Quote:
Originally Posted by Outbackmanyep
On rural roads i have seen plenty of people overtaking in the wrong places, now wether it's because the drivers are stupid or they don't know the road or both then i cannot answer.
The problem is that people get annoyed when the limit is 100kmh and there is a vehicle towing a caravan doing 80 and people can't get around them.....this is where accidents occur!
Why not put more overtaking lanes in to alleviate the traffic flow problem, on rural roads there are not enough of them!
When i travel to Sydney i head along the Bucketts Way, between Nowendoc and Gloucester there are only TWO places i know that you can overtake safely, now logging trucks traverse this tight winding road all the time, and there are no safe areas with overtaking lanes to get past them....so idiots (and i have seen plenty) try to get around them on blind curves and crests and don't give a stuff about who or what is coming the other way.
The RTA need to look at this a bit harder, especially in rural areas!
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I agree with most of this but also believe that no matter how bad the road, no matter how big a goose the bloke in front is, that is not an excuse to drive unsafely. Delays and slow traffic are a fact of life and one needs to allow for that when planning a trip. If a driver can't tolerate the least little delay they should take a long hard look at themselves. There are plenty of technically compatent drivers out there who I would ban on the basis of their bad attitude.
I had a '47 series troopie for 24 years and so I've had plenty of experience being the slow vehicle. I never tried to hold up other traffic but being polite isn't always as easy as some might think. Places where one can pull to the side are rarer than you might think, particularly on winding hilly roads (and especially considering the space I needed when carrying >1 tonne in the back). Then I've had drivers tailgate so close I could only see their roof. How can you think of touching the brakes under those conditions? (And why should I be polite to idiots like that anyway?) On other occassions I've been doing 95 on a dual carrageway and moved to the right lane to pass a truck doing about 80-90. After getting a safe distance in front of the truck I've wanted to move back to the left lane only to find some goose is trying to sqeeze between me and the truck so he can pass me on the left. What is wrong with people that they would risk an accident to save 5 seconds?
BTW The other day I observed someone back a car down the driveway of the house diagonally across from me and park it, rather inexpertly, in front of my house. Another bloke was standing on the footpath and directed the driver where to park. The driver then got out of the car and hopped into the drivers seat of another car parked on the road and the bloke on the footpath got into the car which had been backed out of the driveway. Both cars then drove off together. My interpretation of the scene is that the driver of the car in the driveway cannot reverse a car. This may explain why the little buzz bomb didn't have a straight panel on it!! I'm glad I park off the road.