10 December 2013

Take it easy on the way to the coast

| johnboy
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Members of the Kings Highway Road Safety Partnership are urging motorists not to rush these holidays when travelling on the Kings Highway. Eurobodalla Shire Council, a member of the partnership formed six years ago, fully supports the need for motorists to slow down and drive to the conditions.

“For the past three summers, drivers are not getting the message about driving within the speed limit,” Eurobodalla Mayor Lindsay Brown said.

“NSW and ACT Policing data reveals that last summer from December to January, 354 drivers were issued with speeding fines. For the same two month period in 2011-2012 348 drivers were booked for speeding and the 2010-2011 summer saw 319 speeding tickets issued.”

“Thankfully crashes are trending down over the summer period. The partnership will strive to target those irresponsible drivers who blatantly disregard the road rules and put other lives at risk as zero crashes is the ultimate goal,” added Lindsay Brown.

Between December 2012 and January 2013, a total of nine crashes occurred on the Kings Highway with over half of those crashes speed related. For the same two month period during 2011-2012, 24 crashes occurred and again 50% were speed related.

ACT Policing Officer-in-Charge of Traffic Operations, Station Sergeant Rod Anderson said a large proportion of speeding tickets issued were to male drivers in the 21 – 25 age group bracket.

“Last summer from December 2012 to January 2013, police issued 364 speeding tickets to reckless Kings Highway road users and 278 of those tickets issued were to male drivers (66 male drivers aged 21-25),” Sergeant Anderson said.

“Passengers have an important role to play as well and we urge them to speak up and tell the driver to slow down if they are speeding or taking risks on the road.”

Batemans Bay Highway Patrol Sergeant, Angus Duncombe, would like to remind drivers that they endanger the lives of other road users and their own passengers when they drive irresponsibly.

“This year, if you speed, you will be caught as part of the partnership’s coordinated high visibility enforcement strategy,” Sergeant Duncombe said.

The Kings Highway is very busy over summer with a mixture of cars, caravans, boat trailers, motorcyclists and trucks so Mayor Brown says the best advice is to prepare for your trip, be patient and stay within the speed limit.

“If you are a passenger, speak up and tell your driver to slow down and drive to the conditions. If you are a driver, ensure your vehicle is roadworthy, including the tyres, have plenty of rest and don’t drink the night before. Plan regular rest breaks and minimise driver distractions by turning off your mobile and providing passive activities for children in the car to keep them quietly entertained,” Cr Brown said.

“I want our visitors to remember their Christmas holiday for all the right reasons, so please don’t rush on the Kings Highway this summer.”

The Kings Highway Road Safety Partnership summer campaign will be officially launched in Bungendore on 10 December 2013. Partners include NSW Roads and Maritime Services, the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust, ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate, NSW Police Far South Coast, Monaro and Shoalhaven Highway Patrol, ACT Policing and Eurobodalla, Palerang, Queanbeyan and Shoalhaven councils.

[Courtesy ACT Policing]

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Watson said :

460cixy said :

Always the blame game on the road. It’s morons that are impatient and can’t drive to the traffic and weather conditions is the issue. Besides who on earth wants to go to batemans gay anyhow. Yuck

What does this have to do with the Bay? You do know there’s a whole South Coast to explore from there? I sometimes take the detour and go via Brown Mountain, but only if I know it’s going to be very busy on the Clyde. Haven’t stopped in Batemans in years.

I think we all know most canberans go no further then canberra on the coast

c_c™ said :

Neither you nor Aitkin know what you’re talking about. Until a short way before Braidwood, the road is of a good standard now, particularly Bungendore to Qbn. But Braidwood on, it is severely deficient structurally and in design, in numerous quantifiable ways according to official and third party reports. Much of it doesn’t meet modern standards and some of it will never due to terrain.

If you don’t recognise those deficiencies, then you shouldn’t be on that stretch of road.

