20 August 2008

Do I deserve the bird?

| dorrie
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Do I deserve ‘the finger’ while driving the speed limit on right hand lane of Belconnen Way at 5.15pm

Is there a rule that I should be on left hand lane if I’m doing 80 kph. Everyone seems to be in a hurry these days, especially P platers.

[ED – Still waiting to find out when these good old days actually were]

Sitting in the right hand lane doing 80 in an 80 zone

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I’m not a flag-waver for Gooooooogle, but if anyone’s interested, this new Chrome Beta browser gets around the ‘too many posts’ melt-down that afflicts IE, the problem that is also solved by Firefox. It seems quite a bit quicker than IE as well.

That’s about as techo as I get. (Sheesh! It also tells me that ‘techo’ is spelt wrong. Hmmm. It also says ‘spelt’ has some issues. Spelled? Mr Goooooooogle likes that one better. My friend Herr Herman Helmut Spelt from Hamburg will be highly offended.)

Oh, and finally, on topic, I take it all back (on this or the ‘Indicate or I will bludgeon you to within an inch of your life’ post) about indicating on the lead up to the roundabout just down from Defence on the approaches to Kings Avenue bridge. It’s two lanes already before you get to the roundabout, just not very well-defined lanes.

Gawd! ‘Defence’ is spelled wrong. Off to look for a language option.

No you did not deserve the bird. It is remarkable just how many drivers get worked up over loosing minuscule amounts of time on the road. Would anyone here give someone else the finger or scream abuse at someone in the shopping centre for holding them up for a few seconds? Not likely! Consider how much road rage we all see compared to verbal abuse or assaults on the street. If we all drove as though everyone else in every other car was a psychopath just waiting for an excuse to kick off and destroy someone, our roads would be far more pleasant.

That said, depending on where you were on Belconnen Way, you may have been required to be in the left lane. There are “Keep Left Unless Overtaking” signs on Belconnen way, meaning you’re legally required to keep left (unless you’re turning or the road is congested) regardless of the speed limit or how fast you’re going.

Hi vg

You’re right flog is a better word and easier and shorter to say… I wonder if I shoudl change my screen name?? of course I’m called sleaz right now so I doubt names really bother me to much.

And yes to date it would appear I’ve been able to use my “mad skillz” to control my car up to 110km/h oh my god just like everyone else how exciting for me yay yay can I play with you big men on campus now up on your pedestal? Can I really?

I hope they are still making you count your rounds in I’d hate to see what happens to someone who actually does something really bad rather than post on a website.

If I take your advice and go visit a magistrate I’ll simply say Grand Theft Auto made me do it… which I’m going to play right now with a bottle of vodka.

I bid you a good weekend this post has become boring and a little personal for my liking…. I do enjoy “flog” however I might work that in more often.

“Does my 5-10 km/h really affects the whole community? Really?”

If the road is clear then it probably doesn’t, but in moderate to heavy traffic it is dangerous to be doing 10 km/hr more than the bulk of the other cars.

On of the reasons I stay in the right hand line going west along Barry Drive/Belconnen Way is that it can be hard to get into the right hand lane by the time you get to Hayden Drive because of aggressive drivers that don’t let you merge.

Personally I find it alot more relaxing to drive on the Victorian part of the Hume as most cars and trucks do the speed limit (miraculous how most speedometers agree on that stretch of road). On the NSW side (when traffic is heavy) when I have to overtake a slower vehicle I often have someone behind me slamming on their brakes and tailgating me until I have the room to move back into the left hand lane.

“Does my 5-10 km/h really affects the whole community? Really?”

When that increases your stopping distance and causes you to go from no accident into accident then yes.

You were wrong about one thing though. You’re not a nob jockey. With your attitude to driving you’re actually a flog.

But I gather you’re one of those people who ‘can’ drive above the speed limit because you have ‘better skills’ (or is it madd skillz?).

The speed limit is ‘arbitrarily’ decided to respond to the lowest common denominator. Just because you think that rationale doesn’t apply to you doesn’t mean you can or should exceed the limit but, if you feel so strongly about it, feel free to maintain that 5-10 above the limit as you pass a speed camera van. Then argue about how arbitrary it is to the magistrate. In fact give us all a yell when you’re going to court it will be a hoot.

Stick to the speed limit. I can guarantee you’re not as good a driver as you think you are

The major cause of accidents on or roads is fatigue. People push the envelope a bit too far and skills degrade rapidly when tired, or are less than desired when asleep at the wheel. There was a great push to keep the American national speed limit at 55mph (88km/h) in the states due to the ‘speed kills’ lobby. This was discounted when the road toll on highways dropped significantly when it changed to 80mph (128km/h). The same could be applied very effectively here especially on the large stretches of dual lane highway up and down the East Coast. Obviously sections would need to change until they are upgraded. Decreased trip time = less fatigue. Modern cars can easily handle these speeds safely. Old cars don’t go that fast (unless you cook the engine).

Around town this doesn’t apply as merge speeds/lanes/reaction times/visability etc apply. Some boffin does the calculations and the road speed is set from there. I haven’t seen any stats on collisions since the residential speed limit was dropped to 50 and how this has impacted.

Driver discoutesy is becoming a leading cause of road rage which is becoming more frequent and more violent . If you are happy to piss other drivers and possibly get your car smashed up by some little punk in his fully sick CRX with oversized wing then go for it. But unless you’re built like VG then I advise against putting yourself into the victim category lest we be reading about you here after your head gets caved in with a tyre iron.

We borrow systems from every where else all the time and why won’t they work here? Has anyone tried or does veryone just blindly follow the “presumably” safe limit because someone decided to put a sign up and deem a road “safe” at a certain speed. Let’s drop the auto bahn example it has no relevance to any australian road at all. From general pbservation I’d say the greater percentage of Canberran’s speed on roads such as Ginninderra drv limestone ave monaro highway majura road etc etc the speed on limestone is regularly around 70km/h not 60 km/h as one example. Again comparing our roads to Tassie or the Kings highway there seems to be vast discrepancies in what is deemed “presumably safe”. Does my 5-10 km/h really affects the whole community? Really?

I don’t think so and everybody breaks or bends the rules do the people who look right and left evaluate the risk and then cross the road before the little man turns green deserve to be called a moron those drug smoking hippies!! I don’t speed in school zones or in the wet because I assess the risk and decide it is not appropriate (unlike a lot of canberran drivers) but on wide clear well marked roads I can’t really see how the posted limits can apply so rigorously as your comments would suggest.

I definitely don’t go “as fast as I wanted” that would be stupid and reckless but that is very different from merely going above an arbitarily decided (in all conditions I may add) speed limit.

Thanks for the reasonable response and sorry about the family glad they are okay. I hope you can see from my arguments that I do take driving to be a serious business in fact it used to be my job and I have thought about these issues a great deal.

Sleaz274 said :

Seeing as my comment created a fair bit of vitriol I thought a short reply would be in order.
To dear Astrosapien a) yes I am a knob jockey, which you’re about to discover b) I wasn’t comparing the roads to autobahns which are 6-8 lane mega highways specifically built to allow a large amount of traffic to travel at speed. Even the autobahns have limits per lane with only the far left (driving on the right hand side remember so teh opposite to here I’ll draw a diagram if you need it) being the UL or unlimited lane. Have you even driven on one? They also have far superior driver education, get crap cars off the road very quickly and have two sets of tyres summer and winter.
I was comparing the rules and regulations on similar roads. France for instance or Britain with variable speed limits depending on conditions and time of day, including congestion are taken into account. You can be pulled over in France for not keeping up with the flow of traffic or by being an obstruction like our original poster. Canberra is not a little bubble so why should we treat it as such? To just say “It’s Canberra you moron” hardly counts as an argument I’ll draw your attention to Tassie again where a road similar to Majura road is teh main highway betweeen North and South and is 110 km/h.

