Ahhh, Ludwig, I thought the road toll would please you.
You know, population control etc, hi !

My main moan about drivers is the one where a car waiting to turn right
from the middle of the road stands there with the front wheels already
turned for the turn.

If someone runs into the back of them they will almost certainly be
killed because they will be shunted straight into oncoming traffic.
I tried without success to get the NRMA to take this up and get it made
an offence, but absolutely no interest.

Yes Bazz, I know of one such accident that happened where I live. The driver just survived, but all 4 passengers were killed. The car got shunted under a truck - even at town speeds thats a sure-fire way to get flattened.

Brock, I dont have a problem with having a higher speed limit in some areas, but the problem is that already people are not prepared to decrease their speed in situations where it is called for. If people were prepared to drive to the conditions, then there would be no problems with having higher speed limits.

Country Gal

You touched on one really significant point – drivers who do exercise caution and drive accordingly when under less than ideal conditions can effectively become a hazard, because most (or many) drivers continue driving in a manner not in keeping with the hazards and become impatient with those who do.

Similarly, if you respect the law at face value, especially speed limits on our highways, you constantly get barraged by drivers wanting to go a few ks faster.

And if you dare to go anywhere near the face value of temporary signage at roadworks until you are actually in the roadworks zone proper, then look out! Most drivers just can’t tolerate that at all!

This is where the policing regime is all-important. Drivers MUST know just exactly what the law effectively is (we sure as hell can’t rely on what is written in law or presented on roadsigns!) and they MUST be held accountable.

Yes animals on the road can be a very significant hazard. Many times I have been out on the wide open highway near dusk when there are roos on the roadverge or numerous roadkills on the road, and witnessed cars with no front-end protection just flying along as fast as they think they can get away with by law without giving this hazard any thought.

Oviously when there is any chance of roos or cattle being on the road or roadverge, one really does need to adapt their driving to be ready for quick stopping or aversive action. This means lowering their speed considerably and increasing following distance by quite a large margin if they are behind another vehicle.

This is basic safety-margin and risk-factor stuff that few drivers observe, and which should and could so easily be a fundamental part of driver-training.

Oviously that should have been “Obviously”!
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“The comment made by one correspondent is typical of the level of national debate, ‘I was tail-gated on the Bruce Highway at 105 kph.’ SO WHAT.Move over and let her go past,That is the answer to this problem.’

My goodness Brock! What a wonderful solution. Just let the aggressive impatient risk-taking safety-UNconscious drivers have the road! And in so doing promulgate this sort of behaviour which would lead to increased risks for us all. Surely you can’t be serious.

“Rather logical but logic is never used in the national debate.”

Yes! And this is true of SOOOO many things with road safety…. simple logical things that could so easily be implemented, but just aren’t.

“Australian Police have the worst reputation of any Police Forces in the world for lack of intelligent traffic control.”

Well I don’t know about that but I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve got to say though that the problems don’t just sit with police themselves, they sit with governments which don’t provide adequate resources for them to do the job, and with the general community which doesn’t insist that governments do this, and which largely gets hung up on the very notion of being more vigorously policed.

Hi Bazz. I’ll let your comment slide through to the keeper…. with a friendly grimace! (:>)
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“I dont have a problem with having a higher speed limit in some areas, but the problem is that already people are not prepared to decrease their speed in situations where it is called for. If people were prepared to drive to the conditions, then there would be no problems with having higher speed limits.”

I fully agree Country Gal.

I've been driving now for more years than I care to remember and, if anything, the standard of driving has deteorated.
There are fewer accidents per 100,000 vehicles these days but I think that that can mainly be attributed to the better roads.
More stringent testing of drivers may be offered as another factor, but I remember when South Australia and Ireland didn't have driving licence tests.
One just went to the local Police sergeant in S.A. and to the Sergeant of the Civil Guard in Ireland (Ireland doesn't have a police force) and they gave you your licence, upon payment, and the sage advice to study the road rules and not to drive on busy roads until you felt confident. Both places introduced testing and those that passed now considered themselves persons who could drive a car. Didn't they have pieces of paper to prove it?

The road toll in both places went up.

Pet hates (there are others): Persons who drive on bright sunny days with their headlights on and particularly those who have their lights on high beam plus any other optional lights that shine to the front. These people are particularly annoying when driving behind one as the inside rear-view mirror has to be moved to 'night' setting to avoid the glare