Living in Australia - What you need to know

[Gbye grey sky]

5 minutes ago, unzippy said:

Now that I've been here a year, I'd like to revisit this.

• Lane hogging (not moving left) is rife, because apparently drivers think that moving to the left and letting someone past is some sort of affront to their driving prowess.
• Undertaking (passing on the left) is rife, because of the lane hogging. 
• No-one lets you into lane 1 when you joining the motorway, because that's pushing in.
• No-one lets you out of a T-junction , that's considered queue jumping.
• No-one lets you in when merging, that's more queue jumping.
• If you don't move off within a 1/10th of a second of the light changing green you will be punished audibly. 
• If you stop when the light is amber, god help you.
• Everyone is so paranoid about speeding that they pay more attention to their speedo and not enough attention to the hazards ahead - you see so many rear end shunts its not even funny.

Yet speed limits continue to go down.  Brand new motorways (hopefully) designed with safety in mind - 4 lanes, central reservations, hard shoulders, no sharp corners, nowhere near schools for kid to run onto etc are being opened with permanent 80kmh limits.  That's 50mph!

I think the poor driving stems from two main issues:

Auto - nearly everyone drives auto, it leaves them too much free time with the left hand to use the phone. Wouldn't be so bad if they had a phone holder near eye level, but most drivers keep it down by the shifter or between their legs and use it down there because they think they can't be seen. Results in their head down and not looking where they are going or what's happening around them.

Aussie competitiveness* - 'that my gap, you're not having it!  Therefore I need drive as close as possible so there is no gap for people to get in to.' 
*Also see the lack of waiting to let people out of lift and letting people exit a train carriage before getting on.

Agree with most of these but definitely not the case on those two highlighted where I live in SE Queensland.  Merging is easy.  Pull away at green lights is invariably painfully slow, and ise of the car horn is almost non-existent.

[Skani]

35 minutes ago, unzippy said:

Now that I've been here a year, I'd like to revisit this.

 

Where do you live, unzippy?

[Bulya]

35 minutes ago, unzippy said:

Now that I've been here a year, I'd like to revisit this.

• Lane hogging (not moving left) is rife, because apparently drivers think that moving to the left and letting someone past is some sort of affront to their driving prowess.
• Undertaking (passing on the left) is rife, because of the lane hogging. 
• No-one lets you into lane 1 when you joining the motorway, because that's pushing in.
• No-one lets you out of a T-junction , that's considered queue jumping.
• No-one lets you in when merging, that's more queue jumping.
• If you don't move off within a 1/10th of a second of the light changing green you will be punished audibly. 
• If you stop when the light is amber, god help you.
• Everyone is so paranoid about speeding that they pay more attention to their speedo and not enough attention to the hazards ahead - you see so many rear end shunts its not even funny.

Yet speed limits continue to go down.  Brand new motorways (hopefully) designed with safety in mind - 4 lanes, central reservations, hard shoulders, no sharp corners, nowhere near schools for kid to run onto etc are being opened with permanent 80kmh limits.  That's 50mph!

I think the poor driving stems from two main issues:

Auto - nearly everyone drives auto, it leaves them too much free time with the left hand to use the phone. Wouldn't be so bad if they had a phone holder near eye level, but most drivers keep it down by the shifter or between their legs and use it down there because they think they can't be seen. Results in their head down and not looking where they are going or what's happening around them.

Aussie competitiveness* - 'that my gap, you're not having it!  Therefore I need drive as close as possible so there is no gap for people to get in to.' 
*Also see the lack of waiting to let people out of lift and letting people exit a train carriage before getting on.

You obviously live in Victoria 

[Bulya]

Just now, Skani said:

Where do you live, unzippy?

Isn’t it obvious?

[Bulya]

On 12/03/2018 at 16:27, KPG said:

Why?

Think about it....

[unzippy]

Victoria, Melbourne.

