Driving in Australia
Easter and the roads.
When it comes to public holidays, they’re much more visible when it comes to a police presence and news of fatal accidents. Yet there’s no real reason as to why these should be, as there are no real reasons why people should die on the roads. At the time of writing there’s been close to ten lives lost, large single vehicle and single person crashes. Yet, on a 600 kilometre round trip to north on Newcastle, NSW, covering Good Friday and Saturday, the amount of truly and utterly pathetic, dangerous driving I witnessed begs the question of why weren’t there more crashes? This includes a woman in her white LandRover Discover 4, travelling at 150 km/h, tail gating and failing to indicate in packed traffic. There was the young lass in her bright mauve Toyota Yaris with the words “Hahaha you just been passed by a girl” proudly stickered to the back window….except she was doing 90 in a 110 kmh zone, sitting in the right lane with two kilometres of traffic behind her and having angry drivers pass her on her left…
Police presence? Yes, plenty sitting in their usual spots and certainly not helping traffic flow at the twin servos on the M1, forcing speeds down to 40 kmh or so, whilst plenty of other drivers continued to fail to adhere to the basics of driving. State and federal roads ministers continually bleat about road safety, yet wonder why there’s increased public backlash when more and more speed cameras are rolled out. Driver safety and education groups shake their heads in disbelief yet more and more drivers get away with such as: failing to indicate, running amber and red lights, not giving sufficient lighting to a vehicle. Here’s the wording about indicating straight from the NSW Government Legislation website:
Division 1 Change of direction signals
44 Division does not apply to entering or leaving a roundabout
This Division does not apply to a driver entering, in or leaving a roundabout.
Note. Part 9 deals with giving change of direction signals when entering or leaving a roundabout.
(1) A driver changes direction if the driver changes direction to the left or the driver changes direction to the right.
(2) A driver changes direction to the left by doing any of the following:
(a) turning left,
(b) changing marked lanes to the left,
(c) diverging to the left,
(d) entering a marked lane, or a line of traffic, to the left,
(e) moving to the left from a stationary position,
(f) turning left into a marked lane, or a line of traffic, from a median strip parking area,
(g) at a T-intersection where the continuing road curves to the right—leaving the continuing road to proceed straight ahead onto the terminating road.
Note 1. Marked lane and median strip parking area are defined in the Dictionary.
(3) A driver changes direction to the right by doing any of the following:
(a) turning right,
(b) changing marked lanes to the right,
(c) diverging to the right,
(d) entering a marked lane, or a line of traffic, to the right,
(e) moving to the right from a stationary position,
(f) turning right into a marked lane, or a line of traffic, from a median strip parking area,
(g) making a U-turn,
(h) at a T-intersection where the continuing road curves to the left—leaving the continuing road to proceed straight ahead onto the terminating road.
Examples for subrules (2) (g) and (3) (h).
Example 1
Driver indicating change of direction at a T-intersection where the continuing road curves to the right and the driver is proceeding straight ahead onto the terminating road
Example 2
Driver indicating change of direction at a T-intersection where the continuing road curves to the left and the driver is proceeding straight ahead onto the terminating road
46 Giving a left change of direction signal
(1) Before a driver changes direction to the left, the driver must give a left change of direction signal in accordance with rule 47 for long enough to comply with subrule (2) and, if subrule (3) applies to the driver, that subrule.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
Note. Changes direction to the left is defined in rule 45 (2).
(2) The driver must give the change of direction signal for long enough to give sufficient warning to other drivers and pedestrians.
(3) If the driver is about to change direction by moving from a stationary position at the side of the road or in a median strip parking area, the driver must give the change of direction signal for at least 5 seconds before the driver changes direction.
Note. Median strip parking area is defined in the Dictionary.
(4) The driver must stop giving the change of direction signal as soon as the driver completes the change of direction.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
(5) This rule does not apply to a driver if the driver’s vehicle is not fitted with direction indicator lights.
