13 December 2008

Ghoul Alert - More drivers learn wet road = slippery road

| poptop
Join the conversation
43

I was there, my camera was there, we were waiting for the response guys to let us pass – the Devil make mischief for idle hands.

Observed behaviour for Erindale Drive, just near Monash, seems to be Firies first, Police about 3 minutes later, Ambos about 3 minutes after that. As this was about 1pm, I can only imagine the mayhem as the weather got worse and the traffic heavier.

We Canberrans suck at driving in the wet.

Canberra drivers in the wet

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Join the conversation

43
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

hey, don’t knock crystals, they are very pretty in some cars, dangling from the rear view…

jakez said :

An inverted pentagram is satanic.

(Sorry for the double post..)

ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE.

Incidentally, please don’t make me defend wicca like this ever again. That was a part of my teenage years that I care not to recall.

An inverted pentagram (2 points up) is regarded as satanic because it is a standard part of the Sigil of Baphomet, the insignia for the Church of Satan.

Also, why do wiccans seem to have no concept that mixing up the pantheons of gods from multiple civilizations across time and space (and then adding a dollop of new age dolphin-hugging rainbow crystal sh1te) is just silly and shows a lack of historical knowledge.

Ms Thumper is right to a point – the Christian Church took over lots of stuff and either subverted it to their cause or made it “satanic”. Anyone who thinks Yule Logs, Easter Eggs, or the Devil has anything to do with Christianity needs to do more reading.

Gardner represents one branch of modern Wicca, but there are lots of others – generally less well publicised [except for Crowley of course], which is how the members prefer it.

An inverted pentagram is satanic.

(Sorry for the double post..)

ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE.

Incidentally, please don’t make me defend wicca like this ever again. That was a part of my teenage years that I care not to recall.

Canberra drivers are rubbish. They drive hermetically-sealed space ships that stop and go at the push of a pedal… most Canberra cars have 2 pedals, in my observation. They are air-conditioned, plush, soundproofed spheres of alternative reality. And this works until the road surface becomes less reliable. ie slippery.

But they continue to rush about, and tailgate, because they can. It’s only when their only control mechanism – the brake – fails that they realise that there might be more to this driving caper than they’ve yet worked out. Actually, most don’t realise this, they decide that it’s someone else’s fault.

An inverted cross also happens to be the symbol of St Peter, as the chap was crucified upside-down.

inverted cross = satanism or a nail has fallen out. inverted pentagram = no clue.

Gungahlin Al2:08 pm 15 Dec 08

Caf: I lived on the homestead when I managed the Landcare group there, and never saw nor heard about it. But left there in 2002, so maybe this is new. Is it visible on Google Streetview? It did go right down the Hume Hwy.

Gungahlin Al: There’s a shed in Woomargarma, clearly visible from the highway, that features a large pentagram and inverted cross painted on it.

I don’t know if Canberra is better or worse than other places but I do know it’s bad. I hate driving in the rain, it scares the crap out of me. It seems that the more it rains, the crazier people get on the road.

Gungahlin Al1:15 pm 15 Dec 08

And on the TV news: “The wet roads caused numerous traffic accidents in canberra today…” NO IT DID NOT!

Xbikee: see post 12 – wet roads – where poorly designed or where drains are blocked can indeed cause accidents. (But I take your point.)

Gungahlin Al1:13 pm 15 Dec 08

Caf: The what??

futto said :

I drive on this bit of road all the time. It is really slippery and the water doesn’t drain off it and pools up. My traction control light came on several times on the way home yesterday, and I was driving like grandpa.

How about those evil tyre created “gutters” that form on the Parkway when its raining? They fill up with water, rather than draining to the side and then cause you to aquaplane right next to a concrete barrier. I try to avoid that road when it is raining because of this.

Got caught by that on the Parkway on Friday night, had knocked about 10-20k’s off my speed to cope and was watching people fly by… Frightened the sh*t out of me. Something has to be done about the drainage on certain parts of this road.

…Woomargama…

Gungahlin Al, can you explain the Satanic Shed in Woomargama?

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

Sounds like a fairly typical 4WD owner attitude.

Oh, i don’t know, I own an old magna. maybe hitting me will improve its look….

@danman – I do the 3-second count. bigger gap, but it still seems to fill with idiots… though some try to merge where there is no gap. like my passenger door. and beep at me, as if it is my fault…

And on the TV news: “The wet roads caused numerous traffic accidents in canberra today…” NO IT DID NOT!

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy9:07 pm 14 Dec 08

Sounds like a fairly typical 4WD owner attitude.

I have an old MQ Patrol 4wd…. All lanes are mine (you car cost more than my heap)!

el said :

Broke traction at 130 last night, held it but

LOL. 1:30AM, or 130Km/H??

A minor detail 😛

Instant Mash11:51 am 14 Dec 08

I’ve also noticed around here, that there are a lot of dickhead P-Platers trying to show off in front of their friends or whatever.

It grinds my gears!

miz said :

Agreed about the tailgating – three seconds is ideal, but then people feel free to snaffle your buffer. Tres irritating!

I too hate tailgaters. I usually slow down if I feel the guy is trying to intimidate me into going faster.

But we all have to change lanes. If the gap is safe, I’ll change, and expect the guy/girl behind to drop back, as I do. Otherwise we’d all miss a lot of turns.

Lane lines are barely visible in the wet too. On Friday evening – still light – I (rather embarassingly) ended up in the ‘bus only’ bit on Athllon Drive at the Hindmarsh lights, as I could not see the lane lines with all the shiny stuff on it!

Agreed about the tailgating – three seconds is ideal, but then people feel free to snaffle your buffer. Tres irritating!

