HWY/Freeway etiquette.

[Copie]

Originally Posted by mrbaxr6t

Sorry man but the shield idea don't work, car infront hits roo and it comes over bonnet, and ends up slamming into your windscreen, dunno about you but I would rather the nose my car hit the roo than have its carcass fly through my windscreen

If thats the case, you are following too closely, if you leave a suitable distance, it gives you more then enough time to react and either A: Slow down and B: Avoid the body.

Also if the traffic is rubber banding and your having to slam the brakes on your either not paying attention (aka looking ahead at the traffic) or you are following too close.

Some of you guys should do highway driving for a living, that will open your eyes to what its like all year round.

[Bushbasher]

, Welcome to my world.

Sorry V4man, probably not called for but as a professional driver who does 600km a day/night on country roads/highways I, like Gasolane, deal with all kinds of traffic imaginable. Most slow moving traffic you make allowances for as they are doing their best, ie. wide loads, headers, caravaners, horse floats etc, and they'll move over when possible but there are some right dropkicks out there as well. There's other threads on the forum outlining my and others frustration with stupid and ignorant road users so I won't bother going into them again but some you just can't help but get frustrated at and it's worse in a speed limited truck as you don't have the speed or acceleration to get around them, at least in a car you have the ability to get around and away from them.

Originally Posted by mrbaxr6t

Sorry man but the shield idea don't work, car infront hits roo and it comes over bonnet, and ends up slamming into your windscreen, dunno about you but I would rather the nose my car hit the roo than have its carcass fly through my windscreen

Roos very rarely go over the car, most usually cave in the front and get flung down the road left or right of your car. Occasionally they'll come up your bonnet into YOUR windscreen though. Besides if you're following someone who's going fast enough to throw a roo over their roof and into you then you both deserve to hit something. Traveling at anything over 100-110 in roo infested country at night is just asking for trouble IMO.

Originally Posted by Copie

My theory behind them sitting on your rear end is that they are using you as a shield from roo's/other cars/police its fairly common practice in country areas especially late afternoon/night/dawn.

I do it occasionally (hey if it saves me from hitting a roo its worth it)

If you think trailing behind a car is safer by any real margin I'd suggest you're wrong there. Firstly, and this has happened to me in the truck, the leading car could spook a stationary roo into coming out behind it and then you got no time to react or get out of the way cos you didn't see it in time, or, just as bad, the leading car swerves left or right and misses the roo and guess what, same end result, you are left with bugger all reaction time to deal with the sudden appearance of a roo in front of you. No thanks, I'd rather be out in front to give me maximum time to spot it and react.


Bushbasher

[Copie]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

If you think trailing behind a car is safer by any real margin I'd suggest you're wrong there. Firstly, and this has happened to me in the truck, the leading car could spook a stationary roo into coming out behind it and then you got no time to react or get out of the way cos you didn't see it in time, or, just as bad, the leading car swerves left or right and misses the roo and guess what, same end result, you are left with bugger all reaction time to deal with the sudden appearance of a roo in front of you. No thanks, I'd rather be out in front to give me maximum time to spot it and react.

If your travelling at 100kmh, and have a distance of around 100-150m (what most people should give space wise for safety etc) that gives you 4-6 seconds of reaction time, now most peoples reaction times from seeing the obstacle (say the roo) to doing something about it is generally 0.5-1.0 seconds, leaves you at least 3 seconds to swerve, brake etc out of the way.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Copie

If your travelling at 100kmh, and have a distance of around 100-150m (what most people should give space wise for safety etc) that gives you 4-6 seconds of reaction time, now most peoples reaction times from seeing the obstacle (say the roo) to doing something about it is generally 0.5-1.0 seconds, leaves you at least 3 seconds to swerve, brake etc out of the way.

Not done much country night driving eh?

On a single lane highway with bushes/scrub on the road side the 0.5 to 1.0 secs is the time it take the Roo to leave the side of the road and bump into you.