47 How to give a left change of direction signal
The driver of a vehicle must give a left change of direction signal by operating the vehicle’s left direction indicator lights.
48 Giving a right change of direction signal
(1) Before a driver changes direction to the right, the driver must give a right change of direction signal in accordance with rule 49 for long enough to comply with subrule (2) and, if subrule (3) applies to the driver, that subrule.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
Note. Changes direction to the right is defined in rule 45 (3).
(2) The driver must give the change of direction signal for long enough to give sufficient warning to other drivers and pedestrians.
(3) If the driver is about to change direction by moving from a stationary position at the side of the road or in a median strip parking area, the driver must give the change of direction signal for at least 5 seconds before the driver changes direction.
Note. Median strip parking area is defined in the Dictionary.
(3A) Subrule (3) does not apply to the rider of a bicycle that is stopped in traffic but not parked.
(4) The driver must stop giving the change of direction signal as soon as the driver completes the change of direction.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
(5) This rule does not apply to:
(a) the driver of a tram that is not fitted with direction indicator lights, or
(b) the rider of a bicycle making a hook turn.
Note 2. Rules 34 and 35 deal with bicycles making hook turns.
49 How to give a right change of direction signal
(1) The driver of a vehicle must give a right change of direction signal by operating the vehicle’s right direction indicator lights.
(2) However, if the vehicle’s direction indicator lights are not in working order or are not clearly visible, or the vehicle is not fitted with direction indicator lights, the driver must give the change of direction signal by giving a hand signal in accordance with rule 50, or using a mechanical signalling device fitted to the vehicle.
Note. Mechanical signalling device is defined in the Dictionary.
50 How to give a right change of direction signal by giving a hand signal
To give a hand signal for changing direction to the right, the driver must extend the right arm and hand horizontally and at right angles from the right side of the vehicle, with the hand open and the palm facing the direction of travel.
Giving a hand signal for changing direction to the right
51 When use of direction indicator lights permitted
The driver of a vehicle must not operate a direction indicator light except:
(a) to give a change of direction signal when the driver is required to give the signal under these Rules, or
(b) as part of the vehicle’s hazard warning lights.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
And: 57 Stopping for a yellow traffic light or arrow
(1) A driver approaching or at traffic lights showing a yellow traffic light must stop:
(a) if there is a stop line at or near the traffic lights and the driver can stop safely before reaching the stop line—as near as practicable to, but before reaching, the stop line, or
(b) if there is no stop line at or near the traffic lights and the driver can stop safely before reaching the traffic lights—as near as practicable to, but before reaching, the nearest or only traffic lights, or
(c) if the traffic lights are at an intersection and the driver cannot stop safely in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b), but can stop safely before entering the intersection—before entering the intersection,
and must not proceed past the stop line or nearest or only traffic lights, or into the intersection (as the case may be), until the traffic lights show a green or flashing yellow traffic light or no traffic light.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
Note. Enter, intersection, stop line and yellow traffic light are defined in the Dictionary.
(2) A driver approaching or at traffic arrows showing a yellow traffic arrow who is turning in the direction indicated by the arrow must stop:
(a) if there is a stop line at or near the traffic arrows and the driver can stop safely before reaching the stop line—as near as practicable to, but before reaching, the stop line, or
(b) if there is no stop line at or near the traffic arrows and the driver can stop safely before reaching the traffic arrows—as near as practicable to, but before reaching, the nearest or only traffic arrows, or
(c) if the traffic arrows are at an intersection and the driver cannot stop safely in accordance with paragraph (a) or (b), but can stop safely before entering the intersection—before entering the intersection,
and must not proceed past the stop line or nearest or only traffic arrows, or into the intersection (as the case may be), until the traffic arrows show a green or flashing yellow traffic arrow or no traffic arrow.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
Note. Enter, intersection, stop line and yellow traffic arrow are defined in the Dictionary.
(3) If the traffic lights or traffic arrows (as the case may be) are at an intersection and the driver is not able to stop safely under subrule (1) or (2) (as the case may be) and enters the intersection, the driver must leave the intersection as soon as the driver can do so safely.
Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
Note 1. Intersection does not include a road related area—see the definition in the Dictionary.
Note 2. This rule applies to a driver turning left using a slip lane only if the yellow traffic light or yellow traffic arrow (as the case may be) applies to the slip lane—see Part 20, Divisions 2 and 3, especially rules 330 and 345.
Classic Cars: Jaguar E-Type.
In the automotive world it’s not uncommon to have a design regarded as a classic. Ferrari’s 248, Holden’s 48-215, Ford’s GT40, Aston Martin’s DB5 and Jaguar’s evergreen E-Type. Enzo Ferrari called the E-Type “the most beautiful car ever made.” Controversial due to its phallic styling, especially when painted red, its immensely long bonnet in comparison to its compact cabin gives it proportions at odds to its handling. A svelte, curvaceous car, it’s still regarded as outstandingly beautiful over fifty years later. Spread over three distinct series, the Series 1 was released, initially intended as an export market item only, in March of 1961. Early models came fitted with Jag’s stalwart 3.8L six cylinder, fitted with the beautiful triple SU carbies, pumping 198kW and 325 Nm of torque. Towards the end of 1964, just as The Beatles really began their climb to stardom, the 3.8L was ditched and replaced with the torquier 4.2L, up to 384Nm. Chrome bumper strips, a small air intake, glass covered headlights and centrally mounted exhaust tips give it away externally, whilst the interior looked almost the same between the two. Another external ID was the difference in badging with the 3.8L showing simply “Jaguar” whereas the 4.2L had “Jaguar 4.2 Litre E-Type”. Tyres were laughably skinny by today’s standard, finishing off with high profile 185 rubber on 15 inch wire 
wheels. A 2+2 version was also made available in 1966, being slightly longer and with a different roofline as well. Underneath at the rear was Jaguar’s now famed independent rear suspension. Production of the S1 concluded in 1968
The series 2 was released with open headlights, larger and relocated indicators, a larger “mouth” and electric fans fitted to the radiator. Different seats were fitted, in a different style to the originals which some Jaguarphiles claimed didn’t suit even though they are said to be more comfortable. Aircon and power steering were made available as options. Finishing up in 1971 there were nearly nineteen thousand made: Series 2 production numbers: fixed head coupe saw 4855, convertibles 8628 and the 2+2 had 5326.
The series 3 ran through to 1975; of major note was the addition of the wonderfully smooth 5.3L V12. The fixed head coupe was discontinued, the 2+2 and convertible came only with the V12 (proudly identified by the badging). Another visual ID was the change to a slatted grille, wider wheel arches and massive blocks of rubber on the bumpers for the American market. Just short of eight thousand convertibles were made and an almost even amount of 2+2s.
Revered, respected and renowned world wide, the Jaguar E-Type is truly a classic car.
Driver Education: Does it/should it work?
Think back to when you started to learn to drive. Where was it? How did you do it? Manual or automatic? Who taught you? For me, it was the mid late 1980’s, in my home town of Perth and was done (then) through a driving school and with the emphasis on a holistic approach. It wasn’t simply sit in, strap in, ignition on and go, I was taught about getting settled before I started. Seat position, rear vision mirror, side mirrors, handbrake on (if it was a manual), that kind of thing. I was taught about indication, using headlights, observing the road ahead of me and not just the car in front. I was also taught to drive a manual, therefore becoming involved in the driving experience, not merely a steerer. All this, in an age where the VL Commodore and XF Falcon were kings of the road, technology was having a CD radio cassette and speed cameras were a 
glint in the revenue raiser’s eye. Importantly, it wasn’t my parents that taught me, it was people that were trained to teach people how to utilise a car to the best of the driver’s ability and was intended to put safe drivers, not idiots, out on the roads.
