Driving in Melbourne

[unzippy]

If you enjoy driving, it's terrible.  Drivers here have no idea about the 2 second rule, are generally incompetent and the quality of the roads is dire.

However, head out a bit and there are some fantastic roads with brilliant scenery.  Wednesday we headed out east to explore.

Route - https://goo.gl/maps/cEQ2YDs1Bvw  It started to get interesting from Chum Creek Road and just got better and better.  Marysville to the ski center at the top was mind blowing.

Could be a valley in the Eifel mountains on the way to the Nordschleife in October...

It's very picturesque in a freaky kind of way up there, especially with the clouds like they were.  It's hard to see the scale in the next picture but the place is full size dead gum trees:

If you look the pic of the two Golfs and the ridge in the background you can see the trees sticking up like hairs.  The entire area is covered in the big, dead, light grey gum trees, they stick up above all the other vegetation as the new vegetation is only 9 years old.  The entire range got wiped out by fire in 2009 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires 
 

Next is the You Yang's, apparently some of Mad Max was filmed around there.  Maybe Steiglitz/Brisbane ranges too.

Edited April 27, 2018 by unzippy

[Toots]

Lovely photos.

I wonder why drivers on the whole are so bad here.  God knows they have to spend a good long while on P plates before they are considered decent enough to drive on a full licence.  I find many drivers are pushy and aggressive.

[Toots]

I should add that I'm talking about Sydney drivers and yes, even here in Tasmania.  Smaller percentage here but many of them could still be far more polite and considerate when driving.  i absolutely hate tail-gaters.  I see plenty of road accidents and there is a reason for that.  Bad drivers.

[unzippy]

Thanks Toots.

I've driven lots in Hobart, it's not great but it's quite definitely worse in Melbourne.  I've read the speed limit keeps dropping but it doesn't seem to be helping.  It mostly seems to be rear end collisions too - people driving too close to each other.  There must be serious deficiencies in the driving test or the way driving is taught here.

[Sandgroper]

Melbourne drivers are some of the worst I have seen, Perth drivers are only slightly better though. I didn't think the roads in Melbourne were that bad compared to UK roads which are atrocious, thankfully Perth roads are excellent on the whole every UK visitor we have comments and how good they are.

[Toots]

1 hour ago, unzippy said:

Thanks Toots.

I've driven lots in Hobart, it's not great but it's quite definitely worse in Melbourne.  I've read the speed limit keeps dropping but it doesn't seem to be helping.  It mostly seems to be rear end collisions too - people driving too close to each other.  There must be serious deficiencies in the driving test or the way driving is taught here.

I'm on the north west coast of Tassie.  For some weird reason I find the female drivers are worse than the males.  They drive far too fast - of course over the speed limit - and jump around from lane to lane.  I've also seen them cause a few accidents.  The thing here is nearly everyone here drives as the public transport leaves a lot to be desired.  I have no idea how some of the drivers managed to pass the driving test.  Most of them drive around in big 4 x 4 like the one below.

 

[Mike@Bonbeach]

FWIW, I think the lack of police presence on the roads is possibly to blame for the sometimes poor quality of driving. They only seem interested in catching speeding drivers and don't seem to bother about other bad driving habits, tailgating, swapping lanes, using phones, driving through amber lights when there is plenty of time to stop, not stopping at Halt signs, driving through flashing red lights on level crossings. The police could fund a few extra police just by sitting at a level crossing near me. (Bonbeach, Chelsea and Carrum). I reckon just one in ten drivers stop at the halt sign at the top of the road where it joins Station Street. Gosh, you could go on for ever criticizing drivers here in Australia ( Victoria), but I have just become so enured to it all. Now I just drive to expect the worst and that anything can happen and so drive accordingly.

Why don't they increase the fines for mobile phone use, instead of $300 or whatever it is make it $3000 and loss of licence, that'll make them think a bit.

Mike

[unzippy]

Good idea. They are starting to take mobile use seriously in the UK now, 6 points and £600 fine.

[CeltInCaulfield]

Make it a permanent ban. That'll either get them to think or get them off the roads if they cannot.

[Sandgroper]

1 hour ago, Mike and Connie said:

FWIW, I think the lack of police presence on the roads is possibly to blame for the sometimes poor quality of driving. They only seem interested in catching speeding drivers and don't seem to bother about other bad driving habits, tailgating, swapping lanes, using phones, driving through amber lights when there is plenty of time to stop, not stopping at Halt signs, driving through flashing red lights on level crossings. The police could fund a few extra police just by sitting at a level crossing near me. (Bonbeach, Chelsea and Carrum). I reckon just one in ten drivers stop at the halt sign at the top of the road where it joins Station Street. Gosh, you could go on for ever criticizing drivers here in Australia ( Victoria), but I have just become so enured to it all. Now I just drive to expect the worst and that anything can happen and so drive accordingly.

Why don't they increase the fines for mobile phone use, instead of $300 or whatever it is make it $3000 and loss of licence, that'll make them think a bit.

Mike

Same in Perth more interested in revenue raising than preventing serious driving offences.