[vanman_75]

Originally Posted by Copie

If your travelling at 100kmh, and have a distance of around 100-150m (what most people should give space wise for safety etc) that gives you 4-6 seconds of reaction time, now most peoples reaction times from seeing the obstacle (say the roo) to doing something about it is generally 0.5-1.0 seconds, leaves you at least 3 seconds to swerve, brake etc out of the way.

good spotties ,brakes and a good bar are your friends ...i will tell you now and try to make it stick ,.......do not swerve to miss any animal ... you can thank me when it saves ya .

forget reaction times most including myself do not have any reaction time for a roo sticking its head up and launching at you ,and following other vehicles is just stupid as any blocker ,for the same startling reason .

so though this reply is off the main topic a little, it does show how people can get things so wrong on the highway .

but then even though i have never had an accident when i get in the city it amazes me why all the rush and dangerous maneuvers i see ,i give myself distance between cars - people fill em .i speed everywhere where i live but not in congestion ,flow and courtesy are the key and patience ...you may just live if you can change your attitude . be safe and just think about what the other guy on the road may be doing .... norm is right but then again it isnt hard to start a topic on ...people prove that every day with the deaths on our roads ..

they are not accidents you made them happen .

[Bushbasher]

Originally Posted by Copie

If your travelling at 100kmh, and have a distance of around 100-150m (what most people should give space wise for safety etc) that gives you 4-6 seconds of reaction time, now most peoples reaction times from seeing the obstacle (say the roo) to doing something about it is generally 0.5-1.0 seconds, leaves you at least 3 seconds to swerve, brake etc out of the way.

Obviously you don't do alot of night driving on country roads. Weather you're at 100 or 150m or even 200m, you're still only as safe as far as you can see with your low beam cos you're following someone. Most low beams, if adjusted properly, will only illuminate to about 75-90m at best and many much less so that's you're starting point.(if they're not, they're dazzling the guy in front and he'll either drive away from you or slow down till you go by) At 90m you've got just over 3 secs, less your perfect reaction time is now 2 secs. Now the 2 second rule comes into play so what are you going to do?, stand on the brakes and probably hit the roo?; stand on the brakes and swerve and hope you don't wind up in the trees,ditch, bank or safety rail? Or how about into the path of an oncoming vehicle cos you are going into a blind bend and can't see the headlights coming cos of the car in front or the said trees, banks, safety rails. All this assuming you are alert and on the ball and haven't been driving for an hour or two and are just getting a bit fuzzy round the edges at which point you can double or triple your reaction time by which time it's too late to do anything, say hello to skippy. This is for a car of coarse. If you want to sit behind a truck, well, that's different but then you run the risk of suddenly having a mangled roo appearing out from under the truck cos he's not even flinching and just runs right through/over them. Easier to dodge I imagine but potentially as, if not more dangerous to you if you're not on the ball. If you hit a big one it might just tip you over or go under your car and destroy your drive train or part there of, not to mention the mess and smell, lol.

No, you need to be out on your own in front or far enough back that you can use your high beam (and spotties if you're a regular night driver). If someone goes by me at night I'll ease up till they are far enough away that I can get back up to speed and use my lights. But that's just me and my opinion.

Bushbasher

[whynot]

I could not agree more 4Vman.

I am rather proud of the fact that when I taught my two daughters to drive we spent a lot of time on learning how to hold a consistent speed, using audio queues like the transmission whine and tyre noise. It took them awhile, with dark mutterings that their old man is a loony, but now they are both adroit at holding a constant speed without resorting to the speedometer. We also had lots of fun gunning the FG down various onramps so that we could spend more time safely merging at 100 kph.

As for setting the cruise control ... Falcon drivers have been spoilt in this area for a long time. The FG is brilliant in how is has a tight 3kph deadband before actively downshifting to control excessive speed. Not sure of the current VE, but, my old VZ fleet hack, when set on a nominal 100, on anything but a billiard table flat road, would drift anywhere between 90 to 120. Ditto with the current model Aurion that I recently drive in Tasmania, the control systems feedback loops associated with the cruise control is abysmal.

