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Keeping Left Unless Overtaking Part 2
A couple of years ago, I had a good whinge on this blog –
http://blog.privatefleet.com.au/home/keep-left-unless-overtaking/
The crux of it was complaining about how Australians seem to ignore the ‘Keep Left Unless Overtaking’ law. The law seems to be observed in countries overseas but not in Australia and I just couldn’t understand why…
Well, the reason became apparent to me last week. I was gobsmacked to find out that I have been completely wrong for all these years. It appears that in Australia on a 3-lane freeway, despite the signs, one is perfectly entitled to sit in the middle lane!! The signs ‘Keep Left Unless Overtaking’ really means ‘Don’t use the Right Lane Unless Overtaking’.
Here’s the simplified rule as per the motoring authorities:
On multi-lane roads with a speed limit of more than 80km/h, motorists
must not drive in the right-hand lane unless they are:
• overtaking
• turning right or making a U-turn
• avoiding an obstacle
• driving in congested traffic
• driving in a special purpose lane or if there is a Left Lane Must Turn Left sign or a left traffic arrow and the driver is not turning left.
So, I’ve been wrong all these years. All this wasted anger and frustration directed to these ignorant law-breakers who it turns out were doing the right thing all along (in a legal sense)! So let me hold my hand up and humbly apologise to all those who have been the subject of my angry feelings and/or glares. I’m sorry.
Meekly, I will make a defence that I learned how to drive in the UK and have driven extensively in Europe where ‘middle lane hogging’ is clearly outlawed. Further I will add that the signs used in Australia contributed to my mistake – why refer to the left lane at all when it is the right lane that the law refers to?
However, saying all that, I am now even more astounded. It’s not ill-informed motorists doing the wrong thing but the government! What on earth were they thinking? Many road rules in Australia have been adapted from overseas so why take this one and then snip off an important part for no apparent reason. Why on earth did they do it?
Let me put forth an objective list of reasons why I think the European model works better:
- 3-lane freeways become 2-lane freeways
- Traffic Flow. The rate of traffic (cars per hour) is increased reducing congestion. Of course, once it hits a point where all 3-lanes are crawling, you’re stuffed but it takes longer to hit that level if ‘left lane discipline’ is observed. If drivers stick steadfastly in the middle lane, it tends to turn 3-lane freeways into 2-lane motorways. In general drivers will (sensibly) prefer to overtake on the right fearing meeting some particurlarly slow traffic in the inside lane and getting ‘boxed in’. So the left lane gets under-utilised – the only users being the most diverse groups – the very slow and the very fast and impatient.
- If everyone keeps to the very left, there’s no need for undertaking (passing a driver in the left lane). This increases safety for all drivers as there’s now only one side that you need to anticipate drivers passing you rather than two (notwithstanding the facat that a good driver should anticipate hazards from all angles and situations but you get my drift)
- Speed Differential. This is the big one in my opinion. Think about any accident and you’ll see that two objects travelling at different speeds is what caused the accident. The bigger this difference the more dangerous it is (eg a car at 80km/hr hitting a tree at 0km/hr).
We’ve all had the experience of coming up to the crest a hill and having to brake relatively hard as a heavy vehicle crawls up the hill at snails pace. Traffic entering main roads from side roads is often a high risk accident zone for example as the car entering may not always attain the prevailing speed fo the main road in time.
So when you allow middle lane hogging, and left lane overtaking, you combine some of the fastest speeds with some of the slowest! You have speed freaks mixing with flat-capped, caravan pulling Sunday drivers in the same lane!
Look at the example of the right to see what I’m talking about – as the speeding car passes the truck, there’s a needlessly dangerous 20km/h speed differential.
Does the above sound right to you? Or am I missing something? The following pieces of evidence do seem to support this argument:
- Traffic seems to flow better overseas in developed countries. It just does and anyone who has driver overseas will no doubt have noticed it. Simply put it takes a lot more cars to clog a 3-lane motorway than it does here.
- Further illustrating the ‘speed differential’ argument. If you are on a freeway and overtake a car doing 105km/h while you are doing 110km/h, it’s relatively straightforward. You slowly move past them even though there may only be a metre or s0 between the wing mirrors of the two cars. But would you be so comfortable cruising past a row of trees that close doing the same speed?
Now, how about an argument for the current rules. Thinking hard, I can only come up with one… and that one is dubious too.
- There is less lane changing when drivers are allowed to sit in the niddle lane. Yes, I can see that in low-traffic scenarios (remember those?) – a car driver for example may just sit in the middle lane avoiding slow trucks etc in the left hand lane. However sooner or later, a faster driver will come up behind and be forced to change lanes tothe far right lane to overtake whereas with the strick keep left model, he may not have to. Also, the dangerous practice impatient drivers are ‘forced’ into of darting to to the left to undertake and then quickly scoot two lanes to the right to overtake the next two vehicles may mean that this isn’t the case after all.
