NJJ

had another incident this afternoon... Was driving along the highway, where three lanes merge into two just after traffic lights. Lights were green, i went straight over in middle lane in my small nissan pulsar, white toyota hilux truck thing speeds up the inside in a desparate attempt to get ahead of me!! he gets in front just as the lanes merge, running slightly off the left hand side of the road, then the bastard cuts right in front of me barely missing the front of my car by a foot, causing me to almost swerve across into the outside lane!! un-bloody-believable!! I gets alongside him further up the road where I have to turn off, hee's stuck in traffic waiting to go straight on and he's some f'kin old grandad!! I thought it would be some redneck and/or boy racer type but this guy must have been at least 65 - 70!! drivers here are in such a rush to get ahead of each other here, they must think getting ahead of two cars on a highway is going to save hours off their journey!! I was speaking to some aussie friends of mine about this type of thing a while ago and I told them that I put all this people racing in traffic and off traffic lights etc. down to the competitive psyche of the average australian motorist.


NJJ

chocaholic

Competitive - well that's a nice way of putting it, I suppose.......

ABCDiamond

Sometimes I put it down to road design. You get a one lane each way road, it opens up to two lanes at the lights, then closes down to one lane again just after the lights. So the two lanes of traffic that were waiting at the lights, fight for that 1 lane again.

The people who believe in driving on the left, are infuriated by those driving on the right getting right of way, and those that use the right lane are infuriated by those on the left trying to underake

Vanessa

Apart from the problems of having a concealed weapon in your car (which you could be charged) if the fact that you have to be very sure that you can use it effectively and not for them to disarm you and use it on you!!!

NJJ

looks like there has been some deaths here in VIC recently with cars being run off the road etc...

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...3-1243,00.html

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...4-1243,00.html

LancashireLass

My partners Mum had an incident a few weeks ago when a semi trailer was right up her arse and then tried to run her off the road as he overtook on double white lines when she didn't speed up.

She managed to get his number plate and the name of the co but when they rang the police she was told to go down to the station to lodge a complaint they couldn't take the details over the phone!

bondipom

They do seem to bring out the worst in some as well as some jams as everyone pulls in and out forcing those behind to stop. Those lanes that come together as one with the priority for the one with the bumper in front annoy me the most. It is when someone from the non merging lanes pulls across you leaving almost no space that it gets a bit hairy.

TopCat3

Does anyone remember the fatal RR incident at junction Glebe Pt Rd/P'matta Rd just after Christmas 04? If I remember rightly the younger guy cut across the older (60ish) guy, who remonstrated in some way with him (dont recall all details) so the youngster got out and decked the older guy and he died on the spot. I hate the way people sit on your tail here,my sister couldnt get over it,and the speed esp. in the E. Suburbs, when she visited.

P.S. What do you mean TopCat3 is an unknown quantity? I know me.

Quokka

did you back off to let him in?

jonni boy

i must say that whilst we were over in australia in january that it was my first time driving over there and i found everyone very considerate and quite relaxed.......you should come and drive around manchester,even around the gold coast where it's built up and by australian standards busy i still found it a pleasure to cruise around.we did see one road rage,well sort of anyway,there was a little guy in a big motor beeping the car in front that was waiting to turn onto a busy main road,the guy could'nt turn or he would have caused a major crash but little man in big car was giving him loads of stick until big and i mean muscle bound man in little car got out and walked up to his car.....wife,myself and our daughter's were stood waiting to cross over and we could'nt stop pissing ourselves,the prick in the big motor could'nt get his windows up fast enough....serve's him bloody right............

bondipom

I remember the incident. How do you get up to speed in the E Suburbs?

bondipom

Not sure about NJJ but I often find I cannot because someone is tailgating me.

NJJ

too bloody right you are, i have seen this a lot, even here in a fairly rural part of Victoria.

To answer the other poster, a car had already merged from the left in front of me in the normal fashion, when this guy sped up on the left hoping to squeeze in front of me before he ran out of road. I had to conede the lane as his hilux thing was twice the size of the car I was driving, I know who's vehicle would have come off worst had we collided.

renth

When I moved here over 2 years ago I found the lack of aggressive driving refreshing and a real improvement over the South East of England.

But now I feel the same way about "the idiots" on the road here as I did in the UK.

I don't think, technically, the drivers in WA are any where near as good as most drivers in the UK but they are less aggressive.

ABCDiamond

I found that aswell, and don't know if the drivers here have got worse, or that my attitude to it is changing.