Rules Of The Road

Do you recognise these?

Well those of you outside NZ probably won't, but they are parking fines, and today I was not only lucky enough to receive one - but two!

The first I admit was correct, I did in fact park in a 10 minute zone for 30 minutes, but I base that on the fact everyone I know who parks there said 'oh we never get tickets, we always park there'!

The second however is a pain. I parked on the right hand side of the road, facing traffic (in a designated parking spot). For all of you in the UK - no reason why this should be strange right? Well it's turns out in NZ it is an "offence to park on the wrong side of a two way street". Well there is a new one!!

The first ticket I accept and for $12 its no big deal, but $40 for a 'parking violation' I wasn't aware of is a bit steep.

This has now raised many questions; firstly why is anyone allowed to drive in NZ for 9 months freely without any type of test or advice needed? And secondly - how exactly is anyone supposed to know the intricate and exact rules of the road without a NZ drivers licence?

If you were on holiday here, would you buy and read the highway code religiously??

I can honestly vouch for a huge amount if expats who will also say that driving in NZ is strange. See my previous post about other driving issues I have had here.

I have now come to the conclusion that if there were not so many crazy driving rules here (for example, at junctions when turning left, you have to give way to oncoming traffic turning right across your lane, AND pedestrians at the same time, but hey the traffic behind you will force its way round anyway leaving you sat like a right idiot in the middle of the road) then there would be less u-turns, pulling out and dangerous driving - especially at these moments.

Funny enough we do need to take our NZ driving tests next month....it will be an interesting one to see how that goes!