driving oddities

We may not have had a car for most of our time in New Zealand, but we have been subject to some of the oddities of New Zealand's roads from the beginning. Road trips in rentals or other people's cars, and now our own, clued us in.
There were a number of strange rules and regulations to get used to: obviously, driving on the left was the biggest one. Also mandatory stops at pedestrian crossings on the highways as well as city streets.
The strangest rule is one unique to New Zealand, at least according to the guidebooks. If two cars facing each other at an intersection are both turning the same direction, the one turning right has the right-of-way.
For those used to driving on the correct side of the road, picture this: You're at a red stoplight ready to turn right (in New Zealand you can't make those easy turns, which are left turns here, against a red light. Ever.). Another car, facing you, has it's blinker on to turn left. You're both going to turn into the same lane. So, obviously, you have the right of way. Right?
That's not how it works here.

Another oddity is just how well people follow directions. Those pedestrian crossings, for example. In theory, crosswalks in the States work the same way. But rare are the cars who stop at them, especially on a busy street (when you can find a crosswalk on a busy street). Here, the crossings are everywhere, and everyone stops.
Kiwis also have a propensity to have a two-lane road turn into one lane immediately after an intersection. If there's much traffic in both lanes, as there often is, drivers are expected to effortlessly complete the transition by alternating cars from each lane. Traffic signs urge you to "merge like a zipper."
Amazingly, everyone does.