I don’t smoke weed because I’m an extremely fit young professional who plays fairly high level soccer and loves scuba diving. Personal insults are so primary school but you know us kindergarteners look up to all you big kids so well done there. I hope you didn’t just have a stroke from me bursting your stereo typical bubble in which you live. it’s Canberra indeed, now open your eyes and discover this world…

I haven’t driven on the autobahns, but I’ve been a fair way out of Canberra, regardless. But I don’t need to have driven on one to tell you that just because a system works in one location that it would necessarily work in another… So yeah, saying that “it’s Canberra” actually DOES count as an argument.

I agree that limits should change depending on conditions, but probably in a different way to you.

And the weed comment wasn’t intended to be so much an insult, as it was proving a point. To bend/break rules and laws at ones own whims is where a lot of problems come from. The laws are there for everybody, regardless of whether you like them or not. It’s as simple as that… No-one is going to give a flying f&*k whether or not you drove on a road in Europe or Asia. The roads in Canberra have been assessed presumably on safety and what speeds are appropriate. If sticking to a limit is too much to ask, maybe you should check Action’s new schedules…

My sister and her family were recently in an accident where none of them were hurt, thankfully, but it cost someone in the other car their life… No reports have been released with the official verdict on what actually happened there yet, but from the looks of the remains of the cars, I’d be surprised if speed wasn’t a factor. So that was a result of someone thinking that they were capable of going as fast as they wanted…

Just take a second to think about the fact that driving is some serious business… There is a whole community out there that you are putting into your hands every time you get behind the wheel. To go as fast as you want to is to put yourself and others into needless danger…

@G-fresh if you love to drive in the right had lane so much why not marry it.

Seeing as my comment created a fair bit of vitriol I thought a short reply would be in order.

vg – yes 100 would be reasonable up to Flynn and down to Lyneham. Sure it is fed by arterial roads but all these intersections are well controlled by traffic lights which are easily visible. The kings highway is far more dangerous and is a 100 personally I think that road should be 80km/h and people shoule get used to taking an extra 1/2 hour to get to the coast. Or they should upgrade the stupid thing to the same conditions as Ginninderra dr.

And vg I know of whom you are and that you deal with “dead set fully sik wankers” all day so I’ll let that one pass.

To dear Astrosapien a) yes I am a knob jockey, which you’re about to discover b) I wasn’t comparing the roads to autobahns which are 6-8 lane mega highways specifically built to allow a large amount of traffic to travel at speed. Even the autobahns have limits per lane with only the far left (driving on the right hand side remember so teh opposite to here I’ll draw a diagram if you need it) being the UL or unlimited lane. Have you even driven on one? They also have far superior driver education, get crap cars off the road very quickly and have two sets of tyres summer and winter.
I was comparing the rules and regulations on similar roads. France for instance or Britain with variable speed limits depending on conditions and time of day, including congestion are taken into account. You can be pulled over in France for not keeping up with the flow of traffic or by being an obstruction like our original poster. Canberra is not a little bubble so why should we treat it as such? To just say “It’s Canberra you moron” hardly counts as an argument I’ll draw your attention to Tassie again where a road similar to Majura road is teh main highway betweeen North and South and is 110 km/h.

I don’t smoke weed because I’m an extremely fit young professional who plays fairly high level soccer and loves scuba diving. Personal insults are so primary school but you know us kindergarteners look up to all you big kids so well done there. I hope you didn’t just have a stroke from me bursting your stereo typical bubble in which you live. it’s Canberra indeed, now open your eyes and discover this world…

astrosapien said :

Overheard said :

astrosapien said :

astrosapien: Speeding is rude, arrogant and selfish… To presume that your personal circumstances override the law of that area and should excuse you from penalties is the height of arrogance.

OH: astrosapien, I genuinely hope you never find yourself in personal circumstances that would make you question this statement of yours or believe anything to the contrary.

astrosapien: I certainly hope so too… More than anything I hope to have the presence of mind to call the proper emergency contacts if I am ever in such a situation…

What I was getting at though, and forgot to make clearer, is that there are a number of different circumstances out there that one might consider a personal emergency. But it’s completely subjective to the person who considers it as such… That is to say, what one person considers an emergency isn’t necessarily going to be considered an emergency by others or the relevant authorities. And the danger therein is that if one “personal emergency” is excused then it stands to reason that all other “personal emergencies” would have to be too… It’s a very slippery slope.

In my very limited experience, emergency and presence of mind rarely go hand in glove.

I’ve been speaking in generalities, so I’ll give one specific example. I really wasn’t going to go here, but suffice it to say it’s been front-brain this week (hence the other story on an unrelated thread).

Thursday 20 August 1998 I got a phone call. My brother had had a seizure and collapsed; the ambulance was on the way. (This was the coda to a long illness.) I lived in Kambah, he lived in north Watson. I recall very little of my trip there, but yeah, I’m guessing I may have sped a little. And yeah, if someone had been going up Northbourne Avenue in the right hand lane doing 78 and I had wanted to pass them doing just a tad more, I may well have expressed my displeasure.

Had I passed a fixed speeding camera and copped a fine, I’d have taken it on the chin. Mea culpa. Caveat speedor.

As it was, I got there not long after the ambos, and in time to see my bro’s eyes flicker open for an instant. And maybe there was some cognition there, and maybe there wasn’t. Either way, it was the last time I saw them open. He died about 30 hours later without regaining consciousness.

Yeah, it was my subjective call to speed then. I don’t make a habit of it.

G-Fresh said :

shauno, poor interpretation.

G-Fresh, I believe shauno was referring to your attitude. Its the sort of attitude that pisses people off on the roads, in the workplace, in the pub, in the supermarket and at home…..

Therefore I officially rename you G-Up…….because I’m sure that you really are a nice, logical, unselfish person just looking to stir people up for a bit of fun.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy11:32 am 21 Aug 08

Aurelius – fair enough, I can imagine after seeing that you’d be pretty annoyed. That said, I don’t believe hiding behind the rules excuses discourteous driving. Of course, sometimes things happen – the behaviour of that kid you described is unacceptable, and I’d be calling the cops myself with his rego if I’d seen something like that.

shauno, poor interpretation.

Berlina,
My comment is based on the fact that a week or two ago, I saw some kid almost run someone off the road on Gungahlin drive near Mitchell because they’d committed the awful sin of being in his way in the right lane (although they were doing over the speed limit).
When we drive, we drive the car we’re in. Too many people think they have some right to dictate how others drive. And they don’t. So long as what another person is doing is illegal, we should suck it up and deal with it.
While I generally drive to give others the maximum benefit, if someone’s going to behave like an asshat, that consideration evaporates. The original query in this thread was whether someone deserved to be abused for driving in a manner legal. Answer is no. Anyone who abuses other drivers is an asshat. It doesn’t matter what the provocation. And anyone who’s an asshat and cannot handle the fact traffic exists shouldn’t be driving.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy11:12 am 21 Aug 08

I put this sort of behaviour into the same category as those people who speed up when someone indicates (shock, horror!) before changing lanes, so the person changing lanes can’t ‘get in front’. It’s just sad and pathetic, and shows an incredible lack of decency.

The thing is its not about whether its right or wrong to speed while overtaking.Its about not thinking about yourself 24 hours a day but showing some consideration to other road users and sticking to the left hand lane so that it frees up the overtaking lane for other traffic. Just common courtesy.

And you see from the comment above from G-Fresh “without me having done anything wrong” thats a classic example of some one who drives along in their own little world not giving a stuff about any one else.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy11:03 am 21 Aug 08

Kinda sad, Aurelius, to hide behind ‘the rules’ instead of simply accepting that there are benefits to basic driving courtesy (which don’t adversely impact you but may assist others).

I guess when I was taught to drive the old school rules applied.

Whatsup said :

G-Fresh: You are potentially stoking the fires of road rage with your attempt to gain “satisfaction”. There are other ways to feel good about yourself without creating more agro on the roads. Just an observation !

No attempts perse. Just a wry smile at a person obviously having a hissy fit without me having done anything wrong. This is not self satisfaction Whatsup.

