Driving in Australia

 Motorcycles make a third lane. 

 El Camino style utes.

Four wheel style utes with the raised air breather and the versatile back platform.

The versatile ute with different configurations.

 Interesting stickers on a ute.

 The traffic light on the on ramp to the highway.

 The Keep Clear signs to keep sideroad intersections from being blocked.

 My tram stop, on the curve in the middle of the road.

 This a two directional tram line but at the top of the hill you can see the island where the passengers stand to wait. There is only one platform for the two directions, so the trams have to cross lanes.

 The police bus for alcohol and drugs.

 One of many beautiful bike paths.

 A driver is just completing a hook turn. You can see the arrow where he parked in order to make a right turn across the tram tracks.

A beginning driver clearly labelled as 'learner'.

Renting snow chains.

DRIVING IN AUSTRALIA

Driving on the Left

In order to learn to drive on the left side of the road the best thing I did was to buy a bicycle first. This got me used to riding on the wrong side of the road and looking over the other shoulder to check traffic all the while moving at slower speeds. Then moving to a car seemed easier although, of course I had to be conscious of staying on the left side, especially when turning corners. This city has many strange intersections, where the roads don't meet at right angles or, where more than two roads meet at the same spot. The driver has to be very conscious of the lights and to patiently wait their turn as sometimes you can be there for a few minutes depending on the number of lights, a rail crossing or tram lane crossing the road.

It took me a couple of months to consistently try to get in the right side of the car, as opposed to the left. And I still occasionally turn on the wipers instead of the turn signal, or vice versa.

Turning on Lights

But, happily Australians aren't allowed to turn left or right on a red light at an intersection. I found this strange at first but, in fact helped to make sure I stayed where I was supposed to be. I think it also cuts down on a lot of intersection accidents. Often at an intersection there is a separate signal for the right turn lane (which has to turn across traffic), and you have to wait your turn, like left turn turners in Canada.

I have found that driving in Australia has been quite civilized and relaxed. I thoroughly enjoy driving in the country environs but it's a different story in Melbourne and its suburbs. I find this city very confusing. It is not set up as a grid as most of Toronto is. Melbourne is a combination of many suburbs and it feels like they have all been crammed together. The streets wind around sometimes and the street often changes name at an intersection. I use my GPS to get around and cannot get a map of the city in my head. I cannot picture where I am or what direction I am going unless the route is familiar to me. And because it is not a grid if I run into traffic I cannot create an alternate route to avoid congestion or an accident.

This city is suburb crazy. There are a number of roads in Melbourne that are numbered state route highways, like Yonge St is highway 11 and Dundas is highway 5. On their roads they post distance signs to the suburbs on that route. It would be like being at Yonge and Bloor and seeing a sign that said Willowdale 15k, Thornhill 25k, etc. And if you don't know the suburb you probably won't find the street because there are multiple Station Streets, or High Streets, or any other popular name. It makes it confusing to find places.

Roundabouts

I love roundabouts! They made me a bit nervous at first as they are so rare in Ontario but, once I got used to them I found them very useful. They slow traffic down at 'intersections' but don't stop it and right of way is always given to the driver in the roundabout. This way you don't sit at a red light when no one is coming either direction.

courteous polite drivers

I have found that Australian drivers are in general very courteous. They give way easily, let you in (as long as you signal), and don't try to cut you off. Because all drivers are aware of the harsh penalties for speed violations, most drivers are not speeding and traffic moves along at the same speed. I have seen very few red light runners.

Keep Clear

There are painted signs on the road that tell drivers to 'keep clear' when traffic is slow and not block side roads that join a main thoroughfare. That way drivers from the side road can join traffic easily and the perceived 'butting in' is accepted by the other drivers; or drivers making a right turn across traffic don't block traffic behind them as happens all the time back home.

Speed Limits

Speed limits in the city are 50 on streets and 60 on major roads. Some in city highways are also posted as 70 or 80 like the Napean Highway that I take to and from Chelsea to my school. This can move traffic along quickly as long as there is not too much traffic. Major highways in the city are posted as 100 but, this is often reduced to 80 when another lane joins or going through tunnels or at an intersection. On ramps have lights on them where only one car at a time can enter traffic. This is to slow the entry of oncoming traffic and hopefully not slow the speed of the highway. This is all aimed to reduce speeds at dangerous spots. With all of this speed consciousness what surprises me is that many of the secondary single lane highways in the country are posted at 100, which I find very dangerous because they can be very hilly or winding. But I think this is because there is often not much traffic in the rural areas and to allow the driver to make time because the distances to get somewhere are vast.

Rail Crossings

Melbourne has an abundance of level rail crossings around the city and these frequently block traffic or slow it down as trains pass by. Sometimes you sit at the lowered bars while a train goes by, the bar does not go up and shortly after a train goes by the other direction. Currently the city has a campaign going where they are trying to eliminate 50 of of the most congested crossings. They are also considering a raised rail line above the road from the city to the southern suburbs which is causing some concern among residents of the area. They cannot dig a subway because the road is at sea level and the tunnels would flood.

There are also many streets with tramlines (like our streetcars). On some streets there are posted signs that say 'do not block trams' so that you have to stay left of the tracks but that lane is often blocked with parked cars.