*sigh*

So, do you actually read anything before you post insults and insinuations?

Do you understand what “drive to the conditions” means?

You are correct on one thing, I don’t know how to build a road but I do know how to drive and seem to be able to manage not to flip myself and my family on its lid every time I drive down there.

Studies? the NRMA one that completely slammed the road but ignored driver behavior?

You read any coroners report into any death on the road and the biggest contributing factor into road deaths is the person behind the wheel. Its not very often that the external or even vehicular factors cause accidents (you will have to trust me when I say I actually know a bit about vehicle safety).

Road building standards?

Yep the highway may not meet current road building standards but does that mean that every time a standard is changed that the roads must be upgraded?

Not likely as its impossible. I bet there are parts of the Hume Highway that don’t meet modern standards. By that reckoning, every time a vehicle standard is changed, all older vehicles must be upgraded to suit……

So, this brings me back to drive the conditions. Yep, its wide a sweeping all the way to Braidwood, as the terrain gets more hilly after that there is only one spot of the old road left at Mongarlowe before the overtaking lanes at the Monga NP boundary that is really “unsuitable” but it has a reduced speed limit (surprise, surprise). The rest of the road makes the best of what it has with regards to terrain and the budgets available for what is a road that is only busy at certain times of the year.

It certainly doesn’t carry the traffic that the Barton Highway does.

KB1971 said :

damien haas said :

Prof Don Aitkin was on the ABC News tonight saying ”its not a bad road at all, its a good country highway’.

If 50% of the accidents were speed related (whatever that means) what caused the remaining 50% ? I would suggest that the Kings Highway is not designed to carry the capacity its subjected to, and urgently needs to be upgraded. Perhaps ‘they’ would be better off using 21st century GIS data and rerouting the whole road instead of piecemeal passing lanes added here and there.

Instead of blaming drivers for not coping well with poor/outdated engineering that has vastly exceeded its design parameters, it would be safer in the long term to [provide an engineering solution that didnt have fatal consequences for impatience and fatigue.

Seriously……..the road is not consistently busy enough to duplicate or even re route. The professor is correct, it is a well built, well maintained bit of country highway. There are far worse bits of road in the region.

As a driver, it is is your responsibility to drive to the conditions. if that means a line of traffic with little overtaking opportunity then that’s the condition you drive to.

Its something city drivers, in particular Canberra drivers with our easy driving roads, don’t get.

The Barton Highway is consistently far busier and a higher priority than the Kings which is only moderately busy at only certain times of the year.

Neither you nor Aitkin know what you’re talking about. Until a short way before Braidwood, the road is of a good standard now, particularly Bungendore to Qbn. But Braidwood on, it is severely deficient structurally and in design, in numerous quantifiable ways according to official and third party reports. Much of it doesn’t meet modern standards and some of it will never due to terrain.

If you don’t recognise those deficiencies, then you shouldn’t be on that stretch of road.

Deref said :

milkman said :

There’s nothing wrong with the road, it’s the lack of skill of some people using it causing the problem.

+1

The road’s clearly inadequate for the traffic it carries, but that doesn’t excuse the suicidal stupidity of the people we see every time we drive on it.

No it doesn’t nor does the inadequacy of the road save decent drivers from the idiots who use it. Like the Barton a decent dual lane highway would save a number of lives. But the murderous hicks that represent the electors of the neighbouring electorates wilfully ignore this

Watson said :

460cixy said :

Always the blame game on the road. It’s morons that are impatient and can’t drive to the traffic and weather conditions is the issue. Besides who on earth wants to go to batemans gay anyhow. Yuck

What does this have to do with the Bay? You do know there’s a whole South Coast to explore from there? I sometimes take the detour and go via Brown Mountain, but only if I know it’s going to be very busy on the Clyde. Haven’t stopped in Batemans in years.