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, unzippy said:

Now that I've been here a year, I'd like to revisit this.

• Lane hogging (not moving left) is rife, because apparently drivers think that moving to the left and letting someone past is some sort of affront to their driving prowess.
• Undertaking ....

I think the reason for the driving is just the fact that Australian drivers don't need to develop the skills when they're a learner, and after that there's no one to teach them.  

We were terrified on the roads the whole time we were in the UK (south of England).   The traffic was SO fast, even on narrow winding roads.  Roundabouts were nervous breakdown territory.  It wasn't that people drove badly, in fact their skills were good - but then they drove to the limit of their skill and expected everyone else to be just as adept.   In Australian suburbs - where Australians learn to drive - the roads are wide and relatively quiet and you don't even have to consider other road users half the time, because there aren't any. You don't have to be aware of how wide your car is because you never have to squeeze through a narrow lane.  And so on.  Then once you've got your licence, you venture onto busy roads and have no idea how to deal with them, but you're on your own. 

[unzippy]

36 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I think the reason for the driving is just the fact that Australian drivers don't need to develop the skills when they're a learner, and after that there's no one to teach them.  

We were terrified on the roads the whole time we were in the UK (south of England).   The traffic was SO fast, even on narrow winding roads.  Roundabouts were nervous breakdown territory.  It wasn't that people drove badly, in fact their skills were good - but then they drove to the limit of their skill and expected everyone else to be just as adept.   In Australian suburbs - where Australians learn to drive - the roads are wide and relatively quiet and you don't even have to consider other road users half the time, because there aren't any. You don't have to be aware of how wide your car is because you never have to squeeze through a narrow lane.  And so on.  Then once you've got your licence, you venture onto busy roads and have no idea how to deal with them, but you're on your own. 

Sorry, I'm not with you.

I and my mates were taught to pass the test.  I think that was 11 lessons, therefore 11 hours of tuition. 

Learning to drive happened after passing the test (and am still learning) - when I was on my own, on busy roads.  I guess I learnt by observing other drivers going about their business and by making my own mistakes!

The only difference to Aus drivers is that they have very poor examples to learn from.

[Bulya]

2 hours ago, unzippy said:

Sorry, I'm not with you.

I and my mates were taught to pass the test.  I think that was 11 lessons, therefore 11 hours of tuition. 

Learning to drive happened after passing the test (and am still learning) - when I was on my own, on busy roads.  I guess I learnt by observing other drivers going about their business and by making my own mistakes!

The only difference to Aus drivers is that they have very poor examples to learn from.

You’re in Victoria.  The drivers are recognised as the worst in the country, and even more famous for driving in the right hand lane. 

[unzippy]

Tassie is better, granted.  But not by much.

[Toots]

2 minutes ago, unzippy said:

Tassie is better, granted.  But not by much.

Older drivers are OK but some of the young ones are shocking drivers.  Weaving in and out of traffic, speeding and just downright pushy (tailgating).

[unzippy]

1 minute ago, Toots said:

Older drivers are OK but some of the young ones are shocking drivers.  Weaving in and out of traffic, speeding and just downright pushy (tailgating).

The older ones were taught in the UK 

[Bulya]

On 16/03/2019 at 11:53, unzippy said:

The older ones were taught in the UK 

Maybe you should look at the idiot UK drivers videos (there are a lot of them).  Diabolical.  Here’s a sampler 

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by Bulya
Missing link

[Bulya]

And more ‘good pommy driving’

 

 

[Bulya]

And last for tonight’s special, Poms showing the world how not to drive 

 

 

[newjez]

On 03/03/2019 at 04:39, Toots said:

- a friend waited 11 months for her knee replacement.

Got a call from my son's consultant last week. Apparently he was meant to be seen in January, but he got 'lost' in the system. Again.

Fortunately everything was ok. But it would have been the same if it wasn't.

Bless the NHS. Some of the best and most advanced medical staff in the world, but third world administration sadly.

