A small oversight

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/8031618/New-Zealand-scraps-ridiculous-road-rule.html
New Zealand drivers drive on the left, in much the same way as the UK and Australia. New Zealand does however have a unique road rule which states that the vehicle turning right has the right of way. Think about that one.It leads to a number of surreal situations, such as the one I always face when going from my home to the local shopping centre :

I'm in the blue car, wanting to turn left. The oncoming white car wants to turn right and he has the right of way; but obviously can't turn right if there's a car behind me that is going straight; so this means I  have to check my rear-view mirror before turning left; and you can imagine the potential for disaster here.

The rule apparently dates from 1977 and is based on a rule introduced in Victoria (Australia) which helped cope with trams, of which there are a severe lack in New Zealand (except one in Christchurch), so go figure.

So as you would expect, this change is going to have to be preceded by a massive information campaign with very clear cut-off points. And what date is New Zealand going to be carrying out this change?

April 1st, 2012. Yep, that's right. An entire Government department failed to spot that introducing a major change of this nature on this date might just Not End Well, and it was left to the Transport Ministers' private secretary Monique Waayer, to ask the question, "Are we confident that April Fool's day is the right date?".

Massive facepalm!