We have fantastic roads, very little traffic and small distances to travel – driving in Canberra should be easy but it isn’t.
Why is it that everyone here thinks it acceptable to sit in the right lane at all times?
It seems the majority of the people in Canberra choose the lane they drive in based on wherever they have to eventually turn no matter how far away that turn may be. Take the Monaro highway from 1600 to 1800 on a weekday – in both directions the right lanes are totally congested. People that live in the southern Tuggeranong suburbs coming out of Fyshwick and Queanbeyan instantly veer into the right lane just because they will eventually turn right onto Isabella or johnston drives. Its the same in the morning all over Canberra – turning left onto Erindale Drive off Sulwood drive. The left lane as far as the eye can see, totally empty. Why? “Oh because I need to get onto Adelaide Avenue”.
The most frustrating thing is the fact that you are totally oblivious to the fact that your driving is appalling. The amount of times I’ve made eye contact and then shaken my head at the idiot that blocked me in the right lane and gotten that exact same look of confusion back is beyond belief.
If everyone kept left only getting into the right lane immediately before their turn everyones trip would be a whole lot quicker and healthier for the blood pressure of the seemingly few decent drivers left in this oversized country town.
“Keep left unless overtaking” doesn’t only apply when you are driving to Sydney.
And use your damn indicator.
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So your complaining that there is a lot of traffic on the roads during peak hour?
You might be overreacting just a little bit.
Are you a qualified RTA left or right lane inspector?
Do you have any official reports or camera footage proving this use of the right lane?
Have you written letters to government types?
Am I doing this right?
And you are probably one of the people who tailgate, yell, carry on and lean on your horn. It’s much easier and less of a hassle if you just relax and slow down.
If the speed limit is 80km/h or below, there is no requirement to keep left. Most of those roads you mention are 80km/h or below. I reckon the reason people look at you confused is because they are not sure why you are being such a dick when they have done nothing wrong.
I suggest you slow down and calm down. Of course, I expect you to tell us that you are calm and never speed, becuase thats what everyone does, but your post says otherwise once you read between the lines.
Road Rules FAIL
Keep Left Unless Overtaking only applies if the speed limit is 81km/h or above. The stretches of road you are complaining about are mostly 80km/h zones.
“If everyone kept left only getting into the right lane immediately before their turn”
Have you really thought this out?
It should be noted that while there’s no requirement to keep left on most roads in the ACT (only those posted for 90 and 100) it’s still good practice.
One thing I’ve wondered is why do a fair amount of people who come across merging lanes either:
- Panic completely, slam on the breaks and let everyone past despite it being a merging lane.
- Think they’re doing a timed quarter mile and attempt to race you into the single lane no matter how far they are behind.
- A combination of the above two where they attempt to beat you into the single lane but after getting about 3/4 of the way next to you, lose nerve and just hang there. Now causing an issue by hovering next to you making merging that little bit harder.
I had the same thought this morning driving to work. On William Hovell Drive heading into the city the car in front of me merged into the right overtaking lane, only they were doing about 80 in a 90 zone, and a few cars went past on the inside, before they merged back when the overtaking lane disappeared. (Just trying to get out of the way of faster traffic?)
Just after the intersection of Coulter Drive and William Hovell there is even a sign suggesting drivers keep to the left, but they all seem to be in a huge hurry to get to the right.
johnboy said :
+1
Even though you migh not be breaking a law, you are impeding the flow of traffic!
It’s not Illegal to replace your loo paper with sandpaper, turn your TV upside down, or tie your keyboard to your leg, but that does not neccisarily make it a good idea!
When driving, try considering others for one, especially if you are below the limit, and while I don’t advocate speeding, I do tend to like getting out of the way of the 20km over angry d*ck in his territory, ready to ride my bumper!
TBH, I agree with the OP. People just dawdle along in the right lane long these stretches of roads for no aparrent reaseon be it busy or not.
I pass people on the left if they are doing so & while it is not illegal it really isnt good practice. If you are doing 70 in an 80 zone thats fine but stay left & dont block people who want to sit on 80.
The whole passing cars thing is not really learnt correctly by city drivers, while I am on the road riding people seem to think its ok to pass me on blind corners (they would not do it if I was in a car) & when out on country roads the amount of near misses is incredible.
