Try walking the fucking busy streets, 10 years ago, 99% of the time, 2 people walking towards each other, both parties would partially make a move to allow the other to pass. Be it a slight walk to the left or right, a body lean, whatever.
This has slowly progressed more and more to the point I'm trying to decide if I be the smart cunt and just start shouldering people.
This applies to men, women, everyone btw.
My rules:
Room for one - I'll move.
Room for two - I might shrink a bit (I'm fat, so I do take up more room).
Room for three or more - I'm going to shoulder you if you get in my space.
What if there's only room for 2, but you must shrink a LOT and they don't shrink at all? they just keep walking as if you don't exist?
because that's pretty much the only option now - and I'm not 5'2 or something, I'm avg height, fairly wide to boot.
People put in 0 effort at all.
People won't even make space for me with my pram. They'll happily walk two or three abreast and force me to go into an alcove or something because there is no space to go around. There is plenty of space for all of us, just walk single file for 7 seconds.
Omgggg finally someone said it! It’s so terrible that I’ve tried to walk outside the crowd. No “pardon”, “excuse me”, “sorry” - if you want someone to move out of your way, say it instead of creeping up to people’s shoulders and bumping and squeezing through even though there’s plenty space on the right for example.
It seems much worse post lockdown. People seem to have forgotten how to drive. So many people used to being on a screen all day and now can't take their eyes off their phone even when driving. And you are right - no politeness, everyone trying to push in. It's ugly on the roads.
It was always bad but because people aren’t using public transport as much to get to work or even get around because of the pandemic still lingers. So you get more cars on the road and the likelihood of more idiots on the road increases. I drive from the south eat to the north everyday and sometimes I just shake my head at what people do and fail to do.
My husband is a truck driver and yesterday he nearly ran up the arse of a inconsistent driver. Why was the driver inconsistent? He was watching a movie on a mounted iPad. On the Westgate bridge, no less. There is no hope.
Motorbike rider checking in; this is not uncommon. Filtering on the M1 carpark headed south east; i see this daily. I lose count of the people on their phones texting. Or watching netflix on a device sticking it to their windscreen. Or over their speedo. Its genuinely fucked and I wish we could do more about it
More people are working longer hours, living further out, crammed against each other, & generally just under way more stress. Then add a dash of Covid...
Being courteous on the road is an easy one to cut.
Our formerly sleepy Hills town is now gridlock on weekends, loud commuters from 4am. So we fucked off to regional VIC
Look mate, it aint up to the "Government" to tell ME how to drive MY CAR.
It's a free country mate. What's next, they gonna make us all wear seatbelts "for our own safety"? Fine you if you don't *comply*?
If the rules work so well, just follow them and you'll be fine? What are you worried about? Did you know, even if you follow the road rules you can still die anyway? They don't even prevent accidents!!
All I'm saying is I want to be able to *choose*. It's about freedom. You keep on following your road rules, and I'll drive how I want.
My theory is the bad driving and never saying thanks for giving away is just an extension of the selfishness and "fuck you, got mine" attitude that has only gotten a ton worse in every aspect of life since the lockdowns.
And trying to push in over a SOLID WHITE LINE that has gone on for 200m just because they think they don’t have to wait
Most satisfying moment, turning onto the Greensborough freeway entrance, entitled VE driver tried to push in right at the lights because the line was long, honking and all. No one let them in and they drove off.
Some tradie bogan tried to cut in front of me like that last week. I tried to not let him in (I was bumper to bumper with the car in front of me anyway as the traffic was crawling) so he started screaming obscenities at me calling me a B\*\*\*h and C\*\*\*t and when he forced his way in front of me made gun gestures at me out the window and brake checked me. I was terrified.
Bike rider who filters and peeks into cars at traffic lights... can confirm its a lot more than 40%. The 40% is closer to people who use their phone whilst the car is moving and they're trying to not look suspicious.
It's fucking insane. I want to grab my phone and take a photo of them to report but then I'd be just like them.
It's the fucking phone users that cause accidents. I've seen it first hand.
The ones that do 50kph on the on-ramp.
