23 October 2010

Crazy Drivers On GDE

| Jamie Wheeler
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Recently I was driving home on the GDE and saw an accident near Glenloch interchange that could have easily been fatal. During peak hour a confused driver suddenly slowed and attempted a dangerous U turn back to the opposite side of the GDE. They couldn’t make it across due to the heavy north bound traffic. A southbound vehicle doing 80 in the right lane was suddenly confronted with a car sitting sideways across the lane and couldn’t stop in time. The U turn was attempted in a spot where there isn’t even room for a vehicle on the median strip.

Apart from that act of lunacy, I have also witnessed regular speeding with many cars doing 80-90km/hr in 60 zones and 100 in 80 zones. If you obey the limit you’re usually tailgated by an impatient driver just itching to exceed the speed limit. As a regular user of that road I’ve seen such dangerous driving I fear it’s only a matter of time before somebody gets killed.

I have never seen police targeting speeding or other dangerous driving in the area. As for the dangerous U turns, we need more barriers and signs prohibiting U turns. Barriers should at least be placed in sections where the median strip is narrow to prevent U turns and even head on collisions.

People also need to slow down and accept that getting somewhere a few minutes later is better than risking killing yourself or others.

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vg said :

And if you are tail-gated here’s an interesting reminder. The brake lights don’t come on when you pull on the hand brake

And towabar > radiator

Thoroughly Smashed9:40 am 25 Oct 10

They both put up both kinds of signs, as per the road rules.

Maybe its just the signs, one puts up U turns permitted signs, the other not permitted signs?

Thoroughly Smashed10:27 pm 24 Oct 10

Aeek said :

This is different in NSW versus the the ACT; aren’t National Road Rules wonderful ?

Only if by “different” you mean “exactly the same”.

ACT (U-turns in Part C2).
NSW (U-turns in division 40 as per the Australian Road Rules).

Thoroughly Smashed said :

troll-sniffer said :

U Turns are permitted unless signed to the contrary. Occasionally a U Turn Permitted sign will apppear to avoid confusion.

This is also incorrect. U-turns are permitted at priority intersections unless there is a no U-turn sign. U-turns are not permitted at signals unless there’s a U-turn permitted sign.

This is different in NSW versus the the ACT; aren’t National Road Rules wonderful ?

Thoroughly Smashed7:01 pm 24 Oct 10

troll-sniffer said :

U Turns are permitted unless signed to the contrary. Occasionally a U Turn Permitted sign will apppear to avoid confusion.

This is also incorrect. U-turns are permitted at priority intersections unless there is a no U-turn sign. U-turns are not permitted at signals unless there’s a U-turn permitted sign.

dvaey said :

Jono said :

‘police presence’ isnt so much an issue, but making drivers believe there COULD be police presence is useful. If you saw a speed trap on a road once a week, youd slow down everyday on that road, just in-case. If you see one speed-trap per year setup, youre more likely to take a chance on speeding.

I have found that the lack of policing on the roads is not only a local ACT problem. I have just returned from an 8000km cross-country trip, and in that 4 weeks, I saw 4 police cars (that werent parked at a police station) and 1 speed camera which was on the Barton Highway as I left Canberra.

With such little police presence, its no wonder people believe its worth risking that extra 10km/hr to get where theyre going faster.

True except what the OP was talking about wasn’t a speed issue, so moot in the context of this conversation which is what I was getting at. The person that did this was plain stupid and no police presence would stop them.

creative_canberran5:32 pm 24 Oct 10

Someone tried this on Parkes Way a month ago in an E class Merc… he failed. Side of his car was caved in, a tree knocked over and guard barrier destroyed with his vehicle sideways across the right lane. Nightmare traffic that morning.

Jono said :

vg said :

Waiting For Godot said :

The law regarding U-Turns nationwide is quite simple. U-Turns are prohibited everywhere unless there is a sign saying “U-Turn Permitted”. It’s not rocket science.

Fail

+1

The astonishing lack of knowledge of the road laws displayed so often on this forum is genuinely depressing.

Its almost displayed as often as people saying others are wrong, without following it up with an explanation.

JC said :

vg said :

Interesting that ‘police presence’ seems to be the panacea for all ills.

True and people who do what the OP said are just plain stupid people so a police presence wouldn’t have an effect on them.

‘police presence’ isnt so much an issue, but making drivers believe there COULD be police presence is useful. If you saw a speed trap on a road once a week, youd slow down everyday on that road, just in-case. If you see one speed-trap per year setup, youre more likely to take a chance on speeding.

I have found that the lack of policing on the roads is not only a local ACT problem. I have just returned from an 8000km cross-country trip, and in that 4 weeks, I saw 4 police cars (that werent parked at a police station) and 1 speed camera which was on the Barton Highway as I left Canberra.

With such little police presence, its no wonder people believe its worth risking that extra 10km/hr to get where theyre going faster.

troll-sniffer said :

Bollocks. U Turns are permitted unless signed to the contrary. Occasionally a U Turn Permitted sign will apppear to avoid confusion.

