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Old 03-07-2019, 04:35 PM
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Talking of traffic stupidity...

A few things I have noticed that are becoming really endemic on the roads in Australia (Canberra really being the worst I have experienced).

1. Stopping WAY back from an intersection, especially at lights. Most of these twits stop SO far back from the intersection that they don't stop on the trigger plates of non-timer traffic lights, therefore NOT signalling the system that they are waiting at the lights. They then sit and wonder why they aren't getting a green light. SO many times I have gotten out and explained it to drivers - and they look TERRIFIED someone is approaching the side of their car too! Beeping them does not work, as they are clueless as to what is going on to start with. I have noticed this is a REAL problem in Canberra at single lane lights. I have seen some stop easily a full car length behind the stop line, WAY back from the trigger plates inlet in the road. (in case you DON'T know, the trigger plates are the squares cut into the road with pressure plates put underneath then re-tarmaced).

WHY????????????????????



2. Creepers - the simpletons who sit at lights and slowly keep rolling forward like they are in the world's biggest rush. They will roll and roll until they are over the darned line...but the funny thing is this dills are so slow in their reactions when it does turn green that 99.9% of the time, you beat them on the go (not even trying to accelerate rapidly). Nearly ALWAYS male in their 30's or early 40's, and mostly 4WD/SUV/ute types

My 2 gripes. Canberra has MORE than it's fair share of these types of driver, especially the KM back from intersection type (more recently than I have EVER seen). ACT roads really need to have signs explaining it
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Old 03-07-2019, 04:58 PM
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May I have a grizzle?
On the freeway..car on cruise control so the speed remains constant...some one passes pulls back in front and slows up...so you have to cancel cruise control back off before you reset...why pass if you get ahead and go slower.

I find the practice annoying.

Alex
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Old 03-07-2019, 05:24 PM
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ohhh don't get me started parking how many times have you gone to find a parking spot and some one parks right in the middle were you can fit 2 and some times 3 cars in they must think they are driving a B Double were as if they just moved up to the car infront of them all would be good but no we get it heaps here and i put a sign on there windscreen saying parking for B Doubles is on the other side of town thank you for your consideration .
errrr I want to move .
cheers Pete

Last edited by RB; 03-07-2019 at 07:40 PM. Reason: TOS Profanity filter bypass removed
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Old 03-07-2019, 11:14 PM
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Lewis FYI those aren’t “trigger plates”. What is there is several loops of wire - an inductor - which senses the presence of a large lump of steel over the loop.

These can be installed in a few hours by a few guys equipped with a saw an a bucket of molten tar (pitch) which is poured in after the loop is installed to fill the cut, and more-or-less seal out water.

No moving parts, the wire loop is cheap, reliable and if one does break that can be sensed too, and the team comes back and repeats the installation.

When you think about how many of these have been installed nationally let alone worldwide (a staggering number) cost and failure rates are a serious issue.

SCATS was (is) a very clever Australian product.
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Old 04-07-2019, 06:47 AM
glend (Glen)
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As Nick said:
https://www.news.com.au/technology/i...2bac8e77010520

And I believe it works in proximity, so you don't need to be directly over it. Any large mass of metal is sufficent to trigger it, so it doesn't matter if you vehicle is front or rear engined.

Of course Canberra might be completely different, it is in its own bubble after all.
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Old 04-07-2019, 06:58 AM
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Only problem with induction wires is motorbikes and especially bicycles not trigering the lights. Plenty of times I had to roll forward and press thd button.
PS. I hate right hand lane travellers who dont get out of the right lane when you are trying to overtake. No matter what you do they wont budge so you are forced to overtake in the left lane. Most 2 lane roads even have a reminder every now and then
" left lane except when overtaking" grrrrrrr
Cheers
Andy
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Old 04-07-2019, 08:21 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by glend View Post
As Nick said:
https://www.news.com.au/technology/i...2bac8e77010520

And I believe it works in proximity, so you don't need to be directly over it. Any large mass of metal is sufficent to trigger it, so it doesn't matter if you vehicle is front or rear engined.

Of course Canberra might be completely different, it is in its own bubble after all.
Good to know about the tech, but I can assure you that -at least here - the things wont trigger unless you are over it or very close. I once sat at a set of lights on Sydney Ave here with a big Yank tank ahead not on the area...no turn light... i backed up, turned left instead. They were still waiting even after I did a (slightly illegal ) U turn.

Pretty positive they won’t trigger if the car stops a car length behind the area...which is endemic here. I can’t fathom why they won’t stop at the line
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Old 04-07-2019, 08:34 AM
dikman (Richard)
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Mustn't forget this one....
Following someone on a single lane highway and they are travelling below the speed limit but it's not safe to pass. When a passing lane appears they speed up to the speed limit and then slow down again when the passing lane ends!



I don't know what goes through what passes for a brain in these people but it's a common practice.
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Old 04-07-2019, 09:12 AM
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Originally Posted by dikman View Post
Mustn't forget this one....
Following someone on a single lane highway and they are travelling below the speed limit but it's not safe to pass. When a passing lane appears they speed up to the speed limit and then slow down again when the passing lane ends!



I don't know what goes through what passes for a brain in these people but it's a common practice.
Yes indeed...I have followed these types and they will do eighty but overtaking lanes appears and they hit the turbo button up to a hundred. ..even one ten...and you have to exceed the speed limit to pass them.
I feel like executing a citizens arrest and empounding their car☺ and imposing six months hard labour in my garden.