[djjase]

The law should be do at least 5 - 10 km close to the speed limit otherwise don't go on a highway.
Living in the country driving highway speeds is normal to get anywhere.
There is nothing worse than doing 100km on a country road and then there is someone ahead doing 60 -

Remember living in Sydney where some would do 80 in the right lane on the M4 where it was 110 - just makes you wonder where these people get their licenses - these are the ones they should be targeting for creating accidents

[bathurst77]

AFF. home of all the superior drivers.

Isnt it funny how its always other people who dont know how to drive.

Everyone who drives slower than me is an idiot holding up the traffic and doesnt deserve a licence. Everyone faster is a fool and a reckless maniac and deserves to be booked.

[buggo]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Everyone who drives slower than me is an idiot holding up the traffic and doesnt deserve a licence. Everyone faster is a fool and a reckless maniac and deserves to be booked.

Doesn't that have some truth in it though? Not to that extent but along the right lines.

[DoreSlamR]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

AFF. home of all the superior drivers.

Isnt it funny how its always other people who dont know how to drive.

Everyone who drives slower than me is an idiot holding up the traffic and doesnt deserve a licence. Everyone faster is a fool and a reckless maniac and deserves to be booked.

Damn straight!

Get off my road! :

[Falcon Coupe]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

AFF. home of all the superior drivers.

I'd prefer to think we are home to car enthusiasts, as a hobby we take more notice of what happens on the road and how we deal with it. Generally we love our cars and make sure they are in good working order as well making them look good. We are educated in driver safety with many taking part in track days for performance and defensive skill enhancement.

This of course is the opposite end of the spectrum to many "average drivers". To them cars are merely transport, day after day they turn the key and put the boot in (many with a cold engine) then wonder why the engine fails before it's time and write into cars guide complaining brand X is crap and they will purchase brand Y next time.

They do not care about their car or yours (shopping trolley dings anyone ?) all they want to do is get to work as soon as possible and drive accordingly with little regard to what goes on around them, too busy doing makeup/texting/bookwork etc... whilst on the road to care about speed matching or moving over for a faster vehicle coming behind.

The point is I'd like to believe us enthusiasts of all brands take a little more care than Joe Average wearing his cardigan in the Camry with the champagne duco.

[Xr8uteRay]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

I'd prefer to think we are home to car enthusiasts, as a hobby we take more notice of what happens on the road and how we deal with it. Generally we love our cars and make sure they are in good working order as well making them look good. We are educated in driver safety with many taking part in track days for performance and defensive skill enhancement.

This of course is the opposite end of the spectrum to many "average drivers". To them cars are merely transport, day after day they turn the key and put the boot in (many with a cold engine) then wonder why the engine fails before it's time and write into cars guide complaining brand X is crap and they will purchase brand Y next time.

They do not care about their car or yours (shopping trolley dings anyone ?) all they want to do is get to work as soon as possible and drive accordingly with little regard to what goes on around them, too busy doing makeup/texting/bookwork etc... whilst on the road to care about speed matching or moving over for a faster vehicle coming behind.

The point is I'd like to believe us enthusiasts of all brands take a little more care than Joe Average wearing his cardigan in the Camry with the champagne duco.

+1. Couldn't have put it better myself

[kinksta]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

I'd prefer to think we are home to car enthusiasts, as a hobby we take more notice of what happens on the road and how we deal with it. Generally we love our cars and make sure they are in good working order as well making them look good. We are educated in driver safety with many taking part in track days for performance and defensive skill enhancement.

This of course is the opposite end of the spectrum to many "average drivers". To them cars are merely transport, day after day they turn the key and put the boot in (many with a cold engine) then wonder why the engine fails before it's time and write into cars guide complaining brand X is crap and they will purchase brand Y next time.

They do not care about their car or yours (shopping trolley dings anyone ?) all they want to do is get to work as soon as possible and drive accordingly with little regard to what goes on around them, too busy doing makeup/texting/bookwork etc... whilst on the road to care about speed matching or moving over for a faster vehicle coming behind.

The point is I'd like to believe us enthusiasts of all brands take a little more care than Joe Average wearing his cardigan in the Camry with the champagne duco.

whoa that is deep, and spot on!! KUDOS MATE!!!

[Mad Maxine]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

The point is I'd like to believe us enthusiasts of all brands take a little more care than Joe Average wearing his cardigan in the Camry with the champagne duco.

