Australian Drivers

[koleka]

Hey, people ive been over seas a couple of times but for long times, mainly to europe.

i do recall that the driving style there was so much different to here. alot faster and pushier and people seemed to know how to drive, but we still seem to have a higher road toll per capita then these other countrys.

especially that they are so cramped have alot higher speed free ways, suffer from natural disasters such as black ice and floods and snow.

and especially the black ice one, imagine driving at around 170kmh and your car suddenly starts to drift away and spin around at that speed! with a few hundred cars travelling at the same speed behind you.

please discuss people. would be nice to hear world travellers expieriences

are Australians bad drivers?

[Mr Italy!]

Our government would rather spend tax dollars on expensive dinners and holidays for its members of parliament then fix the shit roads we have throughout Australia.

The only reason why Canberras roads are so awesome is coz we have all the members of parliament down here, and there is no way they can stand spilling their glass of champagne on their pants due to a pothole in the road.

And we are the country of the bogan, bogans are overconfident and under skilled.

[Topaz]

are Australians bad drivers?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes!

Its not the speeders though, as some people would suggest, its people who don't know what they are doing or have to do in circumstances....

Pulling out in front of people, driving too slow, indicating way too early, on the phone in a manual car, swirving while rumaging, blind spot hangers, tailgating nazis and pushy puller-in-ers <_<

But I wouldn't say these types of drivers don't exist in other countries....just thats what I notice since driving in Australia

[kksh]

I've been around quite a bit as well. Both Europe and Asia.

The highway speed limits are much higher than here and not enforced as much. Cars are regularly doing 160-180 in Switzerland where the limit is 130.

As for Australian drivers being good or bad, it's a matter of what constitutes a good driver. If your idea of a good driver is one who obeys the speed limit, considerate to other drivers, etc etc. I'd say Australian drivers are some of the best there is.

But for driving skill wise..... I'm not so sure.

For pure frustration in driving... go to India.... you have people, animals, everything sharing the road with you.....

As for doing dangerous speeds on dangerous roads,.... Pakistan will be it. Like I'd do 140 on small 2 lane roads in the city. 160-180 on main roads in the middle of the city. Overtake cars from the opposite side of the road and cut back in with only a few inches to spare. It was daunting to drive like that at first but later on you get used to it.

[SKY031]

Pulling out in front of people, driving too slow, indicating way too early, on the phone in a manual car, swirving while rumaging, blind spot hangers, tailgating nazis and pushy puller-in-ers <_<

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Let's add to this list.

Right lane drivers who refuse to "keep left unless overtaking". This is particularly annoying at night, due to the fact that headlights are aimed down and to the left, which means that if you're one of these right lane drivers, you are burning the retinas of the person in front of you so MOVE LEFT RETARD!

People who don't indicate at all.

People who ignore indicators.

People who don't know how to merge.

People who think that they're being courteous by stopping the flow of traffic to let someone in who doesn't have right of way.

People who push their way in. (see above)

People who are too lazy to turn the steering wheel and travel onto the wrong side of the road to turn a corner.

People who randomly jam on the brakes for no apparent reason.

People who are distracted by screaming kids.

People who shave, apply make-up, do their nails - nose and ear picking also falls into this category.

People who text while driving (I almost got taken out by someone doing this last week)

People who poke out over the white line at T intersections.

People who refuse to "give way to pedestrians".

People who drive around with high beams on.

People who don't understand how zebra crossings/school crossings work.

People on pushbikes who ride across pedestrian crossings. (Newsflash, a pedestrian is someone on FOOT, if you're on a bike, you are considered to be traffic, and are subject to all the same road rules as cars, which means you get off the bike to cross the road, or cross with the traffic)

I'd like to see some road statstics based on ethnicity, but that would be racist, so it's never going to happen.

[madbung]

Our government would rather spend tax dollars on expensive dinners and holidays for its members of parliament then fix the shit roads we have throughout Australia.

The only reason why Canberras roads are so awesome is coz we have all the members of parliament down here, and there is no way they can stand spilling their glass of champagne on their pants due to a pothole in the road.

And we are the country of the bogan, bogans are overconfident and under skilled.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you consider the amount of area, population and tax dollar per capita I think our roads are pretty damn good in comparison with a lot of others I've driven on.

It's impossible for a country like Australia to have it's infrastructure compared fairly with almost any other developed country. If you take into consideration our enormous land mass, sparse population and level of tax, there's no other place to compare it with. The distances involved and limited resources we have in comparison to almost all European countries it's impressive that we have the roads we do.

[JeeTeeEss25Tee]

Let's add to this list.

Right lane drivers who refuse to "keep left unless overtaking". This is particularly annoying at night, due to the fact that headlights are aimed down and to the left, which means that if you're one of these right lane drivers, you are burning the retinas of the person in front of you so MOVE LEFT RETARD!

