mexico???? [smiley=icon_frown.gif] [smiley=icon_neutral.gif]

One word for such surveys.....cra*.

I remember reading that, according to a survey produced by the UN, there is more violence in NZ than the UK, South Africa, Iraq etc. In fact NZ finished 1st, ahead of countries experiencing outright civil war/terrorism. That says enough about the reliability of surveys and statistics for me. [smiley=icon_eek.gif]


Tottefan.

Perhaps acts of violence committed during wartime, be it a civil war or otherwise, aren?t counted.

You?d have thought that if NZ felt that these statistics and surveys were totally fictitious, there would have been a big hullabaloo about it, as its good name has been sullied. As a country that has great pride in itself, I can?t imagine NZ would want the world to think badly of it if there wasn?t at least some truth in the statement.

And if the roading crisis had been taken seriously, we would have fewer accidents.

Road accidents

1 Thailand.
2 South Africa.
3 India.
4 New Zealand.
5 Canada.

Perhaps this will help a bit.

Left-turn rule needs changing says AA
22 July 2006
By ADAM RAY

Calls to ditch the rule for drivers making a left turn to give way to those turning right have been backed by the Automobile Association. The Institute of Professional Engineers says the rule confuses too many drivers and causes crashes that injure about 170 people each year and cost $22 million.

The AA said that dropping the requirement for left-turning cars to give way to those turning right would make intersections safer and bring New Zealand into line with other countries.

A proposal by transport officials last year to drop the rule was not adopted by the Government. Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven said a review had found the benefits of changing it were not clearly outweighed by the costs. 'It was inconclusive, and so it was decided not to take it any further.'

New Zealand is understood to be the only developed country in the world using the regulation, which was introduced in 1977. Institute transportation group chairman Alan Nicholson said other countries using it at that time had since dropped it.

After the Australian state of Victoria dropped it in 1993, intersection crashes had reduced by about 3 per cent, the institute said. 'We believe the intersection rule should be changed to simplify the situation.' Too many right-turning drivers were turning when it was not safe to do so, Dr Nicholson said.

Any change to the rule would need to be well publicised, but the cost of any education campaign would be far lower than the cost of crashes caused by the existing rule.

'When Victoria changed the rule they started a big campaign but finished early because people adapted to the new rules earlier than expected.'

The Insurance Council supported a change to the give-way rule to reduce the potential for crashes, a spokesman said. 'We are out of step with the rest of the world.'

I do agree this should be changed. Every morning that I take the kids to school reminds me of that. On a 100km speed limit road, I have to turn left into a road to the school and there is usually a vehicle(s) opposite waiting to turn into that road. By law I should give way but I'm in a dilemma when you have a car speeding at 100km behind you with no desire to slow down.

A lot of roads could certainly do with improvements in respect to turning left and right. In Australia they have painted lanes on the road which continue to the left or right at junctions, so you should not need to leave that lane.

BTW, it ought to be reminded that those crime statistics mentioned were for travel insurance taken by visitors to New Zealand. Maybe tourists are an easy target for petty criminals, with so many isolated car parks where tourists leave their vehicles and possessions, however living here certainly does not feel as dangerous as they indicate.

:icon_biggrin:

Deb - the theft is higher in NZ, but they dont tell you theft of what. Probably fleeces, fan heaters and thick socks that are 99% od reported thefts. Obviously they dont need these things in Mexico, hence the lower statistics. Obviously is also saturday night, hence the empty wine bottles and the rambling!

Never mind me

Nick

The left turn rule may be a nuscience if you don't know it, but its darn practical and useful when you do.

Welcome back, Netchook. Hope the trip to Turkey went off well. Bet it was quite an adventure.

Yeah I'm really surprised by those stats. Sure NZ drivers are all morons, but mosly cos they all hesitate and drive too slowly.

Can't believe road accidents are that high, I've seen loads of cars with dings and scrapes on them (including) mine but haven't seen one car accident in all the mile (or KMs) I've travelled thus far. Saw loads more in the UK.

That turn right rule is useful I think in town situations but as Glenda rightly states, it is stupid on 100km roads. Although in fairness, if that car had to wait for you to turn left then he too is at danger of being tail ended on his side of the road.

I think they should take out loads of the traffic lights and replace with roundabouts, NZ see them as traffic calming measures but roundabouts have the same effect whilst increasing traffic flow as well.