Driving in Australia - what I've learned

Driving in Australia - What I've learnt

Driving in Australia is incredible fun. And frustrating! The drive into work each morning is always different. The variations in driving ability seems dependant on a number of factors. When it rains, the speed of driving is reduced to about 20kph. If it's dry and then rains, watch out for the emergency braking as drivers slow their vehicle from 100kph to 20kph and white knuckles appear on the steering wheel and boggle eyes appear to be intently scanning the road ahead. This drop in speed appears to be mandatory in Victoria, and more so during rush hour.

Bends in the road are another hazard for Australian drivers. There appears to be few Australian who can take corners at speed and remain on the road. The "G" force of going round a corner can be extraordinary for the Australian driver and therefore will slow sufficiently so as to have as close to zero "G" force occurring. Again watch for the emergency braking as a corner can creep up on an unsuspecting driver and jump out in surprise causing near panic and with brake lights and squealing of tyres as the cars disparately try to slow down in time.

The Australian considers driving to be a casual pastime. He is also competitive. This tension shows itself as the Australian driver must be in front no matter what he is driving, be it a 10 year old ute nicknamed puffing billy for obvious reasons or the latest Holden Commodore SS, and will "swing" from inside lane to outside lane in a graceful and nonchalant manner as if it is their right to change lanes because they have the indicator flashing. Once there, they will take stock of their amazing achievement and promptly slow down by about 10 - 15kph.

It would appear that the use of indictors is purely optional and the use of them is mainly used when you feel the other driver wouldn't instinctively know that you are about to change lanes. The only other time is if you are driving a BMW X5, Range Rover Vogue or similar high end car and you indicate to show that you have the right to cut other drivers up.

Moving away from lights. This is never and I repeat, never done the instant the light turns green. What the green light really means is that its time to put the car into gear, lift your foot off the brake, change radio stations, finish putting on your lipstick (morning rush hour only) and time it so you pull away just before the lights turn amber and then red - you really don't want that guy behind you tailgating you for another 5 kms now do you.

In Victoria, "on ramp lights" have been introduced to control the level of traffic entering the freeways. In principle this works well for the freeway. All the roads around become gridlocked at times, but the freeways, they just keep on movin'! In the morning rush hour however the red lights and "one vehicle per green light" appears to be advisory as you'll observe multiple cars go through on a green and some keep going on a red too.

Hoons are a particular breed of Australian driver (I use the word "driver" in a very loose and liberal way here) as they are renowned for making their cars sound like squealing pigs running down a lane. They seem to get great joy from this. I can only presume that it is something left over from the farming days and they miss the cute little pink animals. Hoons also seem to have a fixation with street lamps as every so often you hear about a car colliding with one. Maybe they don't like the light as most of their maneuvering is done at night anyway.

So, all in all, it can be a very different driving experience in Australia compared to other countries.

Drive safe!