There, you have just blow it………ijut!!!

qbngeek said :

The other big issue I see is how clueless ACT drivers can be. In NSW we do not form one lane, we merge. If you are in the left lane and a car is beside you, you have no right of way regardless of if your bonnet is 2 inches ahead. You also need to pay attention to the cars around you.

Hang on, doesn’t the right of way when merging depend on the lane markings? If the driver on the left has to cross a broken line to get in the right lane then they have to give way, but if they don’t then whoever is in front has right of way. See section 4 here – http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/usingroads/downloads/top_10_misunderstood_road_rules.pdf

johnboy said :

You do have to slow down for the hairpin bends but anyone who can’t manage that is best removed from the gene pool IMHO.

The problem is when they remove someone else.

johnboy said :

It’s really not a bad road.

Much better than maquarie pass or kangaroo valley.

You do have to slow down for the hairpin bends but anyone who can’t manage that is best removed from the gene pool IMHO.

+1
Living in Braidwood and working in Canberra I spend plenty of time on the Kings Hwy. The road is a pretty good road all the way to the coast. If you want to see bad roads, try driving some of the roads in SW and west NSW, for that matter just take the trip to Bathurst or Cowra.

What you all need to do is slow down and calm down. I often see people roar past me and shoot off into the distance, then I drive past them in Braidwood as the refuel or get a pie. What was the point apart from wasting fuel and looking like a d*ckhead?

The other big issue I see is how clueless ACT drivers can be. In NSW we do not form one lane, we merge. If you are in the left lane and a car is beside you, you have no right of way regardless of if your bonnet is 2 inches ahead. You also need to pay attention to the cars around you.

I just choose to leave town or not drive between Xmas and New Year, saves me a lot of trouble and I can laugh at everyone lining up in traffic as I walk to IGA to get groceries. People wonder why I live out there, it all makes sense when they are doing a rat run to escape from Canberra and I am already kicking back.

johnboy said :

It’s really not a bad road.

Much better than maquarie pass or kangaroo valley.

You do have to slow down for the hairpin bends but anyone who can’t manage that is best removed from the gene pool IMHO.

It’s a lovely road when there’s no traffic. I love driving on it in the middle of the week during school term. Way less boring than the Cooma way too.

Plenty of people using it during the busy times ought to be removed from the gene pool though.

One thing I do like more about Brown Mountain is that there are so many spots to pull over. So as soon as I see a car in my rear view mirror I pull over to let them pass and I get to cruise up/down without getting frustrated about tailgating. On the Clyde there’s only a couple of slow vehicle lanes. So if you’re stuck with an idiot who shows his disagreement with the speed you take your turns at by virtually touching your rear bumper, there’s no easy way to get rid of them.

460cixy said :

Always the blame game on the road. It’s morons that are impatient and can’t drive to the traffic and weather conditions is the issue. Besides who on earth wants to go to batemans gay anyhow. Yuck

What does this have to do with the Bay? You do know there’s a whole South Coast to explore from there? I sometimes take the detour and go via Brown Mountain, but only if I know it’s going to be very busy on the Clyde. Haven’t stopped in Batemans in years.

KB1971 said :

460cixy said :

Besides who on earth wants to go to batemans gay anyhow. Yuck

Shhhh, there is only Batemans Bay!

No fear I wasn’t going to mention the the good places I keep those secret

It’s really not a bad road.

Much better than maquarie pass or kangaroo valley.

You do have to slow down for the hairpin bends but anyone who can’t manage that is best removed from the gene pool IMHO.

The problem is ABSOLUTELY the morons who drive like maniac’s, just to get to the coast 5-10 minutes quicker.

I drive this road a fair bit. For me, ‘driving to the conditions’ also includes spotting the d*ckhead way behind me who is obviously going to end up roaring past me at a dangerous speed, keeping an eye on him/her until they zoom far enough ahead of me that they are no longer a concern, and then continue my relaxing drive to the beach.