@ qbngeek, I dont think that the OP wants to speed everywhere, just gets frustrated that our roads flow beutifully compared to other cities & Canberra drivers seem blisfully ignorant of other people on the road & just do what they want.
MrPC said :
Actually……
As quoted in the ACT Road Rules handbook (Road Rules 2011 Part D1 – Road Craft)
Keeping to the left on a multi-lane road
This rule applies on a multi-lane road where:
• the speed-limit is over 80 km/h; OR
• a keep left unless overtaking sign applies.
Do any of these roads have a keep left sign on them?
00davist said :
+1
Not everyone wants to speed in the right lane. While in peak hour traffic its difficult to suggest all traffic to sit in the left lane, but you still get dawdlers who think its ok to do 75 just in case they get too close to 80.
However its this time of year when the traffic is less, just how many people don’t overtake and then get back into thwe left hand lane. Especially when there is so little traffic in the morning.
Most of the traffic jams are due to poor merging techniques and i have to laugh when people think others are speeding up to get in front of them etc. Maybe they’ve looked in their rear vision mirro and decided getting into the flow of traffic in that spot is better than coming to a grinding halt on the merge lane. It also not too hard to change your speed +- 5km/h to facilitate merging while maintaining traffic flow.
And while some may disagree, I bet no cops will book someone doing 85km/h to merge into traffic safely, then slow back down to 80km/h. Just a caveat here, i’m not talking about the obvious idiot behaviour of speeding up just to get around a few cars, but when a car merging and a car on the road fail to be considerate of each other.
I’d always assumed that people get straight into the lane they intend to turn from because they fear that nobody will let them in if they try to change lanes closer to their intended exit. They’re probably right, too.
m00nee said :
The Monaro Highway between Isabella Drive and the Lanyon Drive lights has the aforementioned signage. No, most people ignore it. No, I don’t ignore it. It provides a quite easy drive somedays to sit in the left lane.
Erg0 said :
This is true, Then people complain about the fact that people force their way into the right lane to turn, when if they had let them in in the first place this wouldn’t happen, or if they weren’t in the right this wouldn’t happen.
Hindmarsh is the worst for this, people wont let you in, so what option do you have but to jump into a gap when there is one and sit there till you turn.
Law or not its just courtesy. I tend to agree with the OP. Its hard to expect common sense to prevail though. Ive found its easiest just to relax and be as smooth as I can be. Most times I find Im sitting next to Mr Lanechangeevery30 seconds at the next set of lights.
This is hardly a Canberra phenomenon. Generally speaking, the best way to get by in Sydney traffic is to use the left lane. Just have to keep an eye out for parked cars, haha.
Also, the left lane on the new four-lane sections near Campbelltown are almost guaranteed to have zero traffic in them. They must have herpes or something! They seem to be a total waste of time and effort.
Erg0 said :
I don’t drive, but my girlfriend does and she drives on the side of the road her next turnoff is on, because people really aren’t very considerate when it comes to needing to change lanes for an exit. Besides, she drives at the speed limit, not over, not under, so people who have a problem with being behind her car are driving too fast. If they want to speed off into the sunset (or more likely, to the next set of traffic lights, where we invariably catch up with them, highlighting the pointlessness of speeding) they can do their dick aggressive lane change manoeuvre and pretend they’re in Fast & The Furious.
People take other’s driving too personally, especially the aggressive drivers who seem to think our roads were built for them personally to tool around on. It’s a commute from point A to point B, there’s no point speeding because it’s been proven NOT to get you to your destination faster, never mind the fact that it shows a callous disregard for the safety of other cars on the road.
DrKoresh said :
No entirely true, ADR18/03 indicates that a vehicle speedometer must not read slower than the actual vehicle speed (EG: at 100km/h, your vehicle cannot be doing 105) but it can read fast.
The tolerance is 10% + 4km/h. So at 100km/h your vehicle couls actually be doing 86km/h.
My near new Pathfinder is 6km out at 100km/h but my 14 year old Commodore is only 1km out at 100.
If this were the case with your girlfreinds car, this would mean that I would catch you in my Commodore even though I am not speeding and your girlfriend is sitting on an indicated 100km/h (but the actual speed is say 94).
Therefore I would want to pass & if she is sitting next to another car in the right hand lane this then makes it frustrating for me (I am not going to get into the whole thing of how much time I would save going 5km/h faster as that is not realy the point of the topic).