There is at least one tramline I have seen that is on a four lane road. One lane for going north and one south and the two middle lanes are taken with tram tracks. But at the intersection at the top of the hill there is a passenger waiting platform that takes up one of the tramlines. As a result the trams have to take turns picking up from that platform and the northbound tram has to change lanes to pass (and I guess the passengers have to pay attention and make sure they get on a tram going the right direction.

Fines and Suspensions

This is a state that takes driving offenses seriously. They believe that driving is a privilege and not a right. I know of three examples that demonstrate this:

1. 12 points over three years earns you a suspended license but then they give you a 'second' chance if you agree to drive ticket free for a year. But if you get a ticket you lose your license. I know someone who got a ticket for 5 kilometres over at highway speed and lost 1 point and as a result lost her license for 6 months! No right to appeal, no compassion for needing it for work or consideration because public transport is not available.
2. another person blew 0.053 when the limit for alcohol consumption is 0.05 and as a result lost his license for a year – zero tolerance. It was under appeal for a year, and apparently even the police officer was sympathetic but the sentence stuck.
3. a person was caught by a cop driving by in the other direction doing 140 in a 100 and lost his license for a month on the spot.
4. I got a parking ticket $88 at a municipal parking lot. In fact I had payed but the ticket blew off my dash when I closed the door. I have appealed that, but have not heard anything yet.
5. I parked downtown at a metered spot and noticed a $78 parking ticket on another car for an expired meter.
6. My stolen license plates went through an intersection 0.8 seconds after the red light came on and the ticket was for $389 and 3 demerit points.
7. The office assistant here told me that if a company vehicle goes through that same light, the fine would be $3000, because a company will pay a $300 fine but, with a $3000 fine Vicroads wants the company to identify the driver so the demerit points go against his/her license. Then the fine is reduced to $300 and the company pays that. Apparently in some companies the employees take turns taking the demerit points to that no one loses their license.
8. Because the penalties are so severe, there are people who don't drive much or are good drivers, selling their points to people who are short. On the back of a ticket there are a couple of options, you can plead guilty and accept the fine, or you can declare that the plates were stolen, or that you sold the car, or that someone else was driving your car (this is made possible by the fact that most cameras take photos of the back license and you can't see the driver). So for a certain amount of money a person will agree to say they were driving your car so you don't lose your license.

Spot Checks

The police have buses that they use for random spot checks. On the bus they have breathalyzers to analyze alcohol or drug content on the spot. The units cause significant delays.

There are all kinds of different signs in all the states warning about the double threat of speed and drowsiness. Probably the most memorable one showed a coffin and said “Don't make a grave mistake.” On any given highway there will be about ten to fifteen warnings in a hundred kilometres.

Motorcycles and Bicycles

Just before I arrived here, the government made it legal for motorcycles to drive between cars to reach the front of a line at a light or rail crossing as long as the traffic is going no faster than 30 kilometres an hour. I am surprised by this because I think it puts motorcyclists in harms way because they are driving between lanes of traffic with the possibility of being doored or squeezed, plus I think it puts motorcyclists and drivers in potential conflict. Maybe this explains the ad campaign that says “drivers think riders and riders think drivers”.

Melbourne has lots of clearly marked cycling lanes on the roads and through parks.

Day Running Lights

As safety conscious as Victoria is, I am surprised that cars do not have mandatory day running lights. It is an option. I have seen a few signs stating “Be visible and turn lights on”.

Graduated Licensing

New drivers are on a graduated system like back home, but here they have to put a large sticker on their car identifying themselves as learners and what stage of the graduated system they are on. The first stage is 'L' and the second stage is 'P' for provisional. I have seen very few driving schools and have been told most people learn with a family member or friend who logs and witnesses the required hours of driving. I am not sure how this is regulated.

Hook Turns

This one is confusing, but I'll try to explain it. First you have to remember that a right turn is across traffic like our left turn. Making a right turn in the CBD on a road with a tram line potentially blocks the tram and other traffic. Therefore they have invented the 'hook' turn. In order to complete this you have to be in the left lane (to turn right). When the light changes to green you drive forward and pull over further to the left into a painted space on the road where you can 'park' in front of the traffic that is waiting for the light to change for their direction. Then you wait until the light turns red in your direction and green for the cross traffic. Because you are blocking that traffic you have to turn right and get out of their way. This means you are driving across in front of the traffic flow which you were in originally. Now you have completed your 'hook' turn and may continue on your way I hope this makes sense. It took the two police officers at our orientation quite a while to explain it to us.

Types of Utes

Utes are vehicles with two front seats in the cab and a truck like back. Some are cars like the ones we used to call 'El Caminos' and others are more like pick up trucks. They often have a flat metal bed which may or may not have metal cabinets on it to hold tools and equipment. There are lots of both types all over the city and even more in the country. There are also a lot more four wheel drive vehicles here than in Toronto because of the rural and outback roads.

Snow

Very little snow falls in Australia so they don't have snow tires. As a result they rely on chains on their tires. I found this out when I had to rent chains to cross Mt Hotham in the winter.

Needless to say all of this will keep you on your toes! I will have driven about 40000 kms by the time I go home. So far so good!