In fairness though, as many idiots as I witness on this road, I see just as many, in fact more, people driving sensibly, being courteous to other drivers, and doing the right thing re: speed limits and overtaking, etc. I think they deserve some kudos on these comment-thingies.

460cixy said :

Besides who on earth wants to go to batemans gay anyhow. Yuck

Shhhh, there is only Batemans Bay!

damien haas said :

Prof Don Aitkin was on the ABC News tonight saying ”its not a bad road at all, its a good country highway’.

If 50% of the accidents were speed related (whatever that means) what caused the remaining 50% ? I would suggest that the Kings Highway is not designed to carry the capacity its subjected to, and urgently needs to be upgraded. Perhaps ‘they’ would be better off using 21st century GIS data and rerouting the whole road instead of piecemeal passing lanes added here and there.

Instead of blaming drivers for not coping well with poor/outdated engineering that has vastly exceeded its design parameters, it would be safer in the long term to [provide an engineering solution that didnt have fatal consequences for impatience and fatigue.

Seriously……..the road is not consistently busy enough to duplicate or even re route. The professor is correct, it is a well built, well maintained bit of country highway. There are far worse bits of road in the region.

As a driver, it is is your responsibility to drive to the conditions. if that means a line of traffic with little overtaking opportunity then that’s the condition you drive to.

Its something city drivers, in particular Canberra drivers with our easy driving roads, don’t get.

The Barton Highway is consistently far busier and a higher priority than the Kings which is only moderately busy at only certain times of the year.

Something I have noticed lately on this road traveling to and from braidwood over the last few weekends is how many dead heads slow down to 80/90 at the bottom of a hill then half way up mash it and disappear till I catch them on the next hill. With a loaded wagon and trailer this is a serious pain in the arse

BimboGeek said :

I realise that it’s exciting to get out of town for a bit but I don’t understand why anyone will start a relaxing holiday by getting themselves all road raged up. Yes the road sucks. Yes that car in front is clearly not built for these steep climbs and tight corners. So what? Just relax, wind down the window and enjoy some music or something.

People are so anxious to get out of Canberra and start their holiday they want to get there as quickly as possible. I always thought when I was a kid how great the drive to the North Coast was and how miserable the drive back was knowing that another miserable winter at school in Canberra was ahead.

Felix the Cat9:40 am 11 Dec 13

milkman said :

There’s nothing wrong with the road, it’s the lack of skill of some people using it causing the problem.

+infinity
Same problem as the Barton Highway

damien haas said :

Prof Don Aitkin was on the ABC News tonight saying ”its not a bad road at all, its a good country highway’.

If 50% of the accidents were speed related (whatever that means) what caused the remaining 50% ? I would suggest that the Kings Highway is not designed to carry the capacity its subjected to, and urgently needs to be upgraded. Perhaps ‘they’ would be better off using 21st century GIS data and rerouting the whole road instead of piecemeal passing lanes added here and there.

Instead of blaming drivers for not coping well with poor/outdated engineering that has vastly exceeded its design parameters, it would be safer in the long term to [provide an engineering solution that didnt have fatal consequences for impatience and fatigue.

The only way to do that is to remove the driver from the equation. People are still managing to kill themselves on the M5/Hume and Pacific M1.

People will continue to doze, text, or allow other distractions while driving at high, unforgiving speeds, and they will continue to drift across lanes and veer, no matter how straight and wide the road is.

I realise that it’s exciting to get out of town for a bit but I don’t understand why anyone will start a relaxing holiday by getting themselves all road raged up. Yes the road sucks. Yes that car in front is clearly not built for these steep climbs and tight corners. So what? Just relax, wind down the window and enjoy some music or something.

milkman said :

There’s nothing wrong with the road, it’s the lack of skill of some people using it causing the problem.

+1

The road’s clearly inadequate for the traffic it carries, but that doesn’t excuse the suicidal stupidity of the people we see every time we drive on it.