How long does your GF sit in the RH lane before she needs to turn? One of my regular runs is the Monaro HWY & I have followed people from Fyshwick to Isabella Drive who have sat in the RH lane well under the limit holding the traffic back. If seh is turning onto Isabella then she really only needs to start thinking about it after Shepherd St, that should be plenty of time to merge.
Relax I hear some people say? Yep that is fine if you have nowhere to be in particular but if you are working and need to be places than this can be frustrating and time consuming.
Anyway, no such issues on bikes, just wayward dogs, kids & the world imploding riding across pedestrian crossings to deal with.
MrPC said :
I very rarely have trouble merging into the right lane to turn right, i’m sorry but it sounds to me like your girlfreind is one of those people that needs a semi-trailer sized gap to move into the right hand lane, and is also one of those people that believe their speedometer is spot on, and that everybodys else (sitting on her tail) is speeding…. Have you had your speedo checked?? Bet it’s probably out by a good 6km’h or so as with most new cars…. And as for sitting in the right hand lane, i have cut off and will continue to cut off drivers who do so, as I think you’ll find as long as my bonnet is in fornt or yours i have right of way
And as for people doing it in 80Kp/h and less i am alot more considerate as it is not illegal, however do it in a 90kp/h or + situation (i.e William hovell, which even has signs stating “keep left UNLESS overtaking) then you deserve everything that is dished up to you 
Are you whinging about people being in the right hand lane because you want to speed by any chance?
Just this morning I had some tart in a 4WD all of 0.5m behind my car, flipping me the finger and F-ing her mouth off because I had the temerity to want to turn right, and no I wasn’t way up the road, but a 100m or so away from the turn.
I’ve lived in Canberra for 11 years now, and the standard of driving in this town has reduced so dramatically in the last few years it is totally unbelievable and unacceptable. I mean, WTF is going on??? Why are people so pushy, rude and arrogant now?
KB1971 said :
That’s a fair point, and in truth she only does on places like Northbourne (which is only 60k’s and often too congested to change lanes easily to turn), when on the parkway and such she will enter her turn-off early, but not unreasonably so, just so she has enough time to comfortably check her blindspots and change lanes without having to disrupt traffic. But in any case, a difference of 5kph or so isn’t going to make any difference on the time of your commute, especially if you are sensible enough to plan on arriving to work 5 or 10 minutes before you start your shift.
I can see the OP, furiously tailgating everything in HIS lane. And his last line confirms it, because all tailgaters indicate like crazy. You watch them, they all do it.
And you’re not safe from them in the left lane (if there is one) either. I cannot fathom why tailgaters tailgate when they have the opportunity to overtake in the right lane. They could really get in some serious indicating, too.
timeeh said :
Sounds to me like you’re one of those people who believes they [i]always[/i] have the right of way, by virtue of just being there
While I tend to agree with the basic premise of the OP, previous discussion on RA seems to suggest the lemmings file into the lane they will eventually turn from because to do anything else, like use the road/lanes more efficiently, for example, equates to queue jumping and means you’re a selfish prick with no consideration for others.
So, Voytek, what you are failing to understand is that it is in fact considerate driving from everyone else to stay in the right hand lane if they will turn right when they eventually arrive at their next turn off.
Haha, Understanding Traffic RA101 … Regardless of the facts: You’re doing it wrong!
Just try and chill out and enjoy the moment. Happens to all of us. I get some people that won’t even turn into two empty lanes of traffic at Barry Drive because they need to turn right at Barry Drive, or the ANU. No, siree, they need all three lanes clear before they can move around the turn left at anytime with care slip lane at McCaughey Street.
EvanJames said :
Clearly a left lane tailgater needs to turn left.
Eventually.
DrKoresh said :
Spot on
What i failed to mention that I will only pull this stunt after undertaking from the left lane… Which should not be possible had that person been obeying the road rules…. (this only applies to 90kp/h + zones)
lumpy said :
I agree. It’s called anticipation – if you know you are going to be taking a right hand exit why not move to the right hand lane? It saves the abuse when you cut people off.
SigmaOctantis said :
Yep, I so hear you. People are so aggressive and nasty… did your 4WD tart have those giant sunglasses on? They seem to be some kind of uniform for nasty female drivers to wear. I think they look like flies.
But, driving aggressively isn’t an offence, apparently. Only speeding is an offence.