What is remarkable here is the number of people who freely attack other people’s behaviour, and label it illegal, and are wrong.
“undertaking” as you’re calling it, or overtaking in the left lane, is not illegal. Neither’s driving in the right lane on Belconnen Way. If you think other drivers are being inconsiderate, chill out and get over it.
If you cannot handle traffic and that other drivers wont act according to the way you’d like them to, I’d suggest that you lack the maturity to drive in a modern city. Walk instead. And then at least, when someone gets in your way, you can be a hero and tell them off to their face (if you’ve the guts) and get laughed at or worse.

G-Fresh: You are potentially stoking the fires of road rage with your attempt to gain “satisfaction”. There are other ways to feel good about yourself without creating more agro on the roads. Just an observation !

Whatsup: cause the law says he can and the law is final! As long as he’s obeying the law he’s a gooood citizen.

0_o

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy10:03 am 21 Aug 08

Driving in the right hand lane simply to annoy others (yes WMC, I talking about you), or not driving in the left hand lane because you don’t feel like it is plain discourteous, and is the sort of thing that leads to frustration, road rage and accidents.

When traffic is congested, of course both lanes will be used. But some common sense is called for here – cars in traffic move at slightly different speeds for a variety of reasons, if everyone keeps left unless turning or overtaking the roads are a mucher nicer place.

A recent long drive interstate where people are generally much more courteous behind the wheel underlined this for me.

Whatsup: Sitting in the right hand lane just to annoy people and just because you can is poor form indeed. Not bothering to change lanes when it is unnescessary and a hassle for thine self in order to let some blithering fool past because they can’t pass on the left is another matter.
Annoying people is not usually a good idea, but annoying people who think they own the road when they don’t (it is a privilege to drive not a divine right) garners some satisfaction.
Not stoking any fires, just telling the truth. If that causes people to become offended, then tough titties.

G-Fresh: From the response on this topic you can see that the majority of people will feel annoyed on some level about someone who sits in the right hand lane just because they can.

Why do you:
1) Want to annoy people.
2) Keep arguing that annoying people is a good thing.
3) Think that stoking the fire of potential road rages is going to make our roads even safer ?

StrangeAttractor9:30 am 21 Aug 08

I don’t reckon it’s worthy of the bird, but is perhaps a little discourteous.

What shits me is when people are tailgating me, flashing and honking, when I’m already 10 or 15 k’s over, and there’s a freaking empty bus lane to the right. If you’re happy to break the law by speeding, surely it’s of little consequence to break the law by using a bus lane…

Also, when I’m not required to keep left, and I have a reason for being in the right hand lane, I’ll be in it, doing the speed limit. And yeah, I slow down to avoid accidents or lessen the damage when there is one if I’m being tailgated, specially if I can only see down to your wiper blades in my rearview.

mdme workalot said :

In most circumstances, they will do their thing and then get back in the left lane. Big deal – it takes you an extra 30 seconds. If they don’t move over, you are perfectly able to undertake them (legal or not – it’s not like there are police patrols anywhere!)

I infer that by ‘undertake’ you mean to overtake on the left hand side, rather than directing funerals. Or do you mean to undertake the task of passing the slower vehicle?

In the case of passing a vehicle on its left hand side it is perfectly legal.

mdme workalot9:16 am 21 Aug 08

@Pandy – can your Lada even do 80km?? 😛

For the record, I’m a bit of a speeder. Not in urban areas, but on highways and major arterials I tend to sit 5-10km above the limit. Not for any particular reason, just because I like to. Call me what you will.

However, in congested traffic I think that if people expect to be able to speed or even travel at the limit, they are being unrealistic. There are going to be occasions where someone travelling at 75km in an 80km zone will want to overtake someone doing 70km. In most circumstances, they will do their thing and then get back in the left lane. Big deal – it takes you an extra 30 seconds. If they don’t move over, you are perfectly able to undertake them (legal or not – it’s not like there are police patrols anywhere!)

If they don’t pull back into the left lane or they persist in sitting beside someone who is going slow in the left lane, it can be very frustrating. I get that. But really, in the scheme of things it’s only an extra couple of minutes out of your day – not worth getting too stressed about.

One other note – I abhor tailgaters and will generally slow right down until they get the idea. I’m special like that 🙂 But sometimes, I find myself in the situation where I need to get quite close to the car in front in order to move safely into the other lane. A little risky – yes, but I think in the scheme of things it’s not the worst thing I could do on the roads.

@WMC re your comment about cutting people off in the left lane – I get that, but I also know that as soon as you indicate to change lanes the person in the other lane will invariably speed up, thereby having to brake when you move. If I can move over safely provided the other person doesn’t speed up, I’m going to. If they speed up and have to brake, I don’t think that’s my problem.

bd84 said :

I don’t see what people have to argue about here.

The law is keep less unless overtaking on any road that has a speed limint of 80kph or more.

Wrong

Wanting to get past someone in the right hand lane is not because someone wants to speed – car speedos vary quite a lot, and maybe yours was reading at 80 when you were in fact doing less, the people wanting to get past had a reading of less than 80 and thought you were being inconsiderate.

Like indicating every turn, just get out of the right lane – it’s courtesy.

Overheard said :

astrosapien said :

Speeding is rude, arrogant and selfish… To presume that your personal circumstances override the law of that area and should excuse you from penalties is the height of arrogance.

astrosapien, I genuinely hope you never find yourself in personal circumstances that would make you question this statement of yours or believe anything to the contrary.

I certainly hope so too… More than anything I hope to have the presence of mind to call the proper emergency contacts if I am ever in such a situation…

What I was getting at though, and forgot to make clearer, is that there are a number of different circumstances out there that one might consider a personal emergency. But it’s completely subjective to the person who considers it as such… That is to say, what one person considers an emergency isn’t necessarily going to be considered an emergency by others or the relevant authorities. And the danger therein is that if one “personal emergency” is excused then it stands to reason that all other “personal emergencies” would have to be too… It’s a very slippery slope.

Mælinar - *spoiler alert* I've seen S04E138:20 am 21 Aug 08

And let’s face it… Sticking to the speed limit isn’t rocket science. You match the big black number in the red circle on the sign to the side of the road to the number on your speedometer in your car – Even with all vehicles travelling at the posted road speed, there is still ample opportunity to overtake due to the natural ebb and flow of traffic.

On that note, I don’t really consider somebody accelerating to 100 in an 80 zone for 3 seconds* so they can have enough momentum to pass somebody who’s consistently doing 70kph such a horrible crime that requires auto-punishment from the likes of WMC in the right hand lane.

** DISCLAIMER **
Somebody accelerating for 3 seconds to overtake is a little bit different to consistently maintaining that speed, before its so obviously pointed out.

astrosapien said :

Speeding is rude, arrogant and selfish… To presume that your personal circumstances override the law of that area and should excuse you from penalties is the height of arrogance.

astrosapien, I genuinely hope you never find yourself in personal circumstances that would make you question this statement of yours or believe anything to the contrary.

For the record, I don’t toke Mary Jane. I went out with a Janet once…

“For those that drive in the right hand lane and hold up traffic, you are being rude, lazy and selfish.

Worthy of the Bird!!!!!!”

For those that speed above the limit no matter the lane or circumstances you are being rude, arrogant and selfish.

Worthy of the Bird!!!!!!

That’s a mighty big leap of assumption you’re making there that you know every speeder’s individual circumstances.

(To Overheard)
Nice… So where was the criticism of the original statement that I was quoting, or don’t they get it because they were on the same side of the argument as you are on?

(To everyone else)
The speed limits are law… If you think that you can go at a speed above the posted limit just because you think that the limit is stupid and because you “mock whoever thought them up” you’re a f&*king knob-jockey. And to try and justify your argument because they have highways and autobahns in Europe and Asia where people drive as fast as they want to is the height of idiocy. It’s Canberra you moron.

Let me guess… You probably toke the mary-jane in the evenings and weekends because you think the canabis laws in the ACT are stupid and because it’s legal in Amsterdam. Do you “mock whoever thought that law up” too?

Speeding is rude, arrogant and selfish… To presume that your personal circumstances override the law of that area and should excuse you from penalties is the height of arrogance.

And let’s face it… Sticking to the speed limit isn’t rocket science. You match the big black number in the red circle on the sign to the side of the road to the number on your speedometer in your car (it’s found on the dashboard usually behind your steering wheel).

