Have you ever wondered why people don’t stick closely enough to the speed limit? Sometimes they’re irritatingly fast, sometimes irritatingly slow… .

Picture this: it’s Northland’s long anniversary weekend. You’re trying to get to Kai Iwi Lakes, or Tutukaka, or maybe Ocean Beach. You’re stuck behind a campervan, praying for a passing lane. Then as the passing lane appears, the driver speeds up, making it almost impossible for you not to break the law to pass. Have you ever wondered why this happens? Why does the mentality exist that a passing lane means you can speed? In fact it has nothing to do with a driver’s state of mind (even though we may feel different at the time). It has more to do with what the driver sees.

Humans are very spatially aware of their environment, and you will know this when you have been brought up in a city where cars and buildings are very close together (think Italy) and then you drive on the open highway where there is nothing blocking your view.  This one major thing changes your speed and most people will travel up to 10 kms faster than they normally travel, solely because nothing is blocking their view.

So let’s get back to the driver of the campervan. That person is very concerned about the safety of their van. With cars and trucks coming at them, they tend to travel slower than the speed limit, however as the road widens and their view is no longer congested by trees and trucks, they tend to put their foot down on the accelerator. Therefore passing lanes become the point of speed for them as they suddenly have a much larger view point. This also happens to truck drivers, however more experienced truck drivers tend not to worry about smaller cars as they are looking down on them, so they tend to travel faster because their view is not hindered.

On roadwork sites, to keep the speed of passing motorists down and stop gravel flicking up, they’ll add more cones and space them closer together, making passing drivers think that they are travelling faster when in fact they are not.

As the holidays are now finished for most people, road workers are coming out on the roads again, and we need you to keep an eye out for them.  Within Whangarei there will be several construction projects going on, including at the intersection of SH1, Kensington Ave, and Kamo Roads.  We need you to be conscious of the people there, and remember the speed limit is not a target.