In Australia, one should drive on the left hand side of the road. On multi-lane roads drivers must keep left unless they are overtaking (or on some roads getting around parked vehicles or turning right).
Always observe give way rules unless another driver breaches the rules when you should have right of way. Naturally in that situation it is better to wait than crash. The general rule is giving way to the right. Exceptions are roundabouts and intersections with signs or lights. Also, at a 'T' intersection, the driver of the ending road must give way to other vehicles. Be ready to slow down or stop at all times when you have to give way
If you are turning right at an intersection with no traffic signs or lights, give way to all oncoming traffic, vehicles on your right and all pedestrians.
At roundabouts you must give way to vehicles already on the roundabout. In practice this usually means giving way to the right.
When you face a give way sign:
- at an intersection give way to all traffic .
-at the approach to a single lane bridge give way to oncoming traffic.
When exiting private property you must give way to all traffic and pedestrians. If turning left into private property, give way to pedestrians. If turning right give way to all pedestrians and all oncoming vehicles.
Pedestrians can be unpredictable- particularly children. Children have been known to run out unexpectedly on all kinds of streets but particularly at pedestrian crossings. The safest way of dealing with a pedestrian on or near a pedestrian crossing is to come to a complete stop and wait for them to cross. Monitor the cars behind you to ensure that they are able to stop.
Note:
Do not overtake vehicles near pedestrian crossings.
If another vehicle travelling in the same direction has stopped (or is slowing as if it is about to stop) at a pedestrian crossing, make sure that you do not proceed across it unless it is unsafe to stop.
A green light or arrow means that you can go past the white stop line at the traffic lights if the intersection is clear.
An amber or yellow light means stop, if it is safe to do so.
If you face a red light or arrow at traffic lights, you must stop at the stop line.
At overhead lane lights, drive only in a lane that has a green arrow. Do not drive in a lane where an overhead light shows a red cross.
Note:
Check the colour of the lights while you are a reasonable distance away and keep monitoring it.
Be alert for emergency vehicles. Listen and look for them in countries like Australia where they do not send off signals picked up by radar detectors.
Do not be careless or without reasonable attention to your driving no matter how slow the speed limit. It could cost you your life.
Potential traps for the unwary are:
- driving when light and weather conditions obscure your vision
- being distracted by objects on the roadside or in the rear vision mirror
- travelling too fast in difficult conditions eg. wet weather- nb. the speed limits weren't put there by God so they are sometimes too fast for the conditions (if you notice that, instead of overtaking you all the time, the other traffic is going slower than you then SLOW DOWN)
-picking up dropped objects or operating radios, CD players and hand-held mobile phones.
Because of the obvious dangers of overtaking at the wrong time, the basic rule of overtaking is if in doubt- don't!
However, once you have decided to overtake do it quickly and precisely. Put your foot firmly on the accelerator and keep it there until you can see the vehicle you have overtaken in your rear vision mirror. Then move back into the driving lane and resume normal speed. You should start the acceleration from a sufficient distance behind the car you are overtaking so that reach your overtaking speed before you enter the opposite lane even if this means waiting at a slight distance behind the other car before overtaking. Also don't just speed up behind another car assuming that all will be okay when you get there. Reduce the speed differential as you are approaching and check for oncoming traffic etc. This avoids the embarassing and dangerous situation of starting to overtake and then having to brake suddenly to get back behind.
Overtake on the right if possible. Overtake on the left if a vehicle has signalled that it is turning right or you must get past and after reasonable waiting you cannot overtake in the right lane. To overtake on the left there must be at least two lanes in your direction and the left lane must not be a bus or transit lane.
Do not overtake if:
-you are at the crest of a hill where your view is limited
-you are near a blind curve
-you are within 30m of a level crossing or intersection
Note:
Road hogs have been found to be most frequent catalyst of 'road rage'. Clearly they are frequently the catalyst for general frustration and improper overtaking. If you find yourself trapped behind a road hog try to calm down, don't tailgate and only overtake if you absolutely can't be delayed. It can be annoying to waste time on the road but a delay when you are not in a hurry is much better than ending up dead or crippled.
When a lane line is broken you can change lanes as long as you signal (for approximately 5 seconds) before changing lanes, and give way to traffic already in the lane.
Note:
Check mirrors before changing lanes and also check the blind spot. Do not assume that all cars are travelling at the same speed as you particularly if you are driving at the speed limit or below. Ensure that you continue to monitor cars in the other lane up to and during your lane change. I personally witnessed a car driver (probably inexperienced) travelling at about 20kph above the freeway speed limit who assumed that they were going fast enough so that noone was overtaking them. A car overtaking at about 160kph had to burn a fair amount of rubber to avoid a collision with them because they changed lanes without checking.
It is vital that you indicate before you make any turns (including U-turns), or are moving right or left. As already mentioned, you should give approximately 5 seconds of indication before doing the manouvre.
It is also important to brake early enough so that the driver behind can get an early warning that you are stopping or slowing down from your brake lights.
Sometimes intersections are properly signed and you do not have do not have a clear view for a sufficient distance to just give way. In these situations it would be extremely dangerous to disobey the stop sign. However it is prudent to always come to a complete stop any time you see a stop sign because if the intersection has ridiculous signing there may be police lurking in the bushes ready to give you a very expensive fine for even a rolling stop.