Ta-DA!!! See… I told you it was simple…

And yet people

still

get it wrong. There are kids in Kindergarten that are better at matching pictures, shapes and numbers than a lot of the drivers on our roads.

If you can’t/will not match the competency of a child in Kindergarten then you’re either an idiot, or an arrogant f&*k-stick and shouldn’t be on the roads putting people’s lives in danger… One of these days you’re going to have an accident because of your driving habits (and no, it doesn’t matter how good a driver you think you are), if you haven’t already… I only hope that when the day comes you take yourself out in the process instead of someone who was trying to do the right thing…

But we all know how these crashes generally turn out…

Sleaz274 said :

In Vietnam you wouldn’t get the finger a bus driver would run you off the road on a windy mountainside.

Try driving in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City as it likes to be called now surrounded by the the greatest concentration of motorcycles on the planet seemingly obeying no rules or laws.

The key to it is to not drive to avoid them but drive fairly normally and they will avoid you and it seems to work quiet nicely.

And this brings me to a story related to this thred keeping out of the fast lane in but in Vietnam.

My driver was driving me from Vung Tau to Saigon last year and me and a mate in the back seat had a few take aways we were drinking on the way and we desperately needed a toilet stop. So we told the driver and he immediately braked hard and stopped in the inside lane of the 4 lane concrete barrier divided highway (the fast lane) without even thinking or bothering to pull over in the ample spaced service lane. So as the traffic swerved all around us we got out and did the business in the surrounding bush meanwhile our car just sat parked in the fast lane with the driver smoking a cigarette and oblivious to the near tragedies unfolding behind him and not seeming to care about the consequences of being rear ended at 100+km/hr.

No reduce the NZ100 by 20% to account for exchange rates and that is equivalent to AU80km/h

Explained!

Mælinar - *spoiler alert* I've seen S04E1312:17 am 21 Aug 08

@vg – I could see it being 100. Its no more complex in driving conditions to any given country road with a T junction at some point for new traffic to enter (aka somebody has to give way at some point). Traffic has been separated, there is limited pedestrian access, and housing is significantly more than a footpath and a front garden away from the bitumen.

I’ve often wondered why in Australia the limit has been set at 80 in these conditions, where an equivalent drive in New Zealand will have you at 100. Maybe they are a little less:

a) disorganised; or
b) a dead set fully sik wanker

Over there…

“Ginninderra drive is straight has excellent visibility two lanes each way at least with separate lanes for turning and is a miserable 80 km/h”

So we should have it at what, 100, 110?

It is also fed by at least 10 or so arterial feeder roads and is not, by definition, a highway.

If you speed everywhere you are either one of 2 things:

a) disorganised; or
b) a dead set fully sik wanker

Dorrie, I would have done the same. Get the hell out of the way of my Lada OK?

Woody Mann-Caruso11:17 pm 20 Aug 08

Are you still talking about me, Doc? Seriously mate – wake up to yourself. It’s a f.cking website.

This would all be resolved with speed activated road spikes, especially in suburban streets. You do above 50 km/h you lose your tyres and the ability to continue speeding. No fines: you are just towed away and have a serious loss of freedom for a number of days. That way all the P-Platers and bogans that keep hooning around suburban streets at all hours of the night and day might actually respect that there are people who live here who want to sleep, or might have cause to not have their parked car run up the arse of, etc.

grunge_hippy11:08 pm 20 Aug 08

those big signs that say “keep left unless overtaking” should be a clue.

people driving up erindale dr/yamba dr before the turn off to the tip shit me to tears every morning. get out of my way!!! unless you are turning right to go towards the tip. get in the left hand lane!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mælinar - *spoiler alert* I've seen S04E1310:33 pm 20 Aug 08

@bd84 its not that simple which is the point the pedants have been making – I’d encourage you to re-read post #22.

To correct your statment: The law is keep less unless overtaking on any road that has a speed limit of over 80kph Which means that on all major thoroughfares in Canberra (which are only 80kph limited), you can use either lane at your own whim unless there is a keep left sign which indicates otherwise.

While I continue to agree with you that there is no excuse to continue to sit in the right hand lane when the left lane is empty, there is no legal provision which requires people to comply, and common courtesy is left for your fellow road users to interpret in their own selfish way.

@WMC – your example above is far too inappropriate. No. If the traffic is congested in both lanes and I’m in the right lane, I do the speed limit – just as the law provides. ~~ and no amount of tailgating or other aggressive behaviour makes me inclined to cut in on somebody minding their own business in the left lane. You talk about courtesy, but screw the people in the left lane, yeah? They can just slam on the brakes as I pull in so you can get past. – Naturally you are entitled to use the right lane when the left lane is occupied as per the Law:

• you are overtaking;
• you are avoiding an obstruction;
• the traffic in the other lanes is congested; or
• the traffic in every lane is congested.

Cutting in on traffic is another can of worms, and for a different thread. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been required to slam on the anchors because some d_ckhead has cut my path of traffic and there is over 1km of open road behind me – but then my points regarding common courtesy and selfishness of drivers continue to apply.

I don’t see what people have to argue about here.

The law is keep less unless overtaking on any road that has a speed limint of 80kph or more. Of course in traffic you’re not always going to be able to do that and there’s always going to be that moron who tailgates you even though you’re doing 10-15kph over the speed limit already and you do need to turn right from them sometimes too. But there is NO EXCUSE for you to be sitting in the right hand lane when the left lane is empty. The main post and some of the posts above pretty much shows that many people got their licence from a weetbix box and wouldn’t have a clue what the road rules are. Mandatory re-freasher courses in road rules every 5 years and drivers tests every 10 years sounds like a good idea.

Sleaz274 – meet Woody Man Caresa. He has a special message for you up in post #41.

Who the hell does the speed limit in canberra anyway? I speed pretty much everywhere and have been pulled over exactly twice. Once in Tassie and once in Victoria. People sitting in the right hand lane doesn’t bother me too much though unless they sit exactly parallel to another car doing the exact same speed acting as a 2 lane wall. Now that annoys me.

Speed limits are the most arbitary load of crap anyway. In Tassie the main highway from north to south is a one lane each way windy hilly piece of horror road and the speed limit is 110 km/h. Ginninderra drive is straight has excellent visibility two lanes each way at least with separate lanes for turning and is a miserable 80 km/h. I mock the person who decided that. Same goes with the Kings highway down the coast at 100 km/h and yet the Monaro or Adelaide Ave is also a miserable 80 km/h. I mock the person who decided that as well.

Move to Europe people and drive there at least they are reasonable. Or go driving in South East Asia and see if you survive, you won’t because your more worried about the rules and the legislation than where your friggin vehicle is going. In Vietnam you wouldn’t get the finger a bus driver would run you off the road on a windy mountainside.

You keep doing 78 in the right lane, hopefully it will shorten the suffering of readers in here.

And I think you meant herpes……

Woody Mann-Caruso9:00 pm 20 Aug 08

In the sanctimonious git that everyone hates stakes.

No, in my hatchback doing 78 in the right-hand lane.

Come on WMC, you can do much better than that.

Cool, I have groupies.

I’m pretty sure that passing in ANOTHER lane to the left is legal.
To the left in the SAME lane is illegal unless you are a cyclist.

johnboy said :

I’d just like to point out that the abusive behaviour being tolerated here had better not transfer to threads not related to road-rage.

Tell us you didn’t smile……

The real problem here is the fact that Canberra drivers can’t see past their own bonnet and are just too bloody ignorant to consider anyone except themselves.
And as far as I’m aware it’s illegal to undertake so you should be driving to the left,(if it’s clear and whatever speed you happen to be doing), out of courtesy. But then I guess “courtesy” just leads us back to my first point.

I’d just like to point out that the abusive behaviour being tolerated here had better not transfer to threads not related to road-rage.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

You’ve straw-manned me on the escalator analogy though

I’ll wear that one.

Is that the best you can do?

I don’t have to do anything – I’m in front, while you’re behind having fantasies about Mel Gibson and putting my face near your horn.

Yeah, you’re in front. In the sanctimonious git that everyone hates stakes.

