Originally Posted by BudBrain (Post 9105673)

Not long now till we fly out to Perth from the UK (just a holiday) and we're planning to hire a car.

I've never driven abroad, anything I need to keep in mind? Is it much different from the UK? (Signs etc)

Originally Posted by BudBrain (Post 9105673)

Not long now till we fly out to Perth from the UK (just a holiday) and we're planning to hire a car.

I've never driven abroad, anything I need to keep in mind? Is it much different from the UK? (Signs etc)

Originally Posted by halfcamoflauge (Post 9106143)

also in uk we overtake on the left in oz on the freeway u can undertake and overtake it doesn't matter.

Originally Posted by Red_V_Roger (Post 9106783)

Not true....firstly the fact that in UK we overtake on the RIGHT.

In Oz, the law is that unless signed otherwise, it is not necessary to keep left on roads with speed limits lower than 90 km/h. It is therefore permissable to drive in the centre lane of say a three lane road with a 70 km/hr limit and for traffic to both over and under take you.

On freeways and where signed 'Keep left unless overtaking' you must drive to the left as you would on a UK motorway.

Originally Posted by BudBrain (Post 9105673)

Not long now till we fly out to Perth from the UK (just a holiday) and we're planning to hire a car.

I've never driven abroad, anything I need to keep in mind? Is it much different from the UK? (Signs etc)

Originally Posted by Red_V_Roger (Post 9106783)

Not true....firstly the fact that in UK we overtake on the RIGHT.

In Oz, the law is that unless signed otherwise, it is not necessary to keep left on roads with speed limits lower than 90 km/h. It is therefore permissable to drive in the centre lane of say a three lane road with a 70 km/hr limit and for traffic to both over and under take you.

On freeways and where signed 'Keep left unless overtaking' you must drive to the left as you would on a UK motorway.

Originally Posted by JBJ14 (Post 9106988)

Last week WA drivers were just labelled the worst in Australia .... it is pretty bad as far as no courtesy and not keeping left when needed. Merging traffic is always entertaining, there could be 5 cars on the road, they will all speed up and slow down to try to get than one space further ..... then the whole lane will stop while no-one wants to let anyone in!

Also watch how they react when you try and challenge their fear of being overtaken .... they could be doing 90km on the freeway, but as soon as you indicate and get close to beside them, they will speed up to 110km until you give up and drop back .... at this point they revert back to their 90km/hr

Originally Posted by jimbo_d (Post 9107069)

Having just spent 6 weeks in South America and previously been all over Asia, I can honestly say WA drivers are truely excellent compared to a large majority of the world's drivers.

Originally Posted by BudBrain (Post 9106170)

This is fact (as in legal) right? Not just what people think? If I get pulled over I'll be handing out your forum names :lol:

Originally Posted by HelenTD (Post 9107160)

There are several tricks to safe driving in Perth:

1. A lot of Perth cars do not have indicators:sneaky:.

2. A lot of Perth drivers cannot read, recognise or understand:

• "stop" signs
• "give way" signs
• roundabouts
• merging
• road rules
• courtesy

3. A lot of Perth drivers are colour blind, eg when traffic light is red, they read it as green.

4. Assume that you will be tailgated and cut-off.

5. Be ultra-alert, as you will probably encounter ths type of behaviour every time you go somewhere. Hot weather can make people extra tired and cranky. If there happens to be a downpour while you here, it can make the roads very slippery after prolonged hot weather. Perth drivers often do not adjust to the driving conditions.

6. In particular, be wary of:

• men in 22-40 age group in shiny new utes
• souped-up sedan-type cars with fancy wheels and flashy lights
• tradesmen's vehicles with stuff moving about in the back
• truck drivers - WA roads belong to them above all others. Some very large trucks on suburban roads in Perth, not just in country areas
• speed limits - follow these, rather than the speed that everyone else is driving. The speed signs can change a lot on one road in a relatively short distance. Beware school zones, 40 kph from 0730-0900 and 1430-1600. Schools start going back late Jan.

7. Understand that the typical Perth driver seems to think that it is their road and you are slowing them down by merely being on it:rolleyes:. Most drivers drive with their windows closed, aircon on, perhaps radio/music/phone on, and IMO seem to be in their own little world, unaware of what's going on around them.

Broadly speaking, you should find it very similar to driving in the UK, as we found that standards had dropped there as well (except for courtesy):).