So, I’m still confused and still frustrated but should I be? Is this even an issue worth talking about? Let us know in the comments below if you agree or disagree.
How To Fit A Tow Bar To Your Car
This guest post is courtesy of Simon Brisk from Car-Towbars.com. Thanks Simon!
Most car owners will come across a situation at some point in their live where they need to tow something whether it is a caravan or a trailer of some sort. There is a common misconception that a truck or a SUV is needed, but in fact by fitting a tow bar most vehicles can do the job perfectly well. The good news is that fitting a tow bar is fairly straight forward.
Fitting The Tow Bar To Your Vehicle
The first, and possibly one of the most important, step is to find the mounting points. This will most likely require that you detach a section of the interior boot trim. Often this involves lifting the floor covering and in some cases the side panels. It may also be necessary to remove the bumper from the vehicle, but not always so check with your car’s owner manual. In a few rare cases you may find that the tail pipe of the exhaust need to be dropped and the heat resistant shield removed.
Once the mounting points have been located the tow bar can be fastened into the holes. There are usually two holes on each side of the chassis legs. With some models you may also need to secure the tow bar to supports further down the chassis. If the bumper had to be removed to fit your tow bar then it is possible that it will need to be cut to allow refitting over the newly installed tow bars.
Is It Safe For Anyone To Fit Their Own Tow Bar?
In theory, anyone should be able to fit a tow bar without too much fuss. However, as the old saying goes: in theory practice and theory are the same, but in practice they are not. Whether or not you are able to properly fit a tow bar will depend on your own technical ability. If you are at all unconfident in your abilities then you may wish to opt for having a professional do the installation for you. Many tow bar retailers also offer fitting.
Fitting Tow Bar Electrics
If you are fitting a tow bar with electrics then it is a different story. The majority of tow bars should be supplied complete with a wiring diagram, but unless you have experience this may prove to be a little too complex for you to attempt.
It is very important that you make sure the correct type of wiring is used to be compatible with your trailer or caravan. Again, full instructions should be included with the tow bar you have purchased showing where the wires should be fitted. Some people will find these easy to follow while others will struggle. In the majority of cases it is probably safer to have a professional fit tow bar electrics to ensure that they work properly.
Fitting a standard tow bar to your vehicle is probably not even half as complicated as you might assume. Armed with your car manual, the tow bar instructions and a good selection of tools the job can usually be carried out in just a few hours. It only becomes more complicated when wiring comes into play. It is well worth asking your retailer if they can provide a tow bar fitting service. If you are lucky you might even get the service free or at a discounted rate!
Entrepreneur Simon Brisk is crazy about cars. He is the owner of Car-Towbars.com,which specializes in witter towbars and other car towing accessories.
Debunking ADR Fuel Consumption Figures
We’ve all seen the fuel consumption stickers attached to every new car’s windscreen. But how are the figures calculated, and what do they mean in the real-world?
As society shifts towards a green energy future, it was inevitable that the automotive world would be swept up by the ever-building wave of environmental sustainability.
Manufacturers were once boastful of their power and torque figures, with fuel consumption relegated to the fine print- if you could find a reference to it at all.
It was perhaps the energy crisis of the early 1970s which first gave pause for them to consider just how much fossil fuel their products were burning as they supplied mass transportation to the world. Since that time, mechanical carburettors have been surpassed by electronically-controlled fuel injection, a far more efficient and accurate method of supplying fuel to the engine. This process has been refined further, with today’s ‘direct injection’ petrol motors providing excellent engine response and power while also being frugal with fuel. Additionally, diesel engines have found wide-spread acceptance across the globe thanks to their headline fuel consumption figures (though their pollutant levels are another matter).
When shopping for a new vehicle today, the government has ensured that Australians have a set of combined fuel consumption figures which allow us to directly compare rival models. Set under Australian Design Rule 81/02, manufacturers have to provide a windscreen sticker on all new cars which shows ‘urban’, ‘extra-urban’ and ‘combined’ fuel consumption in litres per 100 kilometres.
How are these figures arrived at?
Using a chassis dynamometer in a workshop, a sample vehicle is strapped on to the machine’s rollers and taken for a stationery spin. Each car uses either pump-grade diesel fuel or 95-octane unleaded fuel to ensure there is no fuel advantage. It is then run over 20 minutes, simulating the stop-start conditions of an urban drive, followed with a sustained run up to freeway speeds. The figures garnered are then merged to provide the headline ‘combined fuel use’ figure.