People who don't indicate at all.

People who ignore indicators.

People who don't know how to merge.

People who think that they're being courteous by stopping the flow of traffic to let someone in who doesn't have right of way.

People who push their way in. (see above)

People who are too lazy to turn the steering wheel and travel onto the wrong side of the road to turn a corner.

People who randomly jam on the brakes for no apparent reason.

People who are distracted by screaming kids.

People who shave, apply make-up, do their nails - nose and ear picking also falls into this category.

People who text while driving (I almost got taken out by someone doing this last week)

People who poke out over the white line at T intersections.

People who refuse to "give way to pedestrians".

People who drive around with high beams on.

People who don't understand how zebra crossings/school crossings work.

People on pushbikes who ride across pedestrian crossings. (Newsflash, a pedestrian is someone on FOOT, if you're on a bike, you are considered to be traffic, and are subject to all the same road rules as cars, which means you get off the bike to cross the road, or cross with the traffic)

I'd like to see some road statstics based on ethnicity, but that would be racist, so it's never going to happen.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well you forgot to add female drivers . . .

*run*

[koleka]

Think of a country like Italy, with tourists stocks about 75million people at any time, the country is the size of Victoria, and the speed limits are much higher, and alot more dense.

Now in ratio of our population to theres, we have an equal amount road toll.

So i really disagree that we are good drivers.

[SKY031]

Well you forgot to add female drivers . . .

*run*

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

nah i didn't forget, i could go on all day about the stupid and dangerous things that I see people do on the roads on a daily basis.

Males are more prone to intentionally engage in activities which are dangerous to people around them. (speeding, erratic lane changes, over-estimating their driving ability etc)

Females engage in activities which they think are safe, when really they're too stupid to realise that what they're doing is just as dangerous as driving drunk (or with your eyes closed)

I didn't think it was worth mentioning, as im sure that there are women drivers in other countries too

I'd like to know what is offered in other countries as far as licencing/driver education goes.

From what we see on telly, it seems that the USA teach people how to drive as part of the school curriculum.

[noise]

I would say most australiana have no idea how to use a round-a-bout. The amount of people who indicate right when going straight or dont indicate at all is amazing.

[ScorpR32]

Some of our roads in Australia are half-decent when compared to the surface of the moon.. We do have some good roads though, but most of them are maintained by either the state or federal government. A lot of the sub main roads under council jurisdiction are pretty poor. It would be fair enough to have dodgy roads in a remote region like Kakadu but when you have well-travelled roads looking like a minefield whilst we pay a fortune in rego/fines/rates//taxes it sucks.

I'd rather drive on european roads- I hear they are a fair bit better.

My 2c

[Topaz]

Males are more prone to intentionally engage in activities which are dangerous to people around them. (speeding, erratic lane changes, over-estimating their driving ability etc)

Females engage in activities which they think are safe, when really they're too stupid to realise that what they're doing is just as dangerous as driving drunk (or with your eyes closed)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I like that annomily

P.S. I have no idea what annomily specifically means

P.P.S I don't know how to spell annomily...

[koleka]

See this is where i can already see the bad drivers in this forum.

European drivers are smart people. JUST because the sign says 100 or 80 or whatever, doesnt mean you HAVE to go that fast.

They would most likely slow down and drive a safe speed. There roads can be alot worse then any of ours, its no excuse. Think of there rocky roads, stone roads and all that.

[maximumrpm]

dont complain you dont live in QLD. I have driven in most states in Australia and there are no worse drivers then here

[koleka]

only because theres alot of asians!

[SKY031]

Yeah.... that kind of blatant racism/stereo-typing always goes down really well.

Anyhoo, if Queensland drivers are worse than Vic drivers, why is the Victorian road toll higher than Queensland?

Queensland also has a lower percentage of 65+ year old drivers than Victoria.

[koleka]

i hate the way people use racism, racism and fact are 2 different things. if you have a problem then go Join the Moral Police.

[lordsnipe]

half the reason I believe for such a crappy road toll is the fact that you have trev running in his old POS banged up shitter which has safety features from 1972.

other countries make scrap out of cars older than 10 years .. with more modern safety standards, people are less likely to die.

[JeeTeeEss25Tee]

See this is where i can already see the bad drivers in this forum.

European drivers are smart people. JUST because the sign says 100 or 80 or whatever, doesnt mean you HAVE to go that fast.

They would most likely slow down and drive a safe speed. There roads can be alot worse then any of ours, its no excuse. Think of there rocky roads, stone roads and all that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

only because theres alot of asians!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd like to know what sort of facts you could pick out from what you said above

[SKY031]

i hate the way people use racism, racism and fact are 2 different things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you're stating facts, then give some figures/statistics to back it up... rather than just commenting that all asians are bad drivers.

That's no different to saying that all people with green eyes are bad drivers, or all people with freckles are bad drivers.