Even then, there was no real encouragement to do follow up education, how to improve the weak spots of driving, take advantage of new information, learn about advances in car tech (Anti skid brake systems, airbags etc), it was pretty much a procession of: get learners, get lessons, get licence, go drive mum and dad’s car until you could buy your own (if mum and dad hadn’t already done so). Time moves on and slowly, slowly, people wake up to the fact that people being taught to drive aren’t being taught that well anymore, or what they were taught was a long time ago and bad habits have crept in. Along the way governments became somewhat disinterested in proper driving education and found out that bad drivers make a great source of easy money. Drivers became less interested in being a good driver and more interested in simply getting from A to B. The emphasis became more of learning to pilot an automatic transmissioned car, not getting involved in what the car does. Technology upped the ante with extra airbags, stability and traction control, better ABS, climate controlled aircon and more with a focus on auto, auto, auto; auto headlights, auto wipers, keyless entry, but, seemingly, no progress on how to drive a car fitted with all of these.
Of recent years, state governments have offered different avenues for a person to obtain their driver’s license; in NSW they must complete a certain amount of hours with the assistance of a driver of at least five years experience (generally the long suffering parents) and, seemingly, with minimal real input from those that train people to drive properly. But how many bad habits are being passed down? No indication at corners or 
roundabouts or pulling into/out of a stop roadside? No headlights on when it’s dark or raining? iPod earphones in, ignoring a perfectly usable radio? It goes further than that when it comes to truly bad driving habits. Thankfully, against the tide, there are those that believe Australia needs better driver education post gaining a license. One of those is Phil Brock. If you think that surname is familiar, you’d be right. Apart from being the brother of the late Peter Brock, he’s been a racecar driver and firmly believes that governments need to provide further driver training, plus, back off on the spin telling us about how less people have died on our roads or have not, allegedly, been injured: Deaths: in 2000 it was 1,761, in 2009 it was 1,543.
Seriously injured: in 2000 it was 26,694, in 2009 it was 34,116. Seriously injured with high threat to life: in 2000 it was 6,911, in 2009 it was 8,798. Pretty simple maths, the death toll declined by 218, but the overall serious injury rose by 9,309.
So, we have a total of 42,914 people seriously injured on our roads in one year, and rising, yet the Government tells us it’s heading in the right direction?
But, as Phil notes: “Apparently research PROVES that driver education is pointless, that it has no benefit to lessening the road toll at all.
Also, car accidents are not caused by bad driving, unless there is a outside influence such as alcohol, drugs etc.” Yet, there’s this: “Recently we had a phone call from a mother thanking us for saving her daughter’s life. Her daughter was in an incident whlie driving on a highway and stated that our Defensive Driving Course saved her and her friends life by using the techniques she learnt in the course. As a small business passionate about its work, this is the kind of thing we love to hear about.” That was a course provided by a third party of which he has no involvement yet that information was passed to him due to his concern about driver standards and the lack of government committment to help people improve their ability on the road.
In NSW, there was a person, involved in the former Roads and Traffic Authority at a high level, that metaphorically laid his life on the line to say that driver education didn’t work, that all it would do would be to have drivers go out and try and find the limits of what they’ve been taught. Thankfully, that person no longer has any sway and this way of thinking is no longer the overriding command. Ian Luff, former racer himself, father of V8 Supercar driver Warren and a well known promoter of driver education and safety, is another one of those that believes training saves lives. His courses are run with a touch of humour here and there, sprinkled liberally with catchphrases but with a deadly serious 
underlying message. It’s also the name of his hugely successful business, Drive to Survive. Ian points out the usage of ABS and how the right application of the brake pedal with an ABS fitted car, in conjunction with stability control, road observation and a change of driver attitude can go a whole lot further to saving a life or more than no training. Something as simple as having the side window fully raised or fully retracted, instead of half way, where a sideways impact can violently move the head to the side, directly placing the neck right on top of the hardened glass edge. Being observant whilst driving; here, Ian shows some not so pretty pictures of cars windscreen deep into a truck’s rear, at just the right height for the front seat passengers to literally lose their head, thanks to a driver simply not paying attention or playing with an electronic device. Ian also explains that, although understanding the financial aspect of buying an older, cheaper car for your children, the engineering aspect comes into play with chassis design, crumple zones and such. This is clearly identified by a video which shows two cars, one modern and the other of an eighties vintage, being pushed at high speed into a concrete block as part of a crash study. The result for the older car is not pretty. Yet, as Ian explains, if a driver was taught properly, the chance of a crash (there is NO such thing as an accident) can be minimised. Note that word minimised. There are instances where a crash has happened and has been unavoidable.