Another for me somewhat related to the first is how folk overtake and pull back in front in a car length or less ...I put it down to the side mirrors making things look small...
Alex
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Old 04-07-2019, 10:10 AM
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Same with the ninnies that realise they are driving slower than the limit only when you proceed to overtake them - then they speed up to match you, and you either have to drop back, or accelerate above the speed limit to over-take them. I find that a LOT on the road from Canberra to Sydney or Canberra to Yass.

Again, most of the time it's a middle-aged guy in a 4WD/Ute/SUV that is "defending his masculinity"...how dare a puncy little Ford overtake his Ranger/Triton/F-150/Patrol/Xtrail/Pathfinder/CX-5/Tiguan/Amarok/Pajero (it's amusing what Pajero means in Spanish - rather apt a lot of the time https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/pajero - did Mitsubishi have a sense of humour in it's marketing strategy?)
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Old 04-07-2019, 10:20 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LewisM View Post
(it's amusing what Pajero means in Spanish - rather apt a lot of the time https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/pajero - did Mitsubishi have a sense of humour in it's marketing strategy?)
Funny, that's what Ford means in Greek.
greekdict.com/translate/ford

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Old 04-07-2019, 11:41 AM
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I am conjuring a specific Rick Astley Lovers spell just for you Andrew...(a curse, if you will...)
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Old 04-07-2019, 11:45 AM
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Old 04-07-2019, 12:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave View Post
Another for me somewhat related to the first is how folk overtake and pull back in front in a car length or less ...I put it down to the side mirrors making things look small...
Alex
That assumes they ever glance in them Alex.

I find the OP issue surprisingly prevalent too. You wonder if people have been taking something illegal and are seeing a car in front of them that is not really there.

My biggest gripe though is related to where I work, I suppose I have not worked anywhere else with a set of traffic lights in and out of it but in ten years here I am staggered firstly by how many people run the red light on the road outside my works depot, going just because the light is green is like playing Russian Roulette. Second, the other side of the road from the depot is essentially a T intersection (Our side being the depot entry only) and it is a daily game of "Which way are they going?" when you are exiting the depot and someone is coming out from the other side.

Most don't indicate at all, but indicating left means they are going left or right, indicating right means they are going left or right, not indicating means they are going left or right. Even looking at how they are placing their car in the intersection is meaningless as they creep along in the gutter then swing right at the last instant or drive up the middle of the road then go left. On incredibly rare occasions not indicating actually means they will go straight ahead and into the depot. I nearly turned in front of a van doing that a few months ago because it is just so unusual, the second car in ten years I have actually seen do that!
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Old 04-07-2019, 02:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mynameiscd View Post
Only problem with induction wires is motorbikes and especially bicycles not trigering the lights. Plenty of times I had to roll forward and press thd button...
Cheers
Andy
My Triumph Daytona 675 had so much alloy, and so little iron I could not set off the wire. I'd need to invite a car to park alongside me, if I was at the line. My older Gixxer 600 had no such trouble.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave View Post
May I have a grizzle?
On the freeway..car on cruise control so the speed remains constant...some one passes pulls back in front and slows up...so you have to cancel cruise control back off before you reset...why pass if you get ahead and go slower.

I find the practice annoying.

Alex
Beyond annoying. Happens constantly between Townsville and Cairns. Thing is, the perpetrators of this have much newer cars than mine, presumably with their own cruise control.

My biggest gripe is lack of indicators at turn offs, or roundabouts. I must give way, so I stop, as they are going past. Except they don't go past. At the last moment, they simple turn in, with a token blink as they turn the corner. A friend of mine referred to it as "confirmicating"...

Another issue is clowns who must be first ahead on a straight. After lights, or any reason to stop, they tear ahead as fast as possible. Give them a corner or roundabout however, and they crawl around the challenge. All boot, no skill.
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Old 04-07-2019, 02:41 PM
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Better the road rage comes out here than on the road, I suppose. But don't get me started about Rick Ghastly
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Old 04-07-2019, 02:50 PM
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Originally Posted by The_bluester View Post
... but indicating left means they are going left or right, indicating right means they are going left or right, not indicating means they are going left or right...
My old motorbike instructor had many revelations to share. One of them was this:
Quote:
The indicator flashing on a car means one thing (and one thing only) - the bulb works.
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Old 04-07-2019, 04:44 PM
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All boot, no skill.
There's a lot of that around.

I frequently ask myself how some got their license.

It seems to me that, rather than apply close scrutiny of competence through the court system after the driver has done something incredibly stupid ... and maybe killed someone in the process ... getting a license ought to require demonstration of much greater skill and better judgement in the first place.

Last edited by RB; 04-07-2019 at 05:21 PM. Reason: Profanity filter bypass deleted.
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Old 06-07-2019, 08:45 AM
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My version of those annoying "creepers" are those mongers that see my Harley coming along the main road while they are on a side road.

They then proceed to slowly creep out even before I have passed them, I have had to at times go wide or even change lanes to just get around them.

I think it boils down to simply no respect for other road users and the fact their brains have been relocated to a lower part of their anatomy.

Cheers
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Old 09-07-2019, 05:48 PM
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I don't know about what you think but .....the modern new cars have ' blazing ' white lights even on low beam ... especially 4WD's .... as they ' sit ' higher than ordinary vehicles.... they are quite ' blinding ' as they come towards you even on low beam.

I reckon it will cause accidents if people are not extra careful.

4WD Utes with a ' load ' in the Tray make the front of the vehicle sit higher .... that's a problem on the road at night time even when they are on low beam also.

By 'Law ' you must adjust your lights to compensate for it .... but who does that anyway .... it's rarely policed

If I have to, I will wear my ' sunnies ' at night so I can ' see ' the road in front of me and keep an eye on the ' center ' line ... so I don't drift across the road.

Col...
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