Most drivers here assume that the speed limit is a lower limit. Somehow they haven't worked out that it is an upper limit.

Tailgating is very common from women here, which I found quite strange, since it's an aggressive and dangerous thing to do and not what one would expect from someone not under the influence of testosterone. I have a theory though. I think women who tailgate are trying to stay in a group. They are uncomfortable with the idea of being 200m away from everyone (a consequence of the empty roads) and feel much happier when they are up close. This is why they don't want to overtake.

My method for dealing with this is that if the driver behind can't maintain a safe following distance then I provide it for them. Travelling 10m behind me at 100kph is dangerous. Travelling 10m behind me at 30kph is safer. If they want to travel at 100kph they need to drop back to 200m. Almost none of the drivers here seem to be able to work this out, and there are a lot of roads round here where overtaking isn't possible...

I'm beginning to wonder if I really do have to have an operation to become a citizen.

What about the rednecks who have been out on the lash Sean?
Bet they make up a big number too. I know around here the further country you get, the more lawless it is..
Driving here really does suck, theres no courtesy and no forward thinking whatsoever. For example if you are waiting to pull out onto a duel carriageway and the outside lane is clear does anyone think to pull out into it to let traffic enter? No friggin way...that would involve courtesy AND forward thinking... The lack of road awreness is shocking, it really is!

There is no patience. To me that is the root of the problem. I think there's a kind of national small man's syndrome in Australia, where they are always trying to prove they are just as good as everyone else. All you have to do to confirm this is to look at the size of the cars they drive.

[QUOTE=cresta57;7209744]I honestly felt safer on the U.K roads than I do here in this particular part of Australia.

I don't. I feel much safer on motorways here than I ever did in the UK, hardly any tailgating compared to what I experienced in the UK. The only thing I don't like is the Semi Trailers not having to stay in the left hand lane - that freaks me out slightly. One thing I have noticed here, I have never been flashed by an idiot coming up behind me to shift me out of the way here (probably because I'm not aware of tailgating). It was a constant in the UK - like they had a greater right to be in the lane than I did.

>>For example if you are waiting to pull out onto a duel carriageway and the outside lane is clear does anyone think to pull out into it to let traffic enter?<<

What an appropriate Freudian slip! But dead right (Pun not intended...)

I drove around Rome and all over Italy ... now *that* is a hair-raising experience!

Em x

PS When they flash the lights at you in Italy it means "I AM COMING THRU".. when they put the hazard lights on it means "I AM SLOWING DOWN".. when they do a hand gesture of raising the fist with your pinkie and your 1st finger up, it means your wifes a whore and I am going to kill you.... (examples of Road Etiquette in Italy)..

I don't think it is the done thing here, but was pretty normal back in the UK. I remember being told off for doing just that, by a NSW Policeman, but then, I had just flashed him to get out of my way !!

[QUOTE=moneypen20;7209837] Errrm, Pen? Read Seans post again....

Agree - i think alot of the problem are also because of tunnell vision and focusing on objects straight ahead versus activities behind and beside you.

Frustrates me the way people follow through red lights because they are only watching the car in front. Not just talking running red lights I mean the red is well and truly on as well as my green light.

[QUOTE=hevs;7209961] Oooops Might need to do a bit of clever editing there Note to self: read thread carefully before replying

Edit: Error? What error?

[QUOTE=moneypen20;7209837] I know, it amazes me when someone comes up 2cm behind as if somehow they are rushing a transplanted kidney to hospital, but after I move to the left in a hurry to let them overtake I find a minute later they're going slower than me.

This of course assumes that they had no opportunity to UNDERtake, which is far more accepted in Oz. Recently I realised that the reason people overtake on the left is because there are always new lanes appearing and disappearing on the left so if you just want to stay on the inside lane you end up hopping back and forth.

A few months ago I had a full gravel truck about 5m off my back bumper- could not see his number plate! The choices I had were to speed up hugely and get ahead of traffic in next lane to oull in, or slow down and pull in.
I decided the latter was the best (safest option) with this idiot behind me...well he nearly hit the central reservation as he was so close when I slowed.
Then going over the Westgate Bridge (Melbourne) he pulled in ahead of me and slowed to 30km. As I went to go past, he pulled out. He was determined to stay in front.
I was pretty scared by now, and decided to floor it and get past....he swerved his truck across 3 lanes to cut me off.

I pulled off the freeway and called his company (noted his truck number) and reported him to the police. Hope he lost his job. His boss said "I know exactly who you mean".

Yeah, I hope he has too.. nothing worse than an idiot in charge of a 30 tonne truck!

Em x

In Luxembourg, I found this happened alot when I first got there - I thought Continental drivers were being polite and letting me in the first few weeks. Even the UK highway code says this also means 'I am here' (coming through). The Belgians were considered bad in that part of the world because apparently there was no test until the 70s or something(!)

I am as bad a driver as any other Australian because I tend to be bored rigid when I do drive on highways that compared to London and the SE are vertually empty.

That might be some reason.

I feel safer in SE Melbourne than in London and SE.

I don't like the weaving in and out, by the occasional hoon, but that might be due to the fact that undertaking is allowed - but even then it's fair to say lane discipline is crap. My wife criticises me for hogging the fast lane a tad but my view is that I can't be arsed to go in, only to head back over seconds later. I wait until I get a nice clear stretch in the inside.

But then, in the UK, I recall moving over for the mergers...(which they can be a bit lazy about here) so....

it's all highly dependant on what is going on, and as, when I drive, as there is not much going on in terms of volume, I reckon we're just trying to stay *awake*..

but I'd rather be *asleep* when I get called out in the middle of the night to deal with a MVA cos some other sod has stuffed up...