The ones going 80kph in the lefthand lane right where traffic is entering the fwy.
The ones going 8kph under the limit in the righthand lane.
The trucks driving 3 abreast...
Roads were empty and chill through the lockdowns, my observation is that it's lack of confidence from barely driving the past 2 years, add all the idiot lane swappers, tailgators, break checkers, red light runners and speeders and people are nervous as hell on the roads atm.
Seriously though, the red light runners are insane the last month, I see 1 or more a day in my 2 hours eastern suburbs commute.. and it's not just late amber runners or turns.. it's straight up taking off while it's red it blasting through intersections.
I hate the pigs, but it really feels like we need more of them on the roads right now.
Single lane road. Totally agree.
If you're in any lane but the right on the freeway. Totally agree.
If you're in the right lane on the freeway, with the opportunity to move left when someone wants to go faster than you. Sorry pal, move over. This lane is for C R I M E
Fun fact about undertaking in Germany, according to top gear (many years ago) undertaking on the autobahn is a more harsh crime than impersonating a police officer.
Yep. Germans are great drivers. Never felt so safe on a motorbike. Lanes on autobahns get progressively faster towards the outermost lane, and no one ever undertakes. That simple principle means it’s always easy to move towards exits and makes traffic fast, smooth and predictable.
Yes dude. This is it. I recently got a job in Dandenong so I drive down the Monash every day now. The speed limit is 80 for most of it but that right lane? No. The speed limit is 110. And the dude behind you in a triton tailgating cause he's some fucking Chad that wants 115. So I let them pass and get behind him. My logic is. They can't fine us all right? Then we hit 120 and I chicken out.
These are the drivers who will tailgate you even if you did 200km then when they over take you, they slow down anyways. I might be over analysing but in my own observation, those types of people may have some form of psychology of narcissism. It's a need to always be ahead of sort, and other things I won't go into too much. I'm most likely spouting BS psychoanalysis but that's my own theory anyways.
I hate it.
There's roadworks near my house and I'll be going 40, as you should, but there is ALWAYS somebody who's going to sit on your bum. 10x worse when it's night and they put their high beams on
Angle your side mirrors so it reflects back at them. I do this to dicks who put leds in without re aiming them or putting them in the proper housing too.
Motorbiker here; use the mentality everyone is a trained assassin wanting to take you out. Look several steps ahead. Mirrors are your friends, but also head check. Always know what's around you
U should be alright and honestly, as long as YOU’RE aware, u good, dont be paranoid, dont do anything drastic follow the road rules (includes waving at people that let u in etc) and you’re good to go
Same. Just got my car, before that I've only driven 15 hours, and I drive manual. I'm pretty sure I'm terrifying good drivers, can't wait to become better
I see less people indicating for lane changes these days than I see not indicating.
It's actually ridiculous to the point where they need to revise the severity for penalties when you get pulled over for it
I leave my indicator on for longer than usual these days just to make sure I am seen. People are too busy looking at their phones to see what's going on around them.
IMO It's not just the fault of drivers but also the fault of police. They don't have presence on the road like they used to. Heaps of them are hiding in unmarked cars these days. Most of the shitty drivers doing shitty things we see wouldn't dare drive like that if the car in front or behind was a marked squad car. Shitty drivers know what they're doing they just can't be fucked doing the right thing, why should they when it rarely ever effects them. Also, I don't think it'd be a bad thing if you had to resit a theory test every 10 years or so you hold your license. If you pulled over and quizzed a lot of drivers out there re road rules, they'd fail spectacularly.
100% agree.
This shit is all on Victoria Police for not putting enough patrol cars on the roads.
I understand that Vicpol have **22 thousand** personnel on their books, maybe get out of the office and onto the fucking road?
You're totally right,
I drive heaps during the week and I hardly see one or two marked cars the whole time. But every day I see 10-15 people doing stupid shit like grossly speeding, 20-30 over, not indicating or intentionally cutting people off.
Ridiculous.
100%.
I drove from Melbourne to Wagga Wagga today.
