Originally Posted by tictac (Post 7216141)

A friend of a friend bought his P-plater son a brand new Prado through his company's novated lease scheme.

He's decided to opt for CTP insurance only as he figures that if his son doesn't have a crash for 3 years then he'll have saved $xk :ohmy:

Originally Posted by camponotus (Post 7216293)

Australians are aggressive and impatient. That's all there is to it. You'll find it in all aspects of the way they conduct themselves. Not just driving.

Originally Posted by suzyt (Post 7216092)

the thing is they could see that we had our two kids in the car. PRATS AND DOUBLE PRATS

Originally Posted by emelems (Post 7209940)

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

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).. :lol:

Originally Posted by camponotus (Post 7216293)

Australians are aggressive and impatient. That's all there is to it. You'll find it in all aspects of the way they conduct themselves. Not just driving.

Originally Posted by moneypen20 (Post 7216629)

This one interests me (not). How do you know they're Australian?

Originally Posted by Grayling (Post 7216632)

It's obvious they are Australian otherwise they would be driving better:p

Originally Posted by moneypen20 (Post 7216652)

Nice try.;) However, spend any time driving around my old home town in the UK and then drive around my current home town, and the quality in the driving here is very obvious (compared to my old home town etc etc etc) :zzz: We all have different perceptions and different experiences. :D

Originally Posted by Wol (Post 7216049)

This is certainly part of it. Road positioning seems non-existent - someone turning right rarely positions their car so that others can pass to their left. And reading the road ahead also appears non-existent: we have to turn right into our road off the main Bowral/Moss Vale road (two lanes each way) and I can almost guarantee that, despite indicating and getting well over to the right 100m before the turn, the following car / ute will only realise they are about to rear-end me when they have only a second to spare - then they swerve across into the inside lane (indicating as they do: everyone indicates religiously as if that absolves them of all responsibility!)

Originally Posted by Burbage (Post 7216717)

Would anyone else drive around in an empty ute?

Originally Posted by Wol (Post 7216049)

This is certainly part of it. Road positioning seems non-existent - someone turning right rarely positions their car so that others can pass to their left. And reading the road ahead also appears non-existent: we have to turn right into our road off the main Bowral/Moss Vale road (two lanes each way) and I can almost guarantee that, despite indicating and getting well over to the right 100m before the turn, the following car / ute will only realise they are about to rear-end me when they have only a second to spare - then they swerve across into the inside lane (indicating as they do: everyone indicates religiously as if that absolves them of all responsibility!)

Originally Posted by Molko1974 (Post 7216114)

I know! Why don't they move over or pull forward more. And agree, they don't tend to look ahead. So many times I have sat at the lights to turn right indicating and the cars behind will want to turn left (there are 3 lanes at the lights) and get annoyed that they can't because I am turning right and they didn't look.

Originally Posted by The Bloke (Post 7212613)

Sorry Sean, but that tired old speed excuse by the Government is a load of crap. I've been driving that road, on and off, for over 27 years and I can honestly say that in most cases, it is the design of the road that is a fault, and the lack of major funding for upgrades. Take for example the exit into the Matilda Roadhouse on the other side of Gympie. A right-hand turn in the middle of the road, on the brow of a hill, on a blind corner (both ways), with just enough room in the turning lane for a medium size truck. In fact the entire Highway from Gympie to Corooy has not been widened since I started driving on it 27 years ago to accommodate the masively increased volume of traffic. As far as I recall, they have only taken out 1 dangerous bend down near Amamoor State Forest in all that time. Also, if I remember, the stretch from Bells Bridge to Maryborough was a crap road then as well.
If you go to Goomeri, you will find that they have only just replaced the road and bridge at Fat Hen Creek, which was a nightmare to drive along in that time, as well as in the process of replacing another single-lane bridge near Goomeri. Both stretches have had no major work, save filling in potholes (to make the cars bounce all over the road) in nearly 50 odd years. BTW, they are on a major regional Highway.
Lack of funds is to blame, not speed, in most cases.


This makes interesting reading.... http://www.racq.com.au/about_us/corp...y_racq_members

Originally Posted by mil (Post 7207253)

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.