Always the blame game on the road. It’s morons that are impatient and can’t drive to the traffic and weather conditions is the issue. Besides who on earth wants to go to batemans gay anyhow. Yuck

ScienceRules7:35 am 11 Dec 13

EvanJames said :

If I was the NSW government, I’d line the King’s with police, who get a commission for every speeding fine they issue, with bonuses for any other infringements they can slap on. A greedy cop every 500 metres. Guaranteed there’d be no fatalities, and the NSW government could line its coffers with gold.

Brilliant. Oh no wait, the opposite of brilliant…

There’s nothing wrong with the road, it’s the lack of skill of some people using it causing the problem.

EvanJames said :

If I was the NSW government, I’d line the King’s with police, who get a commission for every speeding fine they issue, with bonuses for any other infringements they can slap on. A greedy cop every 500 metres. Guaranteed there’d be no fatalities, and the NSW government could line its coffers with gold.

And an extra bonus for booking anybody who thinks it’s a good idea to take their L-plated offspring down the Kings’ Highway.

If I was the NSW government, I’d line the King’s with police, who get a commission for every speeding fine they issue, with bonuses for any other infringements they can slap on. A greedy cop every 500 metres. Guaranteed there’d be no fatalities, and the NSW government could line its coffers with gold.

goggles13 said :

“For the past three summers, drivers are not getting the message about driving within the speed limit,” Eurobodalla Mayor Lindsay Brown said.

“NSW and ACT Policing data reveals that last summer from December to January, 354 drivers were issued with speeding fines. For the same two month period in 2011-2012 348 drivers were booked for speeding and the 2010-2011 summer saw 319 speeding tickets issued.”

“Thankfully crashes are trending down over the summer period.”

with these words, the whole message behind the press release has been lost. if speeding fines have gone up, but crashes have gone down, then there are other reasons people are crashing, not just due to speeding. try lack of ability to handle a car in country driving, lack of attention, tiredness, overconfidence, etc, etc, etc

Exactly! But speeding is easy to police. It earns the coppers some good coin and puffs up their figures for the operation.

Prof Don Aitkin was on the ABC News tonight saying ”its not a bad road at all, its a good country highway’.

If 50% of the accidents were speed related (whatever that means) what caused the remaining 50% ? I would suggest that the Kings Highway is not designed to carry the capacity its subjected to, and urgently needs to be upgraded. Perhaps ‘they’ would be better off using 21st century GIS data and rerouting the whole road instead of piecemeal passing lanes added here and there.

Instead of blaming drivers for not coping well with poor/outdated engineering that has vastly exceeded its design parameters, it would be safer in the long term to [provide an engineering solution that didnt have fatal consequences for impatience and fatigue.

goggles13 said :

with these words, the whole message behind the press release has been lost. if speeding fines have gone up, but crashes have gone down, then there are other reasons people are crashing, not just due to speeding. try lack of ability to handle a car in country driving, lack of attention, tiredness, overconfidence, etc, etc, etc

The fact that the number of people caught speeding doesn’t mean that more people have been speeding. Did you consider the possibility that there’s been a greater police presence on the road, resulting in a greater percentage of speeding drivers being nabbed + more police visibility = fewer accidents?

“For the past three summers, drivers are not getting the message about driving within the speed limit,” Eurobodalla Mayor Lindsay Brown said.

“NSW and ACT Policing data reveals that last summer from December to January, 354 drivers were issued with speeding fines. For the same two month period in 2011-2012 348 drivers were booked for speeding and the 2010-2011 summer saw 319 speeding tickets issued.”

“Thankfully crashes are trending down over the summer period.”

with these words, the whole message behind the press release has been lost. if speeding fines have gone up, but crashes have gone down, then there are other reasons people are crashing, not just due to speeding. try lack of ability to handle a car in country driving, lack of attention, tiredness, overconfidence, etc, etc, etc

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