If I get a 3 word name, can I be in your cool dudes club too?

Woody Mann-Caruso6:56 pm 20 Aug 08

You’ve straw-manned me on the escalator analogy though

I’ll wear that one.

Is that the best you can do?

I don’t have to do anything – I’m in front, while you’re behind having fantasies about Mel Gibson and putting my face near your horn.

You’ve got to be kidding. Belconnen Way is a 3 lane road with traffic lights, right turns, left turns, etc every km or so. If someone gave me the bird I’d just laugh in their face and dazzle them with my fog lights. Maybe even a brake test or two.

Just go around them FFS. It’s not illegal to sit in the right in an 80 zone. I’d say it’s not even rude.

I’ve got to agree with what Danman said.. I may not agree with your theories about customer service but I sure as hell agree with your driving style.

To both WMC and punkarella, if you find yourself driving in a manner to “make a point” to someone, or “out of spite” or to intimidate them or whatever… you’re doing it wrong! That’s not what a car is for. Mis-use of a car as a way to take out your agression (whether it’s passive or active agression) is f_cking dangerous. Take some anger management classes.

punkarella said :

To all those people who voted ‘perfectly reasonable’ I want to ram you all off the road.
Take your Karma and bullshit and ram it up your arse.
I spend over nearly two hours a day in Canberra traffic. North to South everyday. There is no other viable option to travel this distance than by car.
I will give you all the horn and flash my lights until you a blind, hopefully causing you to vere off and die in a road side fireball. Yes, espically you G-fresh. I want you to know this is how much you anger me.

Punkarella, You Rock!!

G-Fresh – This is not about what is legal or illegal, its about common courtesy and sharing the road so that we can all use it. The world doesn’t revolve around you. There are certain stereotypes based on gender and ethnicity that we all know about that are terrible drivers….I doubt you fit in to any of those, but you do fit into the category of being an A Hole!!

peterh said :

Overheard said :

And as I’ve pointed out previously, I’m not a habitual speeder.

Can it be? Finally? Three post nutbag??!!

yes! yes!

3-post nutbag!

Yay! I feel like I’ve finally arrived.

Oh, and I just realised: I’m doing an hour of ‘Drive’ on the radio tomorrow! I might have to have some fun with it!

Overheard said :

And as I’ve pointed out previously, I’m not a habitual speeder.

Can it be? Finally? Three post nutbag??!!

yes! yes!

3-post nutbag!

Blamemonkey said :

@G-Fresh Just because you can be a Dick doesn’t mean you should.

I’m just trying to tell it how it is champ

Right back ‘@’ ya

Would you mind referring ‘2’ me, rather than ‘@’ me? Great.

i have heard a story about someone who merged lanes after indicating, from the left lane, to find a 4wd who objected to her merging in front of him. he rammed her and forced her off the road.

he then got out of his truck and proceeded to hit her car with a tyre iron. Only stopping after he noticed what she was wearing, and the fact that she wasn’t in her car, she was pointing her sidearm at him.

she related this story to me over a few jars a few years ago, he probably won’t enjoy the bus as his only mode of transport, but when you ram an unmarked police car, and then proceed to try and beat it up, there are serious consequences. and the reason he was so incensed? even though she was in front of him when she merged, he was in the right lane, she had undertaken him.

@G-Fresh Just because you can be a Dick doesn’t mean you should.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

@overheard:Is that about right?

No. If the traffic is congested in both lanes and I’m in the right lane, I do the speed limit – just as the law provides. I feel no urge whatsoever to go faster just so some toss artist behind me can break the law, and no amount of tailgating or other aggressive behaviour makes me inclined to cut in on somebody minding their own business in the left lane. You talk about courtesy, but screw the people in the left lane, yeah? They can just slam on the brakes as I pull in so you can get past.

@fnaah:I assume

Yes, you do, with predictable results. I’m a law-abiding citizen, driving in a manner that’s legal, safe and courteous to other law-abiding citizens. To use your (poor) escalator analogy – do you think it’s OK for people to stand on the same step as you, but right behind you, and yell in your ear to hurry up?

@doctor evil: they use your horn and your face.

I bet you’ve done exactly that, haven’t you tough guy? Legend in your own lunchbox.

Actually, no I haven’t. Is that the best you can do?

And as I’ve pointed out previously, I’m not a habitual speeder.

Can it be? Finally? Three post nutbag??!!

Farnarkling italics!

I’m not a bird-flipper, but I’m thinking of getting a stuffed rooster to wave at the right-lane brigade.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

@overheard:Is that about right?

No. If the traffic is congested in both lanes and I’m in the right lane, I do the speed limit – just as the law provides. I feel no urge whatsoever to go faster just so some toss artist behind me can break the law, and no amount of tailgating or other aggressive behaviour makes me inclined to cut in on somebody minding their own business in the left lane. You talk about courtesy, but screw the people in the left lane, yeah? They can just slam on the brakes as I pull in so you can get past.

Weak, WMC. You introduce some specific circumstances (congestion) and then jump to conclusions about how I wouldd suggest you react in those specific circs (cutting in on others, jam on breaks, screw the others) when NOT screwing others is the central tenet of everything I’ve been saying to date.

You and S-G should carpool; you could run one of those new hydrid cars that’s powered by self-righteous indignation.

shiny flu said :

Since overtaking in the Left lane and driving in the right lane without overtaking when the speed limit is 80km/h or higher is illegal.

Wrong

Since overtaking in the Left lane and driving in the right lane without overtaking when the speed limit is 80km/h or higher is illegal. You deserve to participate in the ACT Road Ready course… the bird was probably a little to much, but you choose which one you’d like 🙂

Since overtaking in the Left lane and driving in the right lane without overtaking when the speed limit is 80km/h or higher. You deserve to participate in the ACT Road Ready course… the bird was probably a little to much, but you choose which one you’d like 🙂

…. okay, i’ll cop that one. I apologise, and now I feel (rightly) stupid.

You’ve straw-manned me on the escalator analogy though, I never implied that I think it’s okay to tailgate and flash highbeams to get someone out of your way.

fnaah said :

A “perfectly model road user” does not hog the overtaking lane.

Who said anything about hogging the lane? A driver isn’t hogging a lane by simply using it. Right side lanes included, bucko

astrosapien said :

For those that speed above the limit no matter the lane or circumstances you are being rude, arrogant and selfish.

Worthy of the Bird!!!!!!

That’s a mighty big leap of assumption you’re making there that you know every speeder’s individual circumstances.

“For those that drive in the right hand lane and hold up traffic, you are being rude, lazy and selfish.

Worthy of the Bird!!!!!!”

For those that speed above the limit no matter the lane or circumstances you are being rude, arrogant and selfish.

Worthy of the Bird!!!!!!

punkarella said :

@granny I appricate were you are coming from, but you should always be aware of yourself and others when driving. It’s not good enough to just look ahead and go the speed limit in my eyes. That’s the main problem, and most people here would agree if you are half asleep or in a trans like state of mind, you are more dangerous on the road than anyone else.

That is true. In a perfect world we would enjoy ideal circumstances, but in reality life does happen to people. However, it is my experience that I have almost always been at my most dangerous as a driver when angry.

Woody Mann-Caruso5:01 pm 20 Aug 08

Go back and read the legislation above. It applies to roads 80km/h and over

No, you go back and read it. “The speed limit is over 80 km/h” is not the same thing as “80km/h and over”. Now who’s a knob?

(Three post nutbag – yay!)

Woody Mann-Caruso4:59 pm 20 Aug 08

@overheard:Is that about right?

No. If the traffic is congested in both lanes and I’m in the right lane, I do the speed limit – just as the law provides. I feel no urge whatsoever to go faster just so some toss artist behind me can break the law, and no amount of tailgating or other aggressive behaviour makes me inclined to cut in on somebody minding their own business in the left lane. You talk about courtesy, but screw the people in the left lane, yeah? They can just slam on the brakes as I pull in so you can get past.

@fnaah:I assume

Yes, you do, with predictable results. I’m a law-abiding citizen, driving in a manner that’s legal, safe and courteous to other law-abiding citizens. To use your (poor) escalator analogy – do you think it’s OK for people to stand on the same step as you, but right behind you, and yell in your ear to hurry up?

