I know this topic has come up before but I figured a new post was warranted.
What the hell is with these two intersections? Are they ever going to be fixed? They are both absolute death traps.
I moved to a place quite near to both of these intersections earlier this year, and remember quite clearly that I said to Ma Bodine very early on in the piece something along the lines that, “those intersections on Southern Cross Drive just near Kippax are pretty dangerous. I reckon we will see a few accidents at them in our time here.”
9 months on I have personally driven past 5 accidents at these intersections. I’m sure there have been more. (Actually, I know there have, because I didn’t drive past the motorcyclist fatality that occurred at the corner of Southern Cross and Florey, so haven’t included it in my count.)
In the past week I have nearly been taken out 3 times while driving along Southern Cross Drive by people pulling out of one of either Starke St or Florey Dr. On all 3 occasions I only managed to avoid these accidents because I always drive through these areas very defensively and was able to respond in time to narrowly avoid colliding with the people pulling out into my path (closest near-accident was missed by less than 6 inches – you wouldn’t have been able to walk in between the space between out cars).
I would like to make the following points.
- 1. All of those turning and slip lanes do nothing but create two seriously dangerous intersections. There is too much going on, and the less competent drivers don’t know what to do, so they just pull out into oncoming traffic. These two intersections are freakin’ dangerous and need to be replaced by either lights or roundabouts (I would suggest roundabouts)
2. If you are turning right out of either side street onto Southern Cross try to be aware that the left hand turning lane on Southern Cross Drive creates a blind spot that means you cannot see if there is any oncoming traffic… so do not pull out onto Southern Cross Drive if someone is turning left from Southern Cross onto your street – there might be oncoming traffic behind the person turning that you cannot see.
3. If you are turning left out of Starke Street try to be aware that people who are turning right out of your street may be creating a blind spot that means you cannot see if there is any oncoming traffic – so don’t just pull out unless you are sure that you aren’t going to pull out into the path of an oncoming vehicle.
4. If you are behind someone who is turning out of either Starke or Florey and they are following points 2 or 3, don’t flash your lights and beep your horn at them. They are following what we call ‘safe driving practices’. You are a bogan and are in the wrong.
5. If you are on Southern Cross Drive why not try and drive the speed limit? (it’s 60, not 90) You might just be able to react in time if someone pulls out in front of you unexpectedly.
6. If you are on Southern Cross Drive and someone in front of you is following point 5, don’t tailgate and flash your lights at them. They are doing the right thing by following the law and following what we call ‘safe driving practices’. You are a bogan and are in the wrong.
These two intersections have been annoying me for ages. But 3 near collisions in 1 week caused by idiots not driving carefully around these clearly dangerous intersections has done it for me, particularly since my kids have been in the car on all 3 occasions – endangering me is one thing, endangering my kids because you can’t be bothered waiting 3 seconds to see if the road is clear to pull out brings it up to a whole new level of anger.
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