When it comes to training and education, there’s pretty simple examples of where this works when it comes to road vehicles: every single racing car driver worldwide. (
http://www.carsguide.com.au/news-and-reviews/car-news/lowndes_backs_driver_training as one example) How’s that, you ask? Simple: imagine yourself in a racecar, without any education or training as to the capability of that vehicle. Think of how easy it might be to stall it on start up, how the brake setup will stop you harder and more efficiently than your road car, how much more grippier the tyres are, how much extra speed you can carry into a turn, how easy it is to completely stuff it up and crash because you’ve had no training. As business development manager at Drive to Survive, Stewart Nicholls says: “ If education doesn’t work then let’s close all the schools and universities now.” It’s a fair point; in just about every single position of employment world wide there is training. Further to that, there’s ongoing training. A pilot isn’t simply taught to fly a Cessna then unleashed upon the public by flying, untrained, a 747. A surgeon simply doesn’t pick up a sharp knife and hack away to pull out your inflamed appendix. There’s the initial training and then there’s more, yet when it comes to something most of us take for granted, but costs the country billions of dollars in hospital costs, medical bills and rehabilitation after a crash, to say that it’s a bad thing driver education and training is akin to saying it’s ok to climb Mt Everest with no clothes on. Vehicle dealerships of certain brands include driver training as part of the sale package, knowing it’ll be better, not worse, to do so. The naysayers point out research, government feedback that “point towards further driver education being ineffective”. The problem with that statement are the innumerable drivers that are better drivers because of further driver education and training. Quite simply, if you believe you’re a good driver and need no further training, go and do a course. You’ll be horrified at how bad you are, how little you’ve improved since you got your license sometime last century and grateful to find out that the rose coloured glasses finally got that much needed clean.
And Then There Were None……
The earlier than expected news that Toyota Australia will also cease manufacturing came as no surprise apart from the timing of the announcement. Widely expected to be in March, it nonetheless completes the trifecta with Ford and Holden announcing their cessation of manufacturing last year.
Workers are said to be devastated at the news, whilst Toyota said: “Together with one of the most open and fragmented automotive markets in the world and increased competitiveness due to current and future Free Trade Agreements, it is not viable to continue building cars in Australia.” There’s another 2500 jobs to go with the Altona engine manufacturing plant but it reaches further than that. As one person on Twitter said: “One day I’ll be telling my kids we built cars in Australia”. That’s a fair point because now gone are the days where one might aspire to work in the car industry. It’s history that will write the future of manufacturing full stop, but now the longer term situation needs to be examined, with component suppliers, transport groups and more all to be affected by the decisions made by the last three companies. 
Naturally, there’s fingers being pointed at the current Australian government, with the not unexpected slamming of them by Australian Manufacturing Workers Union secretary Dave Smith, saying: “I think disastrous is the best way to describe it. In the space of the few months the Federal Government has come to power they have just destroyed the car industry and they make no apology destroying it. Fifty-thousand jobs will go because of an ideologically driven position that we don’t support inefficient industry. We’re the only country in the world that thinks that.” As has also been pointed out, so many other businesses that don’t get assistance are still in operation so it again begs the question, what processes were being undertaken internally for so long that allowed this to happen? Free trade agreements haven’t helped, nor have successive governments with a lack of subsidies to keep encouraging companies to continue.
Regardless, it’s a sad, sad day for the automotive industry and the associated businesses.
Level 2, 9 Help Street