@doctor evil: they use your horn and your face.

I bet you’ve done exactly that, haven’t you tough guy? Legend in your own lunchbox.

Simply, you must keep left unless overtaking, this is a traffic law. Obviously there is scope written in to the law if you are turning right. $110 fine for failing to keep left.

*^dangerous on the road than anyone else*

Yes, highways and roads with limits of 90 or above are different, but these rules do no apply to 80km/h and less speed limit roads.

No, G-Fresh. That’s wrong. Go back and read the legislation above. It applies to roads 80km/h and over, as well as roads signposted “Keep Left Unless Overtaking”.

In addition to being wrong, you’re being a knob. A “perfectly model road user” does not hog the overtaking lane.

Once more, for the cheap seats:

Keep Left Unless Overtaking.

You’re like a religious zealot who can’t understand “thou shalt not kill” also applies to non-christians.

@granny I appricate were you are coming from, but you should always be aware of yourself and others when driving. It’s not good enough to just look ahead and go the speed limit in my eyes. That’s the main problem, and most people here would agree if you are half asleep or in a trans like state of mind, you are more dangerous on the road that anyone else.

Doctor Evil said :

Punkarella meets Woody Man Cruser on The Parkway – now that’d be funny

Tickets from the usual outlets. Bring popcorn.

punkarella said :

We need mad max lite rules, which would allow me to get a LCD sign and blowhorn and insult you to move to the left lane.

Oh, how often I have lusted after an LCD sign …. *sigh*

But I have mostly gotten over it these days.

At some point I realised that whenever I was angry it was all about me. Somebody had done something to me.

And then I realised that in all honesty I had probably done most of those same things myself at different times, although usually innocently or accidentally.

We often think that we can guess the motives and intentions of other drivers, but usually jump straight to the worst conclusion.

We want other drivers to treat us with grace and understanding when we do the wrong thing, but are so often unwilling to show the same kindness ourselves.

Mælinar - *spoiler alert* I've seen S04E134:33 pm 20 Aug 08

If they want to be a wanker and drive 110kp/h in an 80kp/h road – I’ll further enhance your point by remarking that since you do not have accurate speed capturing devices in vehicles you have no way of telling how fast another vehicle is going (that would hold up under scrutiny in court).

Before the naysayers attempt to point it out, eyeballing your own speedo and then attempting to judge the speed of another vehicle while travelling at speed yourself is called guessing.

Lets leave it to the police to say how fast other people are travelling.

captainwhorebags4:30 pm 20 Aug 08

When I did my driving test (okay, the three times I did my driving test) there was a tick box for “keep as far left as practical”. This was in the old days of having to do a test with a grumpy ACT govt inspector.

If you didn’t keep as far left as practical (which meant the left hand lane on multi-lane roads regardless of speed limit) then you had points deducted – I think it was 2 points, when you could lose a maximum of 12 on the test.

My driving instructor was always big on it – “Why are you in the right hand lane? You don’t need to be. Keep left and those who want to get past can do so easily”.

Same thing on the escalator. Blocking the whole thing standing still is just inconsiderate. It’s a shame that people are only courteous when the law says they have to be.

You should always keep in the left lane unless you are overtaking on any 80kph+ road, I don’t care whether it is signposted as such or not, its common courtesy. I don’t think it deserves the bird, but it is extremely frustrating for drivers behind. If they want to be a wanker and drive 110kp/h in an 80kp/h road, then why the hell stop them? You aren’t the police and there is nothing you can do about it. Just hope a speed van or fixed camera gets them because getting caught by an actual cop is about half as likely as actually seeing one in the first place.

Punkarella meets Woody Man Cruser on The Parkway – now that’d be funny

@Overheard I wish I could too. No choice but either move southside.Mmmmm.
We need mad max lite rules, which would allow me to get a LCD sign and blowhorn and insult you to move to the left lane. If that doesn’t work maybe metal spikes on wheels.

That would clear up the roads from lazy arse mothers in the Tarago and old people who are on their 7th Valium before midday. Oh and Baby boomers. I blame them all for everything. Hurry up and die already.

Mælinar - *spoiler alert* I've seen S04E134:15 pm 20 Aug 08

Its very ‘I’ve just been shot’ in 2000AD.

The childish and sanctimonious “I’m doing the speed limit therefore nobody has any need to get past me” attitude is one that is likely to get you fingered or road-raged, and rightly so IMO.

fnaah said :

NNNGH!!

Now there’s a typographical idiosyncrasy I haven’t seen in a while. Mind if I ask where you came across it?

I have a vague recollection of seeing it in a Garfield comic back when Garfield was still occasionally funny.

“Do I deserve ‘the finger’ while driving the speed limit on right hand lane of Belconnen Way at 5.15pm?”

No – you deserve to be mooned. Where is the creativity on the roads these days? Are people in too much of a hurry for a good old-fashioned mooning? Strewth. Slow down peeps and show some @rse!

@G-Fresh Just because you can be a Dick doesn’t mean you should.

Granted there may not be a law saying keep left, but it is common courtesy to stay out of the way of traffic wishing to move faster then you.

Here is a question, you are in a 80 k zone, in the right lane, a marked police car comes up behind you with lights and sirens off, would you hold your moral high ground or would the internet hard man crumble and move?

Man, am I glad I walk to work most days!

To all those people who voted ‘perfectly reasonable’ I want to ram you all off the road.
Take your Karma and bullshit and ram it up your arse.
I spend over nearly two hours a day in Canberra traffic. North to South everyday. There is no other viable option to travel this distance than by car.
I will give you all the horn and flash my lights until you a blind, hopefully causing you to vere off and die in a road side fireball. Yes, espically you G-fresh. I want you to know this is how much you anger me.

G-Fresh said :

With no proper argument as to why the right lane is purely reserved for yourselves and no other road users, resorting to soap-boxing about morals and manners is a weak end. In short, shove it.

Yes, highways and roads with limits of 90 or above are different, but these rules do no apply to 80km/h and less speed limit roads. It is rude to expect people to move for you when they are being perfectly model road users.

If thats not a soap box statement I don’t know what is. Please go drive in your model world not ours.

G-Fresh said :

With no proper argument as to why the right lane is purely reserved for yourselves and no other road users, resorting to soap-boxing about morals and manners is a weak end. In short, shove it.

Yes, highways and roads with limits of 90 or above are different, but these rules do no apply to 80km/h and less speed limit roads. It is rude to expect people to move for you when they are being perfectly model road users.

Finger on the pulse. That reminds me: I must book that prostate check-up.

What do you drive, just so I know to keep away?

With no proper argument as to why the right lane is purely reserved for yourselves and no other road users, resorting to soap-boxing about morals and manners is a weak end. In short, shove it.

Yes, highways and roads with limits of 90 or above are different, but these rules do no apply to 80km/h and less speed limit roads. It is rude to expect people to move for you when they are being perfectly model road users.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

I hate, hate, hate people that drive slow (even if it is the speed limit) in the right hand lane.

I’m one of those people. I don’t do it because it’s legal. I do it out of spite because I hate, hate, hate people who think they’re special and above the law just because it suits them. Please – give me the finger. It makes the look on your face when I smile, wave and blow a kiss even more precious. Use your horn, and I slow down to 78 just for sh.ts and giggles.

Great idea, until you do it to the wrong person and they use your horn and your face.

But, by all means keep doing it….

I have a selfish point of view.
If someone wants to drive faster than the speed limit then I don’t want to try and stop them by sitting in the right hand lane. If they crash when they get cranky there is a greater chance of me or my family being injured. Moving over and letting them zoom past will allow them to be busted by the speed camera and / or a statistic somewhere else.

Stick to the left lane, trying to make a point only gets people mad and there is already enough anger on the roads.

WMC, I assume that you also get off escalators and stop right in front of people, just to annoy them and laugh at them as they pile up behind you. Perhaps you also push your trolley sideways through the supermarket.