Don't you mean 'beige', Falcon Coupe? LOL!

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Merging traffic... SYNCHRONISE..... why hold a car out and try to run them onto the grass when they're just trying to merge from an off ramp? is it too hard to speed up/ slow down or move right to let them in?? : Also merging traffic... try to merge at or close to the posted limit to minimise inconvenience...

Idiots abound our major roads....

Dont get me started on people that cannot do a simple task like merge onto the freeway/motorway. :

Originally Posted by 4Vman

Merging traffic... SYNCHRONISE..... why hold a car out and try to run them onto the grass when they're just trying to merge from an off ramp? is it too hard to speed up/ slow down or move right to let them in??

no i will not lock them up to let you in when there is plenty of room behind me or i saw you cut in from the traffic

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by 1streetmachine1

no i will not lock them up to let you in when there is plenty of room behind me or i saw you cut in from the traffic

Thats why people should be doing the speed limit when they enter and merge with traffic.

[Chopped]

Agreed on the merging...there are a lot of drivers who are hopeless at it.

Another one is the lane shifters, who go from the right lane to the far left lane then back to the right lane etc. Usually done without using indicators.

Arrghhh I'm road raging just thinking about it !

[kinksta]

the people who go 130km can sit on my bumper for all that I care, simple don't speed or you can sit on my a$$, especially the ones in ************ box vehicles.

I do alot of highway miles and cruise control is my best mate. And there are alot of cars that would have it fitted that I pass, but they wouldn't know anything about it or scared because of old wives tales. It's frustrating I know.

The other thing is people seeing a police car on the side of the road, and hit the brakes for no reason, merely because oh no it's a cop shhh. Or even worse a cop doing 100km (here in SA) and no one willing to overtake, probably cos police shoot anyone who over takes them????

Look what happened it Haiti, and we are sooking about this hehehe

[MITCHAY]

Really hate the people who don't merge at speed. Been plenty of instances where you are driving on an onramp and they brake and stop because they want to do X amount of kays under the speed limit, thus causing a major jam.

Also had plenty of instances where people already on the road will speed up and thus cut those off trying to merge. The stupidity of it is that if you let people in one for one it is actually faster for all.

Lucky for me my car has the power to handle most of these people so long as I have the space to do so safely but it's a major PITA when you don't.

[Outback]

Posted speed limits are maximum speed limits you can drive up to 110 on the freeways you don't have to do 110 if you don't want to as long as you say in the left lane. and on a single lane road with 100 speed limit you can sit on whatever speed you like up to 100 with in reason .

[Jack91]

Originally Posted by Outback

Posted speed limits are maximum speed limits you can drive up to 110 on the freeways you don't have to do 110 if you don't want to as long as you say in the left lane. and on a single lane road with 100 speed limit you can sit on whatever speed you like up to 100 with in reason .

Yes thats true but if its a clear day road is fine and you're doing 80 in a 100 zone, well perhaps you dont belong on the road at all. Short of inclement weather, there is no excuse to hold up traffic like that, to me you are a mobile chicane, and if I'm not in the work car I'll lay on the horn as I fly past.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by DAVO_XR

Yes thats true but if its a clear day road is fine and you're doing 80 in a 100 zone, well perhaps you dont belong on the road at all. Short of inclement weather, there is no excuse to hold up traffic like that, to me you are a mobile chicane, and if I'm not in the work car I'll lay on the horn as I fly past.

Ah, spoken like a true "get out of my way I have to be in front" driver.

Did you know that there are actually people who like driving along at 80kmh. Not everyone wants to drive at the MAXIMUM PERMITTED speed limit! I drive 900ks a day, 5 days week on single lane highways and have to put up with drivers like this every day. Along with Caravans, Headers and oversize loads doing around 20kmh.

It's called sharing the road, and if you cant handle it maybe you're the one who doesn't belong on the road or need a course on controlling 'road rage'.

Drivers with your attitude we can all do without.

[Jack91]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Ah, spoken like a true "get out of my way I have to be in front" driver.