How about those Curtin drivers!! If anyone in the world can’t drive it’s them.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy10:06 pm 13 Dec 08

So… people can’t drive in the wet, and lack basic vehicle safety understanding.

Better install some more speed cameras.

Jonathon Reynolds9:29 pm 13 Dec 08

GottaLoveCanberra said :

It’s a notoriously bad area and could definitely do with a resurfacing.

Spray-pave? 😛

GottaLoveCanberra9:26 pm 13 Dec 08

That roundabout has an accident almost every single time it rains. I shit ye not.

The guys at work replace the poles on that roundabout, particularly the southbound one, quite often.

It’s a notoriously bad area and could definitely do with a resurfacing.

G-fresh – I don’t mind people merging in front of me, as long as they leave a gap of at least 2 seconds between cars.

What I hate is someone shoe boxing their way into my buffer zone and then hitting their brakes to avoid colliding with the car in front of them.

If you need to move into a lane, my suggestion is to do it earlier if you find it’s a struggle…

Holden Caulfield9:12 pm 13 Dec 08

DJ said :

If you think Canberra drivers are bad…. try driving in Perth.

I was in Adelaide recently and it seems as if they take sitting in your blind spot very seriously. They are very good at it too. Oh, that, and driving in a staggered pattern on dual carriageway. They tease you with a gap, but never open it up enough to move through. Of course, they do this on perfectly open and visible roads while driving well under the speed limit.

Clown Killer8:26 pm 13 Dec 08

Having done a fair bit of driving now in every state and territory I can honestly say that I would be hard pressed to pick a difference. If there’s bad driving to be done, across the board, regardless of what city you’re in it’s taxi’s and courier/delivery vehicles that without exception demonstrate the worst road skills and observance of rules.

Felix the Cat8:20 pm 13 Dec 08

Overheard said :

* Sigh *

First person to stump up some hard stats to back up their ‘Canberra drivers [blah, blah, blah]’ observations has licence (no pun intended) to continue these sort of assertions. P.S. Polls with ~=100 recipients do not equal ‘hard stats’.

Don’t know about “hard stats” but I drive approx 300km per day (6 days) all over Canberra and Queanbeyan and it is my observation that Queanbeyan drivers are much better than Canberra ones – as in more courteous and safe and also more knowledgable and dilligent with road rules. 9/10 times in Qbn if I see a car doing some stupid move it has ACT plates.

If you think Canberra drivers are bad…. try driving in Perth.

Gungahlin Al6:17 pm 13 Dec 08

Overheard Canberra drivers ARE abysmal.
When I lived in Holbrook (Woomargama actually) the drive to Sydney was always fine until the Canberra traffic joined in. It then became more like dodgems with people tailgating, ducking in and out of lanes, and generally crazy stuff.

Yep – tailgating.

The water lying along Northbourne and on Flemington near Well Station Drive was really dangerous regardless of driving quality.

* grey * jumpers

* Sigh *

First person to stump up some hard stats to back up their ‘Canberra drivers [blah, blah, blah]’ observations has licence (no pun intended) to continue these sort of assertions. P.S. Polls with ~=100 recipients do not equal ‘hard stats’.

Slightly off topic, and just outside the region, can I advise anyone heading to the coast that it’s not just dusk and dawn that you have to watch out for woolly jumpers, as I found out the hard way today.

RIP, Skippy; you never had a chance. And neither did my VX. Bah! Mercifully it was quick, and the car is still drivable.

Busy day; I was helping clear fallen trees across the road near the Monga State Park on the way down — winds on the Clyde and at the Bay are very strong.

How about those evil tyre created “gutters” that form on the Parkway when its raining? They fill up with water, rather than draining to the side and then cause you to aquaplane right next to a concrete barrier. I try to avoid that road when it is raining because of this.

Yep. No sign of any work being done to fix the shocking state of the Parkway this year either.

I knew it was raining heavily when I saw people *actually slowing* to 60Km/H on Adelaide Avenue last night.

Broke traction at 130 last night, held it but

LOL. 1:30AM, or 130Km/H??

I drive on this bit of road all the time. It is really slippery and the water doesn’t drain off it and pools up. My traction control light came on several times on the way home yesterday, and I was driving like grandpa.

How about those evil tyre created “gutters” that form on the Parkway when its raining? They fill up with water, rather than draining to the side and then cause you to aquaplane right next to a concrete barrier. I try to avoid that road when it is raining because of this.

Danman said :

I really hate the pr!cks that take my buffer zone – especially in the wet…

My rule of thumb is 2 seconds behind the car in front…

Come on people. That gap isn’t there to let you in.

Yeah we don’t like people merging in front of us in Canberra. An abhorrent liberty to take. My lane.

Pommy bastard2:04 pm 13 Dec 08

Having learned to drive in the UK….

I really hate the pr!cks that take my buffer zone – especially in the wet…

My rule of thumb is 2 seconds behind the car in front…

Come on people. That gap isn’t there to let you in.

Broke traction at 130 last night, held it but

Yeah, but most places I’ve been to the drivers tailgate. It’s not a unique Canberra problem. (You should see some of the cabbies in Melbourne)

No, the big problem is that Canberra drivers tailgate like crazy all the time, and don’t seem to make any adjustment to allow for the poor weather conditions. Then they wonder why they can’t stop in time to avoid a rear ender. Though I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how many drivers had their lights on through the day yesterday. Not the black mini driver though, the car that most needed to have them on was simply a vague shadow through the rain. Sigh.

Meh, we’re no worse than most other places. The big problem is we have wet weather so infrequently than when it happens we’re not use to it.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.