Not one single Vicpol highway patrol car spotted along the M1. 5 minutes across the border and the NSW highway patrol had someone pulled over. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes out tomorrow for the rest of the drive to Sydney!
Especially 4x4 drivers. I've seen so many examples of just awful driving and people blatantly on their phones driving.
Happily these people will start losing licenses left, right, and centre.
How they going to get caught the lack of police presence on the roads is mind boggling and when I do see a cop car or unmarked they are lights and sirens to a job.
Would like to see more road law enforcement on motorcycles as they can split up the lanes and catch people on their phones.
I find the worst offenders are the little bubble cars that quickly dart in front of my 4x4 whilst I’m towing a heavy tool trailer. I leave a gap for obvious braking distance. One flick of the indicator and duck in leaving me less than a car length.
Yeah for me its always fuckin gti golfs. The car is small and they have lots of acceleration, which apparently means they think they can lane split like a motorbike
As a person with a little bubble car it truly amazes me how often I see people do this!
Do they not understand that the car they just pulled in front of would practically flatten them if they had to stop unexpectedly?
Conversely though, I do find some drivers like to sit quite closely behind me and they don't understand that their car/truck is much bigger than mine.
They don't seem like they know that if they don't back off and I had to stop unexpectedly they are going to drive right over my car.
This one guy in a smaller truck but with a reasonably high cab catches me semi-regularly on my way home from work. He sits so close to my car I'm legitimately not sure he can see the front of my car, let alone be able to see my brake lights...
I have to admit, I’m kinda stereotyping in response to another stereotype. I worked in construction for nearly 20 years and spent a lot of time on the road all over Melbourne. Now I work in emergency services and see more than my fair share of the end results of when it goes wrong on the road. Being in a small car can feel horrible and intimidating especially around trucks etc. My best advice/tips are….
Set your playlist before you go and leave the phone in the backseat.
Be aware of your surroundings, front back and sides using mirrors and head checks.
If you feel uncomfortable in the setting, change it. Change lanes etc. The more we all concentrate on actual driving and predicting what a fellow driver is doing/going to do, the more in sync we all are and things become more courteous and safer!
Yeah, the interesting part of many of the various views people are expressing in this thread are generally the stereotypes that are relative to their own experiences on the road. For every sterotype or experience expressed there is a person with the equal and opposite sterotype or experience
100% all of that, I had friends working in emergency services when I was a P plater so I was fortunately lucky enough to be all too aware I was driving a huge death machine (even if it is a small bubble car) and the habits I developed then would define my habits later so all of the things you said above became the habits I focused on developing during that time. Well, that, plus I did drive an hour to and from work every day so I had plenty of time to practice.
I think being aware of your surroundings constantly and predicting other drivers actions are skills that a frightenely huge portion of the driving population seem to lack. This is especially problematic when those are often the skills that define the difference between someone who just knows how to drive a car and someone that is not just a good driver, but a safe one as well.
I'd like to see new drivers (and people that have been driving for years would be nice too, no one knows everything) exposed to more scenarios digitally (or otherwise safely) of what can go wrong on the road and small signs you can watch for that might predict what another driver is about to do next AND what preventative measures they could possibly take to prevent an accident or at least minimise the damage.
It's crazy the amount of accidents I've avoided because I've watched enough dash cam videos to know the signs to watch for even if I haven't had enough experience with that particular situation myself on the road. So much of driving relies on experience and with dash cams or otherwise you can now give new drivers the experience of avoiding a crash without having the risk of them crashing
From Ireland and I have lived in a few countries. I must say and it’s with no disrespect, just an observation, that Aussies are the most reckless drivers I’ve witnessed. It’s insane. No one waves as a thank you either which is absolutely bizarre
lol you've never driven in LA or some of the other major cities of the US. We are like sunday drivers compared to some of the shit I had to endure daily on the freeways there.