Have some thought for your fellow motorist. I don’t tailgate, I don’t highbeam people, and I don’t wildly gesticulate at other drivers, but it sh!ts me to tears when I’m stuck in the right lane because someone is not paying attention, or being a complete dolt by doing it on purpose. The road is there for people to drive on, getting in the way (whether legal or not) is just plain stupid. Would you think it was funny if you were stuck behind two people “legally” doing 80k down the parkway two abreast? (It’s not legal btw, we’ve covered that already.)

It is just driving, if it stresses you out so much – better take to the bikepathes.

If someone is going slow sure it annoys me as much as the next person, but I just bide my time and over/undertake them as soon as it is safely possible.

People seem to think that because they are in their car that that it is s asafe haven, a cocoon of typer.

I dare anyone who abuses anyone whilst using the roads to abuse someone in a mall who is walking slower than them etc and see where it gets them

I think the short term nature of these confrontations lends people to doing stuff that they would not normally do when confronted in person.

I am very much a Karmic driver – things may sh1t me to tears about other drivers, and they may be inconsiderate and wronged me, but I believe that karma will catch up with them and they will get their own serve in time. The world does not need another @sshole tooting their horn and flipping their bird – so it is on my merry way I go.

maybe ACT Rego office needs to start mandatory mental health checks on licence issuing and renewals.

GottaLoveCanberra2:38 pm 20 Aug 08

Worthy of the bird indeed.

*annoy*

(‘Anooy’ is a Dutch coastal retreat on the island of Texel.)

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

I hate, hate, hate people that drive slow (even if it is the speed limit) in the right hand lane.

I’m one of those people. I don’t do it because it’s legal. I do it out of spite because I hate, hate, hate people who think they’re special and above the law just because it suits them. Please – give me the finger. It makes the look on your face when I smile, wave and blow a kiss even more precious. Use your horn, and I slow down to 78 just for sh.ts and giggles.

Sooooo, WMC, you sit right on the speed limit in the right-hand lane, when you could just as easily keep to the left, with no motivation other than to atagonise and anooy other people on the roads. Is that about right?

Just checking.

Blamemonkey said :

Ahhhh Riot-act of old….

@G-Fresh please stay out of my way on the roads, and please stop being a dick on the interwebz

Thank you

Blamemonkey

No can do. Muppet

Dorrie: it’s legal, but it’s bad manners.

Pretty much like flipping someone the bird, when you come to think of it.

Woody Mann-Caruso2:17 pm 20 Aug 08

I hate, hate, hate people that drive slow (even if it is the speed limit) in the right hand lane.

I’m one of those people. I don’t do it because it’s legal. I do it out of spite because I hate, hate, hate people who think they’re special and above the law just because it suits them. Please – give me the finger. It makes the look on your face when I smile, wave and blow a kiss even more precious. Use your horn, and I slow down to 78 just for sh.ts and giggles.

I wasn’t going to say it, but since he said it, what Blamemonkey said.

Ahhhh Riot-act of old….

@G-Fresh please stay out of my way on the roads, and please stop being a dick on the interwebz

Thank you

Blamemonkey

Oh we noticed … *groan*

; )

Overheard said :

peterh said :

always thought it was against the law to undertake.

unless you are an undertaker.

Funny (in a macabre way) that you should say that, Peter. One of the occasions I mentioned above of risking a speeding fine was zipping along the M2 in Sydney a couple of years ago, trying to keep up with a hearse. True story.

Nothing to do with overtaking. Only undertaking.

glad someone noticed the pun.

Doh, sorry about the double post. You’d have to agree that “typographical idiosyncrasy” works better than “phrase” though, wouldn’t you? 🙂

NNNGH!!

Now there’s a typographical idiosyncrasy I haven’t seen in a while. Mind if I ask where you came across it?

NNNGH!!

There’s a phrase I haven’t seen in a while. Mind if I ask where you came across it?

peterh said :

always thought it was against the law to undertake.

unless you are an undertaker.

Funny (in a macabre way) that you should say that, Peter. One of the occasions I mentioned above of risking a speeding fine was zipping along the M2 in Sydney a couple of years ago, trying to keep up with a hearse. True story.

Nothing to do with overtaking. Only undertaking.

Thats works both ways

niftydog said :

Regardless of what you think is right or wrong, what’s legal or not, or what motives the other driver has for speeding, the fact is that we all must share the road. It really is as simple as that.

Besides, moving over and letting them past is much safer than letting them tail-gate you and getting all road-ragey on your ass.

I could go on for days about Canberra drivers, but I’ll settle for relating a beef I had with two Canberra drivers this morning;
Two boneheads, side by side, blocking up the whole road, doing 75km/h along Parks Way… nothing unusual about that, until you realise it was at 4:45am in the god damn morning with not a single other car anywhere in sight! NNNNNGH!

rate the plate would love to hear from you.

Keep in mind that the tolerance of the average car’s speedo is pretty wide, so while your speedo may be telling you 80 on the dot, the guy behind’s might well be reading 70.

I particularly like the comments about “holding up traffic” when you are doing the speed limit. funny that.

I try to get to the right lane to turn right. in some instances, I have to try and get into the right lane waaaay back from the turn, otherwise I don’t get there.

undertaking is a practice that I engage in only when:

a) the driver in the right hand lane is doing less than the speed limit
b) there aren’t any other options, and they insist on jamming on the anchors when i get closer to them
c) I am certain there are no coppers around.

always thought it was against the law to undertake.

unless you are an undertaker.

Regardless of what you think is right or wrong, what’s legal or not, or what motives the other driver has for speeding, the fact is that we all must share the road. It really is as simple as that.

Besides, moving over and letting them past is much safer than letting them tail-gate you and getting all road-ragey on your ass.

I could go on for days about Canberra drivers, but I’ll settle for relating a beef I had with two Canberra drivers this morning;
Two boneheads, side by side, blocking up the whole road, doing 75km/h along Parks Way… nothing unusual about that, until you realise it was at 4:45am in the god damn morning with not a single other car anywhere in sight! NNNNNGH!

Being overtaken on the left is a bit of a hint really.

: )

The road rules are very clear :

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.
You must not drive in the right lane
unless:
• you are turning right, or making a
U–turn from the centre of the road,
and are giving a right turn signal;
• you are overtaking;
• a left lane must turn left sign or left
traffic lane arrows apply to any other
lane and you are not turning left;
• you are required to drive in the right
lane;
• you are avoiding an obstruction;
• the traffic in the other lanes is
congested; or
• the traffic in every lane is congested.

For those that drive in the right hand lane and hold up traffic, you are being rude, lazy and selfish.

Worthy of the Bird!!!!!!

The sound you are now hearing is the petulant, pedantic types printing out and enlarging this excerpt so that the next time they are doing 80 in an 80 and are flipped the aforementioned bird, they can justifiably wave their copy of ‘the law’ in the aggrieved party’s face and feel quite smug and justified in tootling along in the right lane on the gazetted and sign-posted speed limit while others are forced to overtake on the left (which used to be illegal in some circumstances in some jurisdictions — a mate got pinged for it in Yass many, many, many years ago and as he lived in Melbourne and couldn’t justify the cost of returning to challenge it in court — there were mitigating circumstances — had to stump up the fine).

(For the record, dorrie, the above spit was not a shot at you. You’ve asked an innocent question in good faith, for mine.)

Mælinar – *spoiler alert* I’ve seen S04E13 said :

Courtesy of The Law

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.

Mælinar - *spoiler alert* I've seen S04E1312:54 pm 20 Aug 08

Courtesy of The Law

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.

You must not drive in the right lane unless:

• you are turning right, or making a U–turn from the centre of the road, and are giving a right turn signal;
• you are overtaking;
• a left lane must turn left sign or left traffic lane arrows apply to any other lane and you are not turning left;
• you are required to drive in the right lane;
• you are avoiding an obstruction;
• the traffic in the other lanes is
congested; or
• the traffic in every lane is congested.

A keep left unless overtaking sign on a multi-lane road applies to the length of road beginning at the sign and ending at the nearest of the following:

• an end keep left unless overtaking sign on the road;
• a traffic sign or road marking on the road indicating that it is no longer a multi-lane road;
• if the road ends at a T–intersection or dead end — the end of the road.

