Parking and Driving the Cheeses me off!

[Tom87]

Who really gets their back up about trivial issues though? I used to but I realised it was really bad for your health.

I've read the thread and while yes can be frustrating I've not seen anything which actually causes my life to be altered.

Working around stupid people seems to be one of life's little challenges.

[wai]

Who really gets their back up about trivial issues though? I used to but I realised it was really bad for your health.

So true. It is something about getting older and wiser. I used to be one who liket to insist on my right of way, and it used to get to me. Now it is a case of "as long as they don't hit me" why really worry about it.

To really get it off your chest, best to do it on a forum

[elephino]

I have a 4wd with all the typical off-road mods - including suspension lift & big tyres. It's not exactly a rocket, it doesn't corner too well, and the combination of weight, big tyres and the aerodynamics of a brick means that it loses speed up anything that even smells like a hill.

Coming home through the Adelaide Hills I got stuck in the middle of a long line of traffic - and there's not too many vehicles that can't travel through the hills faster than my 4wd. We all arrived at one of the few overtaking lanes, which is (of course) up a hill. No problem, I'm not going to overtake anything, so I stayed in the left lane. And ended up overtaking two cars that pulled out into the overtaking lane.

Hadn't intended to do it, wasn't flogging the thing up the hill. But two vehicles that did pull into the overtaking lane drove up that hill slower than me. And technically, I'm the one who broke the law.

Don't fret about that one - last I looked, there was no law against overtaking on the left (unless it's a marked turning lane).

[wai]

Don't fret about that one - last I looked, there was no law against overtaking on the left (unless it's a marked turning lane).

Yep. Some believe it is the case after seeing some UK police TV programs where there refer to overtaking on the left as "undertaking" and is prohibited in the UK.

The other one that people get wrong is the bit about pulling over to the left to let an emergency vehicle past. The rule is simply not to impede the path of an emergency and to "pull over" if necessary. Once again, the misunderstanding is based on UK police TV programs.

A Victorian MICA Paramedic friend I went to school with hates these programs because drivers panic when they see an ambulance with lights and siren in their rear view mirror. They try and dive to the left only to block the ambulance. A good friend of my family ended up running into the back of a parked car because she saw an ambulance with lights and siren in her rear view mirror. She pulled left and stopped as this is what she was taught to do, only there was a parked car there. The ambulance had to stop and check her condition before calling for a second one to go where they were tasked to go.

It's common sense that needs to be exercised.

[Frankenstrat]

OK, so I'm driving along the Freeway with C/C engaged set to 100km/h. Car overtakes me, no problem with that. Car pulls in front of me, then SLOWS DOWN!!! I have to disengage C/C or run up his exhaust. WHY WHY WHY did you pull in front of me if you're going to slow down??? Why not just pull in behind me? <splutter gnash mumble>

[wai]

The best solution is to move into a different lane.

I recently returned from Victoria. There the motorists have had the fear of God put in them. As a result, there was a car in front that had their CC set at 1 km/h under what I had mine set. It was absurd. I could not go past (or it would take ages) without resetting things. In the end, I set my CC to 2 km/h higher (still within the allowed tolerance of 3 km/h) to get past them and then I dropped it back once in front and moved away.

In NSW, it was absurd. I had my CC on, and so was maintaining a steady speed. I passed a Hilix towing an empty boat trailer. Well, he did not like being passed so he tried to go past in the left lane preventing me from getting back there. Then a while later, he slowed down again and I went past. Well he did not like that and s went past in the left lane again.

I could not care less if he was in front or behind, just that he could not maintain a steady speed.

Unfortunately we are fixated on speed and the road toll. What we forget is that by having such a tight tolerance on speed, motorists spend more time watching their speedometers than the road ahead, and on the road toll, we forget that we are getting much better at saving the lives of those injured. Just a few years ago, many we save now would have died of their injuries. We have more and more accidents, just fewer die. That is not simething we should be aspiring to.

It is frustrating. We need to think of different ways of doing things.

[ParaBul]

"Undertaking"

Almost 20 years ago I was taking some UK tourists to the Sunshine Coast. Cruising up the Highway on a weekday, very few other cars on the road, cruise control set around 120km/h (in a 110 zone), in the left lane - keeping left unless overtaking.

Came up behind a slow vehicle (not just slower, but slow - probably less than 100km/h) that was sitting in the right lane. I cruised past in the left lane, and the tourists were completely dumbfounded that I had "undertaken" a vehicle. They seemed to think I should've moved into the right lane, slowed down, waited for the slow vehicle to move left and then overtake.

In NSW, it was absurd. I had my CC on, and so was maintaining a steady speed. I passed a Hilix towing an empty boat trailer. Well, he did not like being passed so he tried to go past in the left lane preventing me from getting back there. Then a while later, he slowed down again and I went past. Well he did not like that and s went past in the left lane again.

I could not care less if he was in front or behind, just that he could not maintain a steady speed.

I think some drivers suffer from a form of tunnel vision. They fixate on the car in front, and slowly reel it in - unconsciously, they set their speed by the car in front. Once they've overtaken the car in front, they no longer have a speed guide, so their speed drifts up and down.

It's the same as the slower car that you overtake, only to have them sit on your bumper. All of a sudden they have something else to set their speed by.

Slightly different: years ago, I was driving from Brisbane to Coffs. Somewhere along the line, I caught up to three cars all travelling around 95km/h, plus or minus a bit - not holding a constant speed. I eventually made it past all three, resumed cruising at my (then) customary (speedlimit +10%) 110 km/h, then had all three overtake me in one fell swoop about 10 minutes later. Fortunately for my state of mind they continued at their higher speed, and I never saw them again. But I still have NFI what was going through their minds.

[wai]

"Undertaking"

Almost 20 years ago I was taking some UK tourists to the Sunshine Coast. Cruising up the Highway on a weekday, very few other cars on the road, cruise control set around 120km/h (in a 110 zone), in the left lane - keeping left unless overtaking.

Came up behind a slow vehicle (not just slower, but slow - probably less than 100km/h) that was sitting in the right lane. I cruised past in the left lane, and the tourists were completely dumbfounded that I had "undertaken" a vehicle. They seemed to think I should've moved into the right lane, slowed down, waited for the slow vehicle to move left and then overtake.

The same thing with a cousin from the Netherlands. He used to live in the UK and so had this drummed into him. He was surprised and what amazed him was how much better the traffic moved, and this was on Sydney motorways which are always crowded.

[getjet]

Driving from the airport over the Bolte in Melb... the arseholes that try to merge from either the right of left lanes bypassing the 'queue' in the middle lane.

Gets me everytime...

The only thing worse is when people actually let them in. Makes me

[wai]

A route bus did this to me yesterday. There was good advance warning that the left lane was closed for work, and all the cars merged to the right lane and took up their place in the queue. Of course, the route bus went right up to the merge point and then use its little merge sign to force its way ahead. All up it saved the bus around 5 seconds, but ticked off a lot of drivers.

The thing about merging is that if there is no distinction between the lanes as to which continues and which ends (i.e. just a sign that says "Form one lane"), you have to perform the "zipper" merge and are obliged to let the "offending" cars in.