Did you know that there are actually people who like driving along at 80kmh. Not everyone wants to drive at the MAXIMUM PERMITTED speed limit! I drive 900ks a day, 5 days week on single lane highways and have to put up with drivers like this every day. Along with Caravans, Headers and oversize loads doing around 20kmh.

It's called sharing the road, and if you cant handle it maybe you're the one who doesn't belong on the road or need a course on controlling 'road rage'.

Drivers with your attitude we can all do without.

Yeah, maybe you're right. However, seeing as though 90% of the people on the road want to do the MAXIMUM PERMITTED speed limit perhaps these people who "like" driving at 80km/hr should get out of the ***** WAY!
I should add that when it comes to trucks, caravans and loaded up cars and trailers, that I dont get that angry and can understand them not being able to do the speed limit.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Ah, spoken like a true "get out of my way I have to be in front" driver.

Did you know that there are actually people who like driving along at 80kmh. Not everyone wants to drive at the MAXIMUM PERMITTED speed limit! I drive 900ks a day, 5 days week on single lane highways and have to put up with drivers like this every day. Along with Caravans, Headers and oversize loads doing around 20kmh.

It's called sharing the road, and if you cant handle it maybe you're the one who doesn't belong on the road or need a course on controlling 'road rage'.

Drivers with your attitude we can all do without.

absolutely. patience is a rare thing on the road. so you have to slow down for a bit.. whats it going to cost you? 1min? 2min? even 10min? everyone's always in a hurry and had to be there yesterday. plan your trip better so you aren't racing the clock all the time.

also people who complain about cars that speed up when they catch up to them, a lot of this could be the fact that suddenly another car being there has drawn there attention back to their speedo and they realise they have eased off a fraction and speed up accordingly.

Gaso - many people on here would never survive in your line of work.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Ah, spoken like a true "get out of my way I have to be in front" driver.

Did you know that there are actually people who like driving along at 80kmh. Not everyone wants to drive at the MAXIMUM PERMITTED speed limit! I drive 900ks a day, 5 days week on single lane highways and have to put up with drivers like this every day. Along with Caravans, Headers and oversize loads doing around 20kmh.

It's called sharing the road, and if you cant handle it maybe you're the one who doesn't belong on the road or need a course on controlling 'road rage'.

Drivers with your attitude we can all do without.

That's fine but somewhere like a freeway they can take normal roads and stay off the free ways. On the highway its fine, I normally see them get around them and continue my journey, nothing really that bad. If I'm going to slow for someone then if I'm overtaken I slow about 10k down to let them get around safely and continue on my way. Highway driving is easy as (when you car has a little bit of power) its more city driving where it becomes a pain with people not thinking of others...mind you most are actually ok.

[Outback]

Originally Posted by DAVO_XR

Yes thats true but if its a clear day road is fine and you're doing 80 in a 100 zone, well perhaps you dont belong on the road at all. Short of inclement weather, there is no excuse to hold up traffic like that, to me you are a mobile chicane, and if I'm not in the work car I'll lay on the horn as I fly past.

God your tool, so if a learner,red p driver or a car towing a trailer who are all restricted to a maximum of 80ks is in front of you, you would blow your horn well i think you play with your horn too much, drivers like you such catch public transport.

[jpd80]

Hi, have read quite a few posts here and sense people's frustrations. Over the years, Ive learned to
stick to the speed limit and have found that on most Queensland single lane roads that 102-105 kph
in 100kph zones is ideal for avoiding overtaking and being caught by cars coming from the rear.
On trips from Gladstone to Brisbane, the first 350 km I'd be lucky to have 9 or 10 traffic interactions
so pretty quiet. when I used to buzz down the road at higher speeds, I'd frustrate myself catching
and passing cars every 3 to 5 minutes....

Goes to show patience can save your life and license.

[Archilino]

Whats the general consensus with classic cars on a freeway? I was driving on eastlink this arvo and there were 3 192-30's style classic cars doing 60-70km/h in the left lane, whilst it was great to see them on the road they were nothing more than a mobile speed hump to some.

They did the right thing as in staying in the left lane but on the other hand is 30-40k under the limit too much?