If there are three or more available lanes, use the left lane. Move with care to the
centre lanes if you need to pass slower vehicles. Move back to the left lane once it is again clear. The right lane is normally reserved for overtaking and you must move out of it as soon as it is safe to do so.

Granny said :

You do not know all the circumstances of why the other person is in a hurry, and whilst they are probably just disorganised or impatient they could be desperately attempting to get to a hospital in time with a woman in labour, or a child with a nosebleed that won’t stop, or somebody convulsing with seizures, or even a beloved pet that has been run over.

Good point, well made, Granny. On occasions I’ve had to cross my fingers and hope to Bob there were no speed cameras around as circumstances dictated I speed for some minor emergency.

“Recently I have noticed a distinct correlation between the (short)distance between the driver and their steering wheel and their propensity to sit in the right lane doing barely the speed limit.”

There’s a trifecta of characteristics I am very wary around: fish sticker on the back of the car, driver wearing a bowling hat, and a certain Swedish make of car being driven.

^^
Added to the above

I take that to mean that if you’re not overtaking then get in the left hand lane

I lifted this from the ACT Road Users Handbook available from the TAMS website

If you are driving on a multi-lane road
it is advisable to drive in the left hand
lane, leaving other lanes available for
overtaking vehicles

Not polite. Plain unnecessary. Especially when on the speed limit.

I’m in two minds on this one & I thnk it depends on the road.

On Belco Way, I’d say “flip the bird back”. It’s an 80 zone at it’s fastest point & there’s heaps of off/on roads. There’s no “overtaking lane” as such.

On Tuggeranong Parkway though (for example), it’s very frustrating to find people in the right hand lane travelling at exactly the same speed as the car in the left next to them (both under the speed limit). This happens a lot. It would be unlikely to get me to “flip the bird” at them though, more likely I’d be mildly annoyed for a second, forget about it & then go about my day. It does puzzle me sometimes why people are so insistent on driving in the right hand lane though, I’ve witnessed people go to great lengths to get in that lane only then to hold up traffic.

I think it is a matter of consideration.

I have no desire to control other people, and if they want to go faster than me I certainly don’t want to be stuck in front of them.

If somebody said, “Excuse me” in a shopping centre you would let them past. The road shouldn’t be any different.

I think that making people desperate to escape from behind you is likely to cause them to do something foolish and get somebody killed. You see this all the time on the way to the coast, particularly with young drivers. Why provoke them?

It is easy to just keep left and get into position in the right hand lane as necessary.

You do not know all the circumstances of why the other person is in a hurry, and whilst they are probably just disorganised or impatient they could be desperately attempting to get to a hospital in time with a woman in labour, or a child with a nosebleed that won’t stop, or somebody convulsing with seizures, or even a beloved pet that has been run over.

Sometimes in these circumstances a person will call an ambulance and other times they will just race them off to the hospital.

In the end, driving is mostly about consideration and common sense.

helpful vg,

but i’m a hobbitt and inspire fear in no man, woman, child or small furry creature.

Except errant Raiders now forced to walk the straight and narrow in fear of your mad song-parody skillz!!

dorrie, I wouldn’t have flipped the bird but maybe would have shot an incredulous glance/glare at you. Unless you’re about to turn, stick to the left as a courtesy to your fellow-driver. Forcing others to overtake on the left comes with risks, as you’ve got less of a view of someone coming up the blind-side than on the right, where I would suggest most drivers are expecting overtakers.

Either way it is polite – like standing to the left on escalators and letting ladies out of a lift first.

Recently I have noticed a distinct correlation between the (short)distance between the driver and their steering wheel and their propensity to sit in the right lane doing barely the speed limit.

Use the left lane to get around them, instead of having your little hissy fit.

If unable to get around, good luck to you. Might prevent you from crashing while speeding and texting your besties

Deserves the bird….

I hate slow driver’s using the right lane.

When it is signposted such a rule is in effect. Otherwise, no such rule

Hanging out in the right lane can be viewed as inconsiderate but if you must do it at the speed limit here’s a hint.

Sit there until you see the speed camera van, obstructing the accelerating cars from behind you from seeing it. Pull into the centre or left lane at the most opportune moment for the accelerating car to be hitting maximum overtaking pace in the right lane you just occupied whilst in full view and detection of the speed van. Casually drive up to the next set of lights, pulling next to the recently detected speeder. Make signals with you hands as if you were taking a picture, laugh and give them a pleasant wave. You will be happy in the knowledge of knowing that:

a) You did the right thing by getting out of the right lane; and
b) The ass whno sped up behind you may think twice about doing it again.

Funny thing about some of these impatient drivers around this town is there’s not much put up and plenty of shut up. I sat casually right on the speed limit in my little Beetle on the way home from the gym. Young impatient man sat millimetres from my clacker down the single lane road flashing his headlights and then cutting me off overtaking on a roundabout. Predictably we finished up next to each other at the lights. I looked at him and shook my head then went back to listening to the radio. He started with the horn blasting and abuse. I ingored it for a piece but then he made motions about wanting to sort it out outside of the car. I thought to myself ‘why thats a bit childish but hey, I didn’t start it’. I said to him ‘if you’d like to discuss it further just pop into that bus stop down the road’. He did and got out of the car all fired up and stormed towards my car. I then alighted from the vehicle slowly and stood my full 6 inches and 40kg heavier than the young chap, a little pumped up after a gym session. He looked at me, sh1t himself and ran back to his car. He couldn’t pull back into traffic so I stood next to the drivers side window and gently tapped on it and asked ‘got something to say asswipe?’. He looked at me and actually started crying in fear.

I haven’t laughed that hard in years. I guess he’ll think twice.

Its amazing how much more relaxing the driving experience is when you get away 5 mins early and stick to the speed limit, not to mention the improved fuel economy. People should relax more in cars

Sitting on the speed limit in a 80 zone in the right lane is perfectly legal and acceptable behaviour. But in the interests of safety, if someone tailgates you, you should slow down (to prevent accidents of course).

> Politeness? Turn it up. The right hand lane isn’t for overtaking, it is for right hand or ‘U’ turns

So those signs everywhere that say “KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING” are just a Government joke? On some highways they even mention fines for driving along in the right hand lane without overtaking.

Keep left all you want. But don’t expect others to do the same.

kkcscdp said :

you shouldn’t be driving in the right hand land if you are going slower then the rest of the traffic, no matter what the speed limit is.

Slower cars use the left lane – This seems to be a little know road rule because it happens all over Canberra. If someone does not want to do the same speed as you, let them pass.

I hate hate hate moronic drivers that can’t overtake in the left hand lane. It’s not that hard. The road is NOT only yours to use.

Get your facts straight. There is not a blanket rule that slow cars use left lanes.

planeguy said :

However some may claim that politeness would mean you should keep left in speed zones lower than that.

Politeness? Turn it up. The right hand lane isn’t for overtaking, it is for right hand or ‘U’ turns. Or for merging into a transit lane. Or for stopping on the median stip to syphon the python. Or to irritate idiots who think they own the road in their Diahatsu Charade.

You probably didn’t deserve the finger, but yeah, keep left unless overtaking. (Note: if you need to be in the right lane to exit/turn, that’s fine, but not four k’s before the actual exit/intersection.)

If you were doing the speed limit then the only reason they could be angry with you was if they wanted to speed. I think that weakens their claim to a righteous finger significantly.

I would agree with planeguy about ‘politeness and the left lane’ though.

Shake it off because it sounds like you didn’t do anything wrong. Next time, raise your finger in righteous rebuke.

Whilst you probably didn’t deserve the “bird”, you shouldn’t be driving in the right hand land if you are going slower then the rest of the traffic, no matter what the speed limit is.

I hate, hate, hate people that drive slow (even if it is the speed limit) in the right hand lane. Slower cars use the left lane – This seems to be a little know road rule because it happens all over Canberra. If someone does not want to do the same speed as you, let them pass.

The law is that where the speed limit is above 80kmh you are required to keep left unless overtaking.

However some may claim that politeness would mean you should keep left in speed zones lower than that.

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