Originally Posted by harrip

UNLESS OVERTAKING KEEP LEFT does not mean sit in the middle lane on the freeway, it means get in the left lane unless frigging overtaking. How many times a see a car just sat in the middle lane with no other traffic anywhere near astounds me.

Originally Posted by MartinLuther

Yep. I saw that one the other day (although it didn't work).

Originally Posted by Burbage

I drove from Cairns to the Gold Coast and back at exactly the speed limit, as I always do, and I was the slowest vehicle on the road. Of course you could say that because I was going at a certain speed then I didn't encounter others who were going at the speed limit. On the other hand, I think I overtook a slower car only a couple of times, and if the volume of traffic coming the other way was similr to the volume going my way then yes, I'd say eeryone was breaking the speed limit. I saw quite a few of them pulled in too. One idiot in a merc 4x4 suddenly appeared behind me between a couple of checks in my mirror and was doing the tailgate job on me. Next thing he knew was blue and red flashy lights behind him. Hahahahaha.

Saw one accident too, which wasn't as funny, but was almost certainly caused by excessive speed.

Trouble with the Bruce Highway is that it's single carriageway most fot he way and there are a lot of impatient drivers out there. I pulled over a couple of times to let the dangerous drivers pass me. It's better to have in idiot in front of you where you can see him/her.

I agree though that with local traffic there's not as much speeding as you'd see in the UK. The thing that gets me is that if they can travel exactly at a 110kmh or 115kmh, why can't they travel at 100kmh? Just not able to do it, I guess.

Originally Posted by bcworld

Are you sure it didn't work? I think they are set not to show anything if you are going too far above the speed limit.

Probably to stop hoons getting a photo of themselves at 200kmh!

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

The problem with that, is the rules in Australia are different to the UK rules:

Here in QLD it states:


Therefore, sticking in the middle lane, is actually correct, at least in QLD and NSW, and I think maybe other States also.

It may seem very odd to the British, who were taught to keep in the Left LANE, unless overtaking.

Slightly different wording, with different meaning.

On the under 90kph roads in QLD, it doesn't apply anyway, so you can use any lane you like, and not break any laws.

Originally Posted by harrip

I think one of the biggest reasons for tail gating is simply because drivers here (and the UK for that matter) fail to understand the sign that reads UNLESS OVERTAKING KEEP LEFT.

UNLESS OVERTAKING KEEP LEFT does not mean sit in the middle lane on the freeway, it means get in the left lane unless frigging overtaking. How many times a see a car just sat in the middle lane with no other traffic anywhere near astounds me.

Now I personally do not tail gate, recognising its dangers, however, if there is a car sat in the middle lane, I will pull out from the left lane to the right lane then over take before pulling back into the far left lane. A dramatic procedure compared to having to just over take one lane if they were in the right lane in the first place. Other drivers are possibly more frustrated and decide to sit up the car's rear in the hope they can educate the driver to pull over into the correct lane - something that rarely happens.

Originally Posted by harrip

Oh for heavens sake:

NSW Road Users Handbook, Page 115 (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/...educa_dl1.html)

Once on the motorway, stay in the left lane unless overtaking.
If there are three lanes and the left lane has many vehicles travelling at a slower speed than you,stay in the middle lane. After you have passed them, you should return to the left lane. The right lane is generally reserved for overtaking so move out of it as soon as it is safe to do so.

Originally Posted by Dairymilk04

I'm not sure what the rules are here for learners drivers, but i am wondering if one of the reasons for all this bad driving is the lack of "proper" driving school/instructors?
I have been in Cairns for 10 months and in that time have only seen 2 "driving school" cars.
If the majority of learner drivers are being taught off parents, friends etc, then this would surely mean bad driving habits are passed down from one generation to the next and will continue doing so.

Originally Posted by Dairymilk04

I'm not sure what the rules are here for learners drivers, but i am wondering if one of the reasons for all this bad driving is the lack of "proper" driving school/instructors?
I have been in Cairns for 10 months and in that time have only seen 2 "driving school" cars.
If the majority of learner drivers are being taught off parents, friends etc, then this would surely mean bad driving habits are passed down from one generation to the next and will continue doing so.

Originally Posted by tictac

I was passed the other day by a huge 4WD with an L plate on the back doing 90 in a 70 zone.

There appeared to be a teenage kid at the wheel and a bloke about 50 years old in the passenger seat.

I think bad driving is endemic. Many know no different.

Originally Posted by Burbage

I've found that the left lane usually moves faster since everyone seems to be in the middle lane.

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

...
Personally I feel they should move over to the left lane, but the Australian argument that I hear, is that they do not need to, as their law does not say they have to.

Originally Posted by DadAgain

If there are three lanes on a UK road, then common sense (and the law) dictate that unless overtaking, the left hand lane is the appropriate place to be.

If there are three lanes on an Australian road however, common sense is far less clear-cut. With the left lane frequently disappearing and reappearing thanks to the crazy design of doing lane merges on the left side rather than right, perhaps theres a case to be made saying that staying the in the middle of three is safer (less likely to suddently find yourself running out of road and needing a RAPID lane change to stay on the road?). Perhaps all these legendary tailgaters are all so confused about which lanes are going to continue to exist in in the next km or so along the road they figure its best to follow someone else and let them pick a path through all the lane merges?!


(For the record I dont think tailgating is necessarily any worse here in SE Qld than UK and I think Aus drivers tend to be a lot more obediant in speeding terms than the UK - but lane discipline **is** terrible, road layouts **are* terrible and dangerous vehicles are FAR more common).

Originally Posted by mil

One of the first things I realised when I arrived in Australia was the horrendous amount of tailgating that goes on. Not just 'white van man' or 'sales rep' like in England, but people of any age or sex. Thought I had gotten used to it, and started to accept that that is just how people drive here but an episode the other day really aggravated me. I left work after my afternoon shift and was driving home on the Sunshine Motorway at about 10.15pm. I set off cruising along on the nice, quiet road doing the speed limit. All was well until some clown decided he would drive hanging off my bumper for the whole duration:curse:. What made it worse was the road was so quiet, he/she had ample opportunity to overtake, but insisted on tailgating instead. What is the point? If you want to go faster than the speed limit, just bloody overtake and leave the rest of us alone!! Is it any wonder why the death toll on the Sunshine Coast roads is so high. Rant over, feel better getting that off my chest.