Backwards baseball style or old codger wide-brim, the fear-factor is still the same. Couple it with a Hyundai (usually an Excel in faded blue) and you'll be lucky to get past the next exit without looking like Stephen Hawking.

I wonder if a glut of police speed camera vans converged on the roads out of Airlie Beach at the weekend, catching the late stragglers trying to escape the inbound cyclone?

I find the Hyundai Excel can sometimes be a bit of a Q-car. Most days they hold up traffic regardless of the driver (and their headwear) but sometimes one flashes past at light speed bent on taking off.

They were probably waiting for the cyclone to hit then book all the flying cars for speeding THEN a shedload of parking offences.

There must be something in the road rules about parking against the flow of the traffic whilst also balanced on a house roof. Double points, doughnut-tastic.

Depends on the drugs I guess ... one under the influence of a Werther's Original and the other Crystal Meth.

The Hyundai Excel must surely be an Aussie icon by now.

One of the most interesting combinations is

Hyundai Excel, the Green P plate, teenage girl and mobile phone.

It’s not speeding that causes accidents, it’s inappropriate speed.
It’s not up to them to continually tell us what the speed limit is. We should know, especially if we drive the roads regularly. That sign obviously works, you’ve remembered it and presumably know that the limit is 50 unless signed otherwise.
Is it? You have prior knowledge that the overtaking lane isn’t adequate for the manouvre you are going to do and yet you still proceed. You run the risk of the other car doing exactly what you’re doing and trying to be first back into the single lane. How often have people gone to overtake a slower moving car to find it accelerates?
Someone driving 50 – 75 – 60 in a short distance is an erratic driver. It sounds like you don’t want anyone in front of you. I’d rather the erratic driver in front of me so I can see what it’s going to do than behind me wondering when they are going to plough into my towball. Can you stop from 50 in a cars length, absolutely if you are aware of your surroundings and are prepared for the way other people drive. Defensive driving.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think speed cameras are allowed within 200 (maybe 300) metres of a change in limit.

I would like, for just a week, for no one to go over the speed limit. The government would lose many thousands in ‘income’ and I reckon the accident rate wouldn’t be much lower. Then the revenue raising brigade might have a point. (A $150 fine is what, a days wage to get home five minutes quicker, thanks I’ll keep my money). Until then, if you don’t want the police to take your hard earned cash, stay within the limit.

i don't know...

but here in canberra they sometimes use cameras that tell the police immediately if the driver is unlicensed or driving an unregistered car.. maybe they need to use these cameras in nsw more often.

the foot pedal in the middle or on the left in an auto car is the brake. try using that a, before breaking the speed limit. b, when blinded by oncoming lights etc. that thing top centre of the windscreen, you know the one where you hang your rosary beads and stuff, well thats a mirror and you can use it to check behind and ensure your sudden braking dont cause an accident. but if someone does run into the back of you they will be at fault so its ok.

Get back under your bridge!

Having done the tests at 50, 60 70, 80 90 100 and above in controlled safe private conditions to imrpove my breaking ability I can assure you that NOBODY can stop in one cars length from 50kmh.

Qld Transport may not be the finest bestions of truth and science but they suggest 50kmh gives you a stopping distance of 42m (http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home...g_speed_limits) - So either you're wrong - or cars are spectacularly long in your part of the world!

I DO prepare for the way other people drive - You dont ride a bike to work day in day out and survive if you dont. 50-75-60 in a VERY short space of time isnt necessarily eratic when its life-saving collision avoidance. Its unfortunate that its required - but cars do eratic things - and I will use EVERY tool available to me - including speeding on occassions - to actively improve my safety.

I will concede anyone drivng a car with such speed variances may have issues - since a car WONT accelerate fast enough to get out of trouble. In the situation I described in a car you're best of braking hard and limiting the speed in the inevitable collision - your steel cage will no doubt keep everyone safe and its an issue for the other drivers insurance to sort out.

On a bike the reality is different. graveyards are full of bikers who 'followed the rules' and where the drivers insurance may have paid out a few bills after the driver did not look, indicate or follow proper roaduser protocol. Its much better to avoid a collision - and bikes have the advantage of greaselightening acceration meaning getting ahead of trouble is often the best way.

