The election campaign grinds boringly on notwithstanding the ultimate outcome is not in doubt, namely a change of government.
What’s puzzled me about the electioneering to date is the failure by Opposition parties to raise a problem not only unique to New Zealand but at any time in world history anywhere.
That is the traffic cone scourge. This absurdity doubtless traces back to excessive safety zeal by Wellington bureaucrats. Common sense says it’s completely over the top.
Several hundred metres of cones on each side coming and going for either 2 workmen doing something at the side of the road or in many cases, nothing at all is happening. At each end, stop, go sign holders. Traffic is slowed to a crawl as it’s reduced to a single lane.
It’s all so totally unnecessary and hugely costly. Common sense has gone completely out of the window on this.
The incoming government should as a priority, put an end to it instantly.
11 Comments
from the Stone Age to the Cone Age
I’ve just returned from a 3 month visit to Taiwan. During our time there, there were a couple of cyclones with heavy rain, up to 600 mm in 24 hrs in places. Amazingly, I didn’t see any potholes appearing in the roads. But in in car park behind our apartment, a big sink hole opened up. The whole remaining time we were there, there were no barriers put up, no cones, no warning signs. And no one drove into the gaping hole while we were there. Obviously people were expected to be aware, and use their brains.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Just drove past a fellow finishing a small bridge across a ditch in a paddock beside a road.
200 metres of cones, speed reduced (by sign) from 80KPH to 30KPH.
In a National electorate.
Don’t hold your breath.
Exactly Yesterday my wife was held up locally for 5 minutes as they were ” practicing ” laying out cones, according to the person holding the stop/go sign. All cones were gone when I went passed a few hours later.
Absolutely. 2 men working, 5 watching and 6 cone men in 3 trucks. BS
Was in Italy 6 years ago going down the east coastal highway. Road worker running along the edge of the middle barrier into traffic with high viz on, no helmet, moving some cones, for a bit of work going on down the road. Everybody slowed for him. Not our dance performance.
I have heard David Seymour mention cones a few times in speeches. He says the cone people are surely the most profitable business in NZ.
(I also note the cones will be heavy duty plastic products, consuming hydrocarbons to manufacture, and hence another indication of this government’s environmental hypocrisy.)
It’s all about misaligned incentives. The roaring companies rent each cone to the council at $40 per day. More cones more money. Who on either side will gain say elfnsafety.
Stuff the poor driver
Similar here in the UK. I have never seen more fencing around the HS2 work sites. 90% totally unnecessary.
Agree 100% .. Another illegal and damn frustrating part of this excessive use of cones is the failure of these companies to remove signs showing “Workmen ahead” etc- when there is ZERO work being done at the site. Today for instance [Sunday] these cones and signs are on two local sites. Plus a reduced speed limit of 30 kmh. There are no workers on the site.. Totally unacceptable..
driving home from Auckland on sunday , 3 klms of cones reducing traffic to a single lane, crawling at 20 k/hr in both directions…not a work man in sight .