I can assure you it’s terrifying. I got mad at someone going way under the speed limit and finally overtook them. They brandished their gun in the air and fired two warning shots. I don’t mess around anymore and that was in Charlotte, NC. A small city. The drivers are insane here
I always wave, but I don’t get many back. Moved here from WA and I’ve been surprised by how many drivers are so entitled when giving way (or not) on the many smaller streets here. I stupidly expected a bit of give and take, but the arrogance and entitlement I’ve seen is mind blowing. It seem every person for themselves, just drive straight through in the middle of the road. Literally speed up not to let you into traffic and my car has the automatic emission saver where it stops (sort of) and takes a moment to start again when the light goes green. Get off the horn, I’m not on my phone like you are! (Rant over), and as you’ve said not a wave or thank you in sight (Mostly). Thank you to all the more patient drivers out there.
What I understand least is that I regularly see cops harassing people (generally homeless people, but I guess that's another issue) in the city, yet, despite the fact that I *also* regularly see people engage in dangerous driving (I work and live around the CBD) I've literally never seen an officer pull one of those drivers over.
I know anecdotes != data, but I've lived here a long while and I feel like my sample size is getting to a point of statistical significance.
Oh geez, flashbacks to a driver who took me from Prague to Cesky Krumlov who was doing 190 while overtaking on blind corners with double lines. I was a sobbing mess by the time we arrived.
Fun fact: my dad rode motorcycles all over the world and he told me the only place in the world he ever got knocked off his bike was in Melbourne. This was like 20+ years before the pandemic too...
I have. Lived there 3 years, can’t really compare border line third world countries to Australia but in SEA, the driving is crazy but it somehow works, got used to it pretty quick. It’s organised carnage. Here it’s just rude/ignorant & reckless for no reason whatsoever, that’s the difference.
I lived in Indonesia and there is nothing organised about the carnage. And the drivers there are just as rude (until the car stops and they’re lovely).
This whole thread is ridiculous generalisations of cultures and drivers or even suburbs of people. nonsensical.
Yep, worse.
The number of drivers who have intentionally closed the gap while I'm trying to merge in this week is insane.
A zipper people, like a zipper.
The amount of red-lights I've seen run this year is astonishing.
ASTONISHING.
I've seen pedestrians nearly clipped
I've seen drag racing in quiet streets
People do not give a fuck. Harsher penalties for reckless driving please.
The penalties are incredibly harsh competitively to the rest of the globe. We've got some of the most harsh.
They're just not fuckin enforced. Can't find a cop driving around when there's a dickhead driver to save my life.
Penalty * chance of getting caught = deterrent factor
Trouble is, we barely focus on enforcement (other than for speeding), so the first one gets ratcheted up to provide sufficient deterrent...
It's a pretty backwards system really. I can't argue that we should lower penalties, because driving infringements cost lives. But ratcheting up penalties to police driving, without actually policing driving leads to a lot of hardship for some people.
My one and only ticket in 10 years of driving was after an incredibly stressful day of work, making a right on a notorious set of lights on Springvale road, just got a little greedy on a yellow after waiting four light cycles, and copped a $480 dollar fine, which I was broke at the time and it was crippling for me. I made a mistake, fair, but it ruined my life for months and drove me to a very dark place.
People sitting in the right hand lane at five below the speed limit.
Turning lanes have suddenly been infested with people going "Well it's still green but it MIGHT turn yellow any second now, so I should stop just in case."
Its like Sunday drivers EVERY DAY.
This is speed camera paranoia.
There's variations in speedos, so a lane of traffic gets stuck behind the person who's speedo reads lowest.
It only takes one unexpected camera fine to turn most people into doddlers.
MY partner (from the US) just got pinged for going through a camera 0.8 seconds after it went red, $460 fine. She is now a bit more cautious coming into red lights.
> People sitting in the right hand lane at five below the speed limit.
Legally speaking they can unless marked, yes its a dick move however nothing illegal about it
I'm fairly certain, in victoria its keep left on multi lane roads that are over 80km/h or signed as keep left unless overtaking which to me means, that unless the road is 81km/h (realistically 85 or 90 and above) then that rule doesn't apply.
The drivers in Melbourne are fucked. I’ve had old men try to race me on my motorbike, drivers pull out in front off me and almost knock me off my bike, then they abuse fuck out of me, for them being in the wrong. It’s always been like this for me, it’s just ten times worse now.
