We're in Auckland but I do think it's possibly worse elsewhere as it's hard to gather much speed in Auckland traffic for a good bit of the day.

There must be reams of stuff written about the road safety and high crash rates especially among the teen drivers.

Paul Little: Change is the single big constant - Road Safety - NZ Herald News

The Government spent shedloads doing a study which came up with a list of about 500 things they should consider to improve the road safety and from that they picked a handful of initiatives.

It is supposed to be harder to pass the test now, so I guess that is why they are trying to attract instructors. They raised the learners age from 15 to 16 and cut the alcohol limit to zero for the under twenties.

Hopefully it will improve things, I am not sure how much of a deterrent the threat of getting your car confiscated and crushed will have on the the hoons - afterall the $1000s of dollars of unpaid fines didn't seem to worry them. They've literally just started on that one with lots of hand wringing and media coverage of the first ceremonial crushing.