Danger on the Barton Highway

stormboy said :

The solution as I see it is too remove that funny little plactic thing with your photo on it from your wallet/purse and to run it through the nearest available shredder. Second step is to replace said plastic thingy in your purse/ wallet with a My Way card.

Spread the word to all others who can’t cope with traffic being traffic.

I think the OP should only be forced into doing this, once you replace the airbag in your car with a giant spike…

I see nothing wrong with flagging potential issues and danger spots, and by doing it on here, it means others who may not appreciate the danger (and are thus the ones who really should have the licenses taken from them) may realise that all it not as good as it seems. Plus I strongly suspect at least one person from act gov’t co reads the RA from time to time, so by posting it here a message may be getting to someone who is in a position to fix it.

thatsnotme said :

I often turn my drive in into a bit of a game, where I use my brakes as little as possible. If I don’t have to brake, then the car behind me probably doesn’t have to brake – or the car behind him, etc etc, avoiding the whole annoying concertina effect that turns a morning drive into a stop start ordeal. It only works if you leave a decent gap in front of you and drive calmly though. The only reward you get is starting your day with lowered stress levels.

I like this and I basically do the same thing. If you imagine looking down at the traffic from a helicopter, it’d be easy to see what slows down the flow for everyone. I reckon sticking to this policy of braking as little as possible maximises the flow of traffic and reduces brake pad wear and hence also fuel consumption because you aren’t spending fuel to drive forward only to counter that effort with braking again and repeat. I think you do have to generally be quick to react in accelerating when the opportunity does arise though. Any delay in accelerating can cause others to have to stop behind you also, so the worst thing you can do is stop dead and zone out and then notice a big gap in front and accelerate quickly and then brake hard. That just creates that stop and start thing with unnecessary delays that makes it slower for everyone. You have to accelerate as soon as the car in front does without delay but not getting too close that you have to brake again.

NoImRight said :

Most of us drive in peak hour, thats kind of what makes it peak. Most of us though anticipate hazards and allow for them. Like making a gap for someone that you can see needs to merge. Not blocking them then being aghast when they havent given you the road. Cars coming off a slip lane will run out of road and need to merge. Just making it “their” problem will be why you create scenarios where you are throwing yourself about. Better to anticipate and give some leeway than take some vague moral high ground.

I couldn’t agree with you more. I don’t drive on the Barton in peak, but when I do drive I head through Glenloch interchange, down Parkes Way, and into the City. There are plenty of spots on that drive where merging in heavy traffic has to happen – especially now that most of the drive is a roadworks zone.

I now take the approach where I try to figure out in advance how the merge will go down, and which car I need to leave a space for, then I adjust my speed to leave them a hole. Sometimes I misjudge, sometimes another car decides to force their way in and two cars merge ahead of me, and sometimes the car I’m trying to let in just doesn’t get it and the whole procedure is harder than it should be.

Regardless though, I’d say 3/4 of the time, I get a courtesy wave. I end up getting to work less stressed knowing that I’ve helped out some stranger, and they’ve appreciated my efforts. It’s nice to think that maybe they’ve had a less stressful drive into work too, because someone sacrificed a second or two of their day to let them in.

I often turn my drive in into a bit of a game, where I use my brakes as little as possible. If I don’t have to brake, then the car behind me probably doesn’t have to brake – or the car behind him, etc etc, avoiding the whole annoying concertina effect that turns a morning drive into a stop start ordeal. It only works if you leave a decent gap in front of you and drive calmly though. The only reward you get is starting your day with lowered stress levels.

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

Yep i’ve almost been in a collision twice, due to people pulling onto the Barton Highway right in front of me while i’m doing 80. Thank god there was nobody directly next to me, both times….

I deal with merging traffic at these speeds every day and so far no need to thank any diety. Like most cars around me I see the cars that want to merge and allow for them. If yoy intend to just barrell along defending your piece of the roadway against all comers someone may well challenge your alpha status.

Yeah awesome. You’re probably also the same kind of person who sits at 20km/h under the speed limit.

If that was the case would that justify your failure to show any courtesy or road sense? Or are you just determined that everything is someone elses problem as you blithely tootle down the road adjusting your radio to cover the horn blasts from those unaware of your ownership of your surroundings?

What? It’s peak hour traffic. Courtesy is not cutting people off to change lanes just because theres some people ahead that want to merge. The Curran Dr slip lane is long enough to get any car up to 80km/h to allow people to merge safely, if they fail to do so, I shouldn’t have to throw my car into the lane next to me. We’re talking about peak hour, not a mild evening with little to no traffic around.