Although these tests are thorough- they use fans to simulate air-flow and the rollers to generate inertia- it is nevertheless very difficult to paint a truly accurate picture of that vehicle’s performance on the road; the external variables are too great.
Think of everyone you’ve ever sat next to as they drove. They all have their own driving habits, and that affects fuel use. Other variables, such as the road surface, gradients, altitude, temperature, fuel quality…the list goes on.
In practice it is our experience that the simulated figures are very difficult to emulate in real-world conditions, particularly with modern smaller-capacity turbocharged cars (not to mention the traditional large-capacity V8s) when you want to use the available performance- which is the point of buying such a car in the first place.
In essence, the ADR combined fuel use offers a valid point of initial reference, but when shopping for a new car should be used as a guide only.
Sales Records Smashed in 2012
The final sales figures for 1012 are in, and they make very interesting reading.
The full press release published earlier today is reproduced below.
“Official VFACTS data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows that a total of 1,112,032 new passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were delivered to customers during 2012. This is a new record and only the fifth time ever that more than one million vehicles were sold in a year. The 2012 total represents an increase in volume of 10.3 per cent (or 103,595 more sales) compared with 2011. Announcing the result today, FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said the 2012 full year result was quite a feat in a world market that has been under financial pressure in recent years. It also reflects that the Australian market is one of the most open and competitive in the world. “Reduced tariffs as well as changing consumer preferences have contributed to making the dynamic and innovative automotive industry that we have today,” Mr Weber said. “The 2012 sales result bears that out. Customer demand has been high and the industry has responded with a wide range of vehicles powered by a range of different fuels.”
Mr Weber commented that the record result is also notable because of changing consumer preferences which are reflected in the segments’ changing market share. The single largest category was still the passenger car segment (51.9 per cent); however, the burgeoning SUV segment increased its market share by 3.3 per cent to 27.5 per cent with an all-time sales record set in 2012.
“For the second successive year a small imported car, the Mazda3, is Australia’s most popular model,” Mr Weber said. “The same vehicles as 2011 also hold the top five spots, but in a different order.
“And three of the top ten are also built locally, dispelling any suggestion that our domestic manufacturers aren’t producing cars that Australians want to buy.” Sales results Toyota was the best-selling vehicle brand in 2011, with 218,176 sales for a market share of 19.6 per cent.
Holden and Mazda finished second and third with 114,665 sales (10.3 per cent market share) and 103,886 (9.3 per cent) respectively. Mazda3 was the best-selling model for the full year, beating the Toyota HiLux by 3,482 vehicles to finish with 44,128 sales.
Toyota Corolla was third overall with 38,799 sales, followed by the Holden Commodore (30,532) and Holden Cruze (29,161). The SUV and light commercial segments led the sales charge throughout 2012, growing by 25.3 and 12.2 per cent respectively. Looking forward Mr Weber said FCAI’s outlook for 2013 was cautiously optimistic. “In 2012 Australia thankfully avoided much of the GFC aftermath and, with production resuming in disaster affected nations, the automotive industry was able to respond to the enthusiasm of the car buying public with great deals on an almost overwhelming range of vehicles. The record 2012 result was the culmination of these factors. “During this election year, and with production now having caught up with back orders, FCAI forecasts a national automotive market of 1,075,000 for 2013.”
SALES RESULTS Top 10 manufacturers (by sales volume):
Rank Brand 2012 2011 % diff
1. Toyota 218,176 181,624 20.1
2. Holden 114,665 126,095 -9.1
3. Mazda 103,886 88,333 17.6
4. Hyundai 91,536 87,008 5.2
5. Ford 90,408 91,243 -0.9
6. Nissan 79,747 67,926 17.4
7. Mitsubish 58,868 61,108 – 3.7
8. Volkswagen 54,835 44,740 22.6
9. Subaru 40,189 34,011 18.2
10. Honda 35,8 02 30,107 18.9
Source: VFACTS Top 10 individual models (by sales volume):
Rank Vehicle 2012 2011 % diff
1. Mazda3 44,128 41,429 6.5
2. Toyota HiLux 40,646 36,124 12.5
3. Toyota Corolla 38,799 36,087 7.5
4. Holden Commodore 30,532 40,617 -24.8
5. Holden Cruze 29,161 33,784 -13.7
6. Hyundai i30 28,348 28,869 -1.8
8. Toyota Camry 27,230 19,169 42.1
7. Nissan Navara 26,045 21,675 20.2
9. Toyota Yaris 18,808 16,214 16.0
10. Ford Focus 18,586 12,863 44.5
Source: VFACTS”
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