I was thinking about this on my ride in today - I assess EACH AND EVERY CAR that I pass as I cruise in on a T2 transit lane and they sit near stationary in the other lane. Every single one of those cars has the potential to pull nto my lane with little or no notice. Of course I can improve my chances of detecting a 'rogue lane change' by looking at the drivers head position, watching for the tell-tale tiny changes of front wheel angle prior to the dash etc etc - but theres LOT to consider for each car.

If a car *is* going to pull out there are 3 courses of action:
1) Brake hard - Great if theres space (and failure for there to be space is not MY fault - its the driver for pulling out without seeing me) AND great if nobody is close behind me. However, if theres insufficient room (i.e. less than 40m when I'm doing 50kmh) - or the car behind me is a little close then attempting to stop could be a life ending decision. Being rear-ended when you're on a bike is a quick-trip to the morgue far too frequently, and running into the back of a car that just pulled out on you is still going to hurt. Not to mention the possibility of emergency braking resulting in loss of control and a slide UNDER the car in front (also good for the morgue)

2) Continue at same speed and aim for 'the split' between the 2 lanes of traffic - Only necessary of the breaking distance is not available. Once again - not an option for the car drivers - but on a bike if theres gap its better to hit the gap than the car!... Risky move though in a crisis situation as gaps close up when car drivers are moving around (particularly if they pull out suddenly and then realise they screwed up) - cliping handlbars as a rider fails to succesfully make an emergency lane-split is nto going to end well. If executed well however, this is an option for avoiding a collision and having some safety from the car behind (who cant follow and plough into the back of you)

3) Steer around and avoid - If the offending car is too close to stop before it when it starts moving over- then the obvious solution is to get around it before it completes the rogue merge. It takes most drivers a second or
two to change lanes - and if I'm just a few metres back than thats enough time to get infront and avoid the problem - but to do this I have to be quick - and a twist of the wrist to jump forwards IS the safest way - trying the same manouvre whilst carefully obeying the speed limit is a sure way to be merged into and knocked to the ground.

ALL these options are constantly assessed and re-evaluated for each of the several hundred cars I pass. Every inch of my journey is a constant mental excercise of "what if..." planning escape routes and avoidance strategies for potential eratic driving situations that may emerge.

Sure - some speeding is downright dangerous - but other speeding *IS* a reasonable measure to improve safety in specific conditions. Accusing someone of being a wreckless road user simply because they are aware and prepared to use the tools at their disposal to improve their survival is not helpfull.

(/rant)

Jeez, there's an awful lot of pontificating by the holier-than-thou brigade in this thread! Maybe the OP should now suggest not paying the fine for the whole gamut of righteousness!

In my opinion, I think that the road and traffic authorities *do* make it unecessarily difficult for the average Joe to get about without infringing the rules, and I also think that the police do tend to exploit this, while offering no discretion for what is often a genuine mistake. Whether this is by design or just an unhappy coincidence remains to be seen.

Certainly in NSW, the RTA has a tendency to micro-manage the speed limits, which results in far too many changes in limit over what is often too short a distance. This in turn really breaks up the flow of the traffic as it moves. It would be much better to have a consistently low speed limit than going up and down like a yo-yo every 4-500 metres. The road through the blue mountains is a great example of this - the limit changes a dozen times in a very short distance, and you only need a momentary lapse of concentration to be doing the wrong speed. It would be much smoother to have a 50 km/h limit all the way through.

I also agree with Red-V - There is far too much signage clutter, and it is often difficult to pay attention to all of the signs. A professional driver should be able to recount the last three signs they went past, and I certainly struggle to do that here, simply because of the sheer volume. It is very easy to be paying attention to the 'No Right Turn', the 'T3 Transit lane' and the 'Pedestrian crossing' signs, and miss the change in speed limit as a result. I pity anybody from out of town coming and driving around Sydney. It really is signage overkill - again from micro management of road sections - and if you don't know where you are going, it can be a pretty steep learning curve.


S

Road sign clutter. You are not wrong there. The one mentioned is a classic. We got loads around here like.
No turn right - 7-9AM, 3-6PM MON-FRI, by the time you have read it, checked the time and worked out you can turn you have missed the turning anyway.

Recent article from The Age here:
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0304-pjin.html