Most of us drive in peak hour, thats kind of what makes it peak. Most of us though anticipate hazards and allow for them. Like making a gap for someone that you can see needs to merge. Not blocking them then being aghast when they havent given you the road. Cars coming off a slip lane will run out of road and need to merge. Just making it “their” problem will be why you create scenarios where you are throwing yourself about. Better to anticipate and give some leeway than take some vague moral high ground.

Yep!

Seriously, it is a really scary spot. Turning north onto barton off curran during peak hour concerns me most. You literally have to turn blind into two lanes of 80km traffic.

Speaking in a strictly legal sense, those on Curran Drv moving onto the Barton Highway have to give way to the Barton Hwy traffic. That’s what those dashed lines at the end of the lane mean – give way.

give way, for a driver or pedestrian, means:
(a) if the driver or pedestrian is stopped — remain stationary until it is safe to proceed; or
(b) in any other case — slow down and, if necessary, stop to avoid a collision.

Solidarity said :

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

Yep i’ve almost been in a collision twice, due to people pulling onto the Barton Highway right in front of me while i’m doing 80. Thank god there was nobody directly next to me, both times….

I deal with merging traffic at these speeds every day and so far no need to thank any diety. Like most cars around me I see the cars that want to merge and allow for them. If yoy intend to just barrell along defending your piece of the roadway against all comers someone may well challenge your alpha status.

Yeah awesome. You’re probably also the same kind of person who sits at 20km/h under the speed limit.

If that was the case would that justify your failure to show any courtesy or road sense? Or are you just determined that everything is someone elses problem as you blithely tootle down the road adjusting your radio to cover the horn blasts from those unaware of your ownership of your surroundings?

What? It’s peak hour traffic. Courtesy is not cutting people off to change lanes just because theres some people ahead that want to merge. The Curran Dr slip lane is long enough to get any car up to 80km/h to allow people to merge safely, if they fail to do so, I shouldn’t have to throw my car into the lane next to me. We’re talking about peak hour, not a mild evening with little to no traffic around.

Most of us drive in peak hour, thats kind of what makes it peak. Most of us though anticipate hazards and allow for them. Like making a gap for someone that you can see needs to merge. Not blocking them then being aghast when they havent given you the road. Cars coming off a slip lane will run out of road and need to merge. Just making it “their” problem will be why you create scenarios where you are throwing yourself about. Better to anticipate and give some leeway than take some vague moral high ground.

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

Yep i’ve almost been in a collision twice, due to people pulling onto the Barton Highway right in front of me while i’m doing 80. Thank god there was nobody directly next to me, both times….

I deal with merging traffic at these speeds every day and so far no need to thank any diety. Like most cars around me I see the cars that want to merge and allow for them. If yoy intend to just barrell along defending your piece of the roadway against all comers someone may well challenge your alpha status.

Yeah awesome. You’re probably also the same kind of person who sits at 20km/h under the speed limit.

If that was the case would that justify your failure to show any courtesy or road sense? Or are you just determined that everything is someone elses problem as you blithely tootle down the road adjusting your radio to cover the horn blasts from those unaware of your ownership of your surroundings?

What? It’s peak hour traffic. Courtesy is not cutting people off to change lanes just because theres some people ahead that want to merge. The Curran Dr slip lane is long enough to get any car up to 80km/h to allow people to merge safely, if they fail to do so, I shouldn’t have to throw my car into the lane next to me. We’re talking about peak hour, not a mild evening with little to no traffic around.

Solidarity said :

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

Yep i’ve almost been in a collision twice, due to people pulling onto the Barton Highway right in front of me while i’m doing 80. Thank god there was nobody directly next to me, both times….

I deal with merging traffic at these speeds every day and so far no need to thank any diety. Like most cars around me I see the cars that want to merge and allow for them. If yoy intend to just barrell along defending your piece of the roadway against all comers someone may well challenge your alpha status.

Yeah awesome. You’re probably also the same kind of person who sits at 20km/h under the speed limit.

If that was the case would that justify your failure to show any courtesy or road sense? Or are you just determined that everything is someone elses problem as you blithely tootle down the road adjusting your radio to cover the horn blasts from those unaware of your ownership of your surroundings?

NoImRight said :

Solidarity said :

Yep i’ve almost been in a collision twice, due to people pulling onto the Barton Highway right in front of me while i’m doing 80. Thank god there was nobody directly next to me, both times….

I deal with merging traffic at these speeds every day and so far no need to thank any diety. Like most cars around me I see the cars that want to merge and allow for them. If yoy intend to just barrell along defending your piece of the roadway against all comers someone may well challenge your alpha status.

Yeah awesome. You’re probably also the same kind of person who sits at 20km/h under the speed limit.