4 May 2017

Christchurch encouraged to put the brakes on poor driving

9:26 am on 4 May 2017

Bad driving habits like weaving between lanes and hesitating when the light turns green are being targeted by a Christchurch transport group.

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Photo: 123rf

The Christchurch Transport Operations Centre, a joint project between NZTA and the Christchurch City and Canterbury regional councils, has created a series of short animated video clips that offer tips to improve people's driving habits.

The acting team leader for travel information at the transport operations centre, Luke Thomas, said the videos were inspired by what his team saw happening every day on the roads on their network of cameras.

He said some of the issues they looked at included closing the gaps between cars, lane weavers, and staying focused at intersections.

Another bad habit they wanted to deter was people stopping too far back at a traffic light.

"There are what we call loops in the road," Mr Thomas said.

"They are sensors underneath the road surface that detect cars at the intersection.

"So if you're too far back and it hasn't detected you then there is a chance that the lights will take longer to go green and traffic will build up."

Christchurch resident Diane Lord said people who weaved through lanes was her pet peeve.

"Christchurch drivers are not very good drivers.

"I've lived in many parts of New Zealand, and honestly I find Christchurch drivers, they don't have any patience."

Murray Heasley, who was visiting Christchurch from Auckland, said in his suburb of Newmarket you could spend an hour barely moving if you picked the wrong time of day, so to him the traffic looked pretty good in Christchurch.

The driving tips videos are available on the Transport for Christchurch website and Facebook page.