I guess it was all those comments ten years ago about too many administrators and not enough doctors. Now they don't have sufficient administration to let you see the doctors.

[Parley]

If people want faster treatment they should have private cover.

[unzippy]

On 17/03/2019 at 21:43, Bulya said:

Maybe you should look at the idiot UK drivers videos (there are a lot of them).  Diabolical.  Here’s a sampler 

 

Whatever makes you happy dear

[newjez]

On 17/03/2019 at 11:00, Bulya said:

And last for tonight’s special, Poms showing the world how not to drive 

 

 

Some of those moves are legal and acceptable in Perth.

[unzippy]

On 17/03/2019 at 22:00, Bulya said:

And last for tonight’s special, Poms showing the world how not to drive 

 

In fact @Bulya, pop the reading glasses back on an check out the title of the thread.

if you want to create your own thread “Why I hate the English despite being English and despite not having lived there since I was 4”, knock yourself out.

But currently you are quite off topic dear.

[Shiba28]

Hi, 

this thread is great! I have learned many things. 

 

[Bulya]

On 07/04/2019 at 23:19, unzippy said:

In fact @Bulya, pop the reading glasses back on an check out the title of the thread.

if you want to create your own thread “Why I hate the English despite being English and despite not having lived there since I was 4”, knock yourself out.

But currently you are quite off topic dear.

Your maths needs some work 

[Shiba28]

On 15/04/2019 at 17:50, Shiba28 said:

Hi, 

this thread is great! I have learned many things. 

 

enjoy ! 

 

Dafont 192.168.l.l FileHippo

[BathEd]

On 15/03/2019 at 06:00, Marisawright said:

I think the reason for the driving is just the fact that Australian drivers don't need to develop the skills when they're a learner, and after that there's no one to teach them.  

We were terrified on the roads the whole time we were in the UK (south of England).   The traffic was SO fast, even on narrow winding roads.  Roundabouts were nervous breakdown territory.  It wasn't that people drove badly, in fact their skills were good - but then they drove to the limit of their skill and expected everyone else to be just as adept.   In Australian suburbs - where Australians learn to drive - the roads are wide and relatively quiet and you don't even have to consider other road users half the time, because there aren't any. You don't have to be aware of how wide your car is because you never have to squeeze through a narrow lane.  And so on.  Then once you've got your licence, you venture onto busy roads and have no idea how to deal with them, but you're on your own. 

It's probably quite regional, but I found the driving in Australia to be much better than in the UK. To be fair I've only driven in southwest and south central England in the UK and a circuit from Cairns to Port Douglas, Atherton tablelands, Undara, Townsville, Innisfail and back to Cairns in Australia. 

But, for example I got a bit confused at Ingham and didn't realise the Bruce highway is dual carriageway in the town because the central reservation is wide and full of trees. So I started making a right turn heading north onto what turned out to be the southbound carriageway (oops!) at some traffic lights. I realised I was making a mistake and stopped to correct it. Here there would be furious beeping of horns and a lot of shouting and aggression but the other drivers were very patient and there were no horns etc. 

Driving within the speed limit (but not excessively slowly) I didn't get any tailgating or overtaking on blind bends as you'd get here.

It's probably different in and around Sydney etc.

[Ainell29]

Yes in the UK roads are not that wide compared here in Oz. But good thing there is they don’t blow horns unnecessarily- only to alert you if you nearly cause an accident. There they respect queue- if you’re in a traffic and you made mistake say you are supposed to be on the left lane so you signal, as it was “sort of your fault” then you wait patiently to be given the way to safely “insert” if they won’t give way then you wait. But here, when drivers signal left they move straight away to the left and if not given way they get angry it’s as if when they signal it is their right to be given way.

And because roads are not wide enough there they are always mindful of other road users- alone or not.

Apologies- just giving my observation.

Edited August 14, 2019 by Ainell29