As I said, depressing.

troll-sniffer said :

Waiting For Godot said :

However in this case, the driver probably isn’t aware that a median strip has the same legal function as a double line. So had this bright spark been spotted by a plod he’d be up for wahtever that penalty is…

I think this simple statement sums it all up. We need a more visible police presence.

vg said :

Interesting that ‘police presence’ seems to be the panacea for all ills.

True and people who do what the OP said are just plain stupid people so a police presence wouldn’t have an effect on them.

troll-sniffer5:36 pm 23 Oct 10

Waiting For Godot said :

The law regarding U-Turns nationwide is quite simple. U-Turns are prohibited everywhere unless there is a sign saying “U-Turn Permitted”. It’s not rocket science.

Bollocks. U Turns are permitted unless signed to the contrary. Occasionally a U Turn Permitted sign will apppear to avoid confusion.

However in this case, the driver probably isn’t aware that a median strip has the same legal function as a double line. So had this bright spark been spotted by a plod he’d be up for wahtever that penalty is…

vg said :

Waiting For Godot said :

The law regarding U-Turns nationwide is quite simple. U-Turns are prohibited everywhere unless there is a sign saying “U-Turn Permitted”. It’s not rocket science.

Fail

+1

The astonishing lack of knowledge of the road laws displayed so often on this forum is genuinely depressing.

I assume that the poster was thinking of, “A driver must not make a U-turn at an intersection with traffic lights unless there is a U-turn permitted sign at the intersection.” Only a few words, but a significant difference.

“The law regarding U-Turns nationwide is quite simple. U-Turns are prohibited everywhere unless there is a sign saying “U-Turn Permitted”. It’s not rocket science.”

This is incorrect. The only place that you can only do a u-turn where there is a sign expressly permitting it is at traffic lights. At most places, such as an intersection without traffic lights, you can u-turn whenever it’s safe and you have a good view of oncoming traffic, unless there is a sign saying that you cannot.

The problem with the GDE is it’s a single lane expressway. It should be two lanes with a barrier between it like the parkway. It’s asking for tailgating and stupid driving.

Not correct. Please tell me exactly which law you are referring to?

U-turns, as such, are perfectly legal. They are only illegal in particular circumstances clearly stated in the Australian Road Rules and related legislation.

The specific circumstances in which the law clearly states that you cannot make a U turn are quite limited, and include at traffic lights [unless a U-turn permitted sign is displayed], over a broken centre line/s, where a No U-turn sign is displayed, or when it is unsafe to do so or where it will impede the flow of traffic.

Waiting For Godot said :

The law regarding U-Turns nationwide is quite simple. U-Turns are prohibited everywhere unless there is a sign saying “U-Turn Permitted”. It’s not rocket science.

Waiting For Godot said :

The law regarding U-Turns nationwide is quite simple. U-Turns are prohibited everywhere unless there is a sign saying “U-Turn Permitted”. It’s not rocket science.

Fail

I noted recently that there seems to be a new phenomenon on the roads, that the idiots who do 90kph in the 100 zone are the same idiots doing 90 in the 60 or 40 roadworks zone. Crazy..

Having said that northbound on into glenloch isn’t too bad as most people slow. The opposite side is a free for all with a lot of people doing 100 in the 60 zone, but that probably has something to do with the contractors not properly signposting the end of the roadworks, with one solitary end roadworks sign with no speed posting 500m up the road. Of course no policing of the limits has occurred in months, the could sit and have a field day there.

As for people doing stupid u turns, there should be an accident register kept, once you hit 3 at faults they should cut up their licence.

And if you are tail-gated here’s an interesting reminder. The brake lights don’t come on when you pull on the hand brake

Interesting that ‘police presence’ seems to be the panacea for all ills.

How about personal responsibility? What are the consequences for speeding? If you think the death of yourself or others falls into the broad ‘sweet FA’ category then you need your head read.

In a perfect world we’d have less, not more, Police

“I have seen drivers overtake on the left in the merge lanes more than one occasion”

That’s because they are impatient and unorganised cocks, not because othe road is poorly designed

Waiting For Godot10:06 am 23 Oct 10

The law regarding U-Turns nationwide is quite simple. U-Turns are prohibited everywhere unless there is a sign saying “U-Turn Permitted”. It’s not rocket science.

AussieRodney9:10 am 23 Oct 10

Absolutely agree with your last statement. And if we did, we wouldn’t need barriers.

Just wondering how this is any different from the “usual” crappy behaviour on Canberra’s roads.

The police presense in Canberra is next to none so what are the consequences for speeding? Sweet FA. The ACT Government believes the same job can be done by cameras. I think the biggest frustration from a drivers perspective is that the GDE should be a continuation of the Parkway. If it was properly planned and built, there is no reason why it couldn’t be a seamless 100km/h stretch from Gungahlin to Tuggeranong. As we know, that is not the case. I have seen drivers overtake on the left in the merge lanes more than one occasion.

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