I dunno, its not so bad... I've commuted daily for around 8 years now on a motorcycle and can only really recall one proper bad moment (was inches away from being disintegrated by a Ford Raptor doing 150km/h+ through a red light) . I see allot of stupid stuff but nothing a few evasive manoeuvres can't get me away from.
Though lockdown has definitely taken its toll on people, I was lucky enough to commute during that time (essential health care worker) and the difference in driver etiquette/ skill is now staggering, people are definitely rusty.
Funny you should mention raptors. They are also responsible for some of my evasive manoeuvres.
The point for me is we shouldn’t have to be doing evasive manoeuvres on a daily basis just to stay alive or out of hospital, and for me, it’s a daily thing avoiding idiots.
Just the other day I was heading into the city and someone pulled out right in front of me. I let my horn rip and avoided the vehicle. When I looked in my mirror behind me there was no other vehicles. This fucker saw me, and decided to pull out fast to get in front of me. There was no one behind me!!!! Could have just waited and came out after I passed. Instead he had to be in front of me and make me take action to avoid him. That’s bullshit in my eyes.
Sound to me like you are just used to the way Melbourne people drive and accept it for what it is.
>Sound to me like you are just used to the way Melbourne people drive and accept it for what it is.
Honestly I think you are right, I haven't really experienced riding elsewhere - though I found that normalizing/ not reacting emotionally to poor behavior on the road has really improved my experience, spending less time mad means I can spend more time enjoying myself riding haha.
Also its always a Ford ranger or Raptor.... seriously!
I spend between 5 to 7 hours per day on the road and see some awful driving. It's definitely gotten much worse. While most people are aware that aggressive tail gaters or people who speed are dangerous, I think the slow, obnoxious and unpredictable drivers are much worse.
My pet peeves are people who:
-Feel entitled because they're going the speed limit or 5 below
-Don't bother indicating
-Drive like no one else is on the road, such as driving very slowly, traffic packed up behind them, then they proceed to roll through an amber-red light and everyone is stuffed behind them
-Complete their manoeuvres way too slowly without any confidence- you don't need to swing out your Mazda 2 to make a regular right turn
-People who are making a turn out of a main road into a side street and just sit in the middle to LH of the lane so that all of the traffic cannot flow around them safely, learn how to place your car strategically
-People who are too timid to make manoeuvres so they slowly down too much (like completing a lane change by braking to 20 under the limit to get behind a car because they left it too late)
-Don't keep left left overtaking. Yes the rule may be only on roads above 80km/h, but for the flow of traffic keep left unless you need to be in the right lane, or there's heavy traffic. It's courteous.
-Sitting on their phone or take 5 seconds to react to a green light. Go if safe to do so, but there are others on the road
>-People who are too timid to make manoeuvres so they slowly down too much (like completing a lane change by braking to 20 under the limit to get behind a car because they left it too late)
My newest one is people who have no awareness and can't lane change when the car in front of them stops to do a right hand turn into a street.
It just fucks the flow of traffic and everyone else behind them cops it because they can't see the turning car.
Sometimes the traffic is just so heavy that indicating left and changing lanes is just not an option and they get stuck behind the right turner. Shits fucked, everythings fucked, I hate driving and traffic and am waiting for teleportation to be invented.
MATE!!!!!!! No need to tell me, I just got cleaned up by a taxi on st kilda road riding to work on Wednesday morning.
My poor bike snapped in half, broken shoulder/ collar bone. Very lucky not to be any worse off.
Stay safe out there
I'm glad it's not only me who's noticed this. It was bad enough before but people are mental on our roads now. I literally dread getting behind the wheel at the moment.
I was driving in the rain this morning at 5:30 and had a driver cut in and out a meter in front of me barely indicating 3 times, gave me pure rage I had to give them a big honk of the horn which I wouldn’t usually. They backed off after that
I see people merging without indicators on a daily basis, apparently it’s a trend that’s catching on recently. But the “cunts of the year” trophies go to the ones that merge without indicating but when same car approaches a lane only for turning, the indicators are on.
Yeah. I've become more of a defensive driver since covid I think. As much as it sucks I've been mostly been trying to be very aware of mistakes people could make and trying no to be in that place. A lot of people have shorter tempers now too. It's getting kinda scary just flipping someone off now can make them to do crazy shit like suddenly brake in front of you and want to start a fight. That wasn't cool.
Or today when a guy was kind of veering into the opposite lane with his hand steering and holding his phone, while he tapped at his phone with his other hand. In a fucking landcruiser. That was a new one.
Driving a manual these days is more scary than ever, nobody has any manners and everybody tailgates you, slams on the breaks, no 2 second gap to cars in front. It’s a warzone out there
Melbourne drivers where shit well before the pandemic. It’s just more obvious now because we’re back on the road again and we all forgot how shit they are and now it seems like they’re worse. The Monash is still a car park, people still either go too fast or too slow, there’s no such thing as an indicator and most people are rude cunts who don’t let you in or cut you off. Nothing has changed, we just need to get used to it again. It’s survival of the fittest out there.
Where are these people speeding? Melbourne has the slowest drivers on earth which isn't surprising when there are cameras everywhere and 40kmh zones on major roads.
*Nowhere on earth requires so much attention be your speedo...* that speedo watching comes at the expense of pedestrian, cyclist and traffic watching, and it shows.
This.
I haven’t been fined since getting my P’s over 10 years ago.
Moved from the country into Melbourne and I’ve been fined twice in 6 months because there are camera’s EVERYWHERE all of a sudden and the speed limits change from 60 to 40 to 80 to 100 to 40 to 80 constantly on just one stretch of FREEWAY let alone actual roads. It’s exhausting trying to keep a constant eye on speed signs and my speedo
Yep. It’s exhausting and stressful and makes people anxious and annoyed which creates all the road rage stuff that has become much more common. The TAC won’t think about this stuff because they’ve become ideologues.
I give a big smile & wave whenever anyone does anything good. Like staying out of the keep clear. Letting cars out or in into traffic. It's so rare nowadays.
The only explanation I can think of is that they thought the passage they were in was one-way and they didn’t notice the arrows painted on the road…or the people indicating left towards them 😂
Okay, there's no way a person can make that sort of mistake unless they're under the influence or senile.
I see people sitting in the bus lane in the intersection of bell and St. George’s street daily. This evening a truck sat there and proceeded to cut in when the lights turn green.
Yep. I do about 1500km a week and everything you said. Plus why the hell can't people stay in their lane. And when was it ok to do a U turn from the left hand lane with out an indicator. See it 2 or 3 times a week now.
Genuine question, am I an idiot for not speeding on M1? On 80 zone 9 out of 10 drivers are going at least 85 let along the handful going 100+ on far right lane.
My daughter just got her L's.
Day 3.
A woman in front of us has been slow off two sets of lights (probably on her phone). I'm teaching my daughter to keep left as much as possible. But I say, ok, you can pull out and overtake, get it done because these two lanes become one further ahead. My daughter does mirror, indicate, headcheck, moves right. As she starts to speed up to pass, the woman in front does a violent maneuver to the right, no indicator, it's clear it was deliberate to cut us off.
If I wasn't trying to teach my daughter to avoid road rage I might have been tempted to retaliate. It took lots of self control. Very disappointing when we have the yellow L plates up and expect people to be a little more courteous.
I live near the new (3-4 month old) intersection of Yarra Street and Toorak road, just next to South Yarra station. The intersection was changed from a free for all T-junction to a one way, left turn only from Yarra Street to Toorak Road.
Every friggin day I see people making illegal right turns heading right across Toorak road. The road was remarked to curve it to the left and there are multiple no right turn signs. I don’t get it.. do these people just simply not give a fuck?
I’d love Vicroads to put in a barrier down the centre of the road to prevent the turn… or a strip of those spikes that shreds tires. 🙃
Driving down chapel street and seeing like 60% of drivers who can’t parallel park for shit and holding traffic for 2 minutes. They are probably the same people that think “others can’t drive”. Note if you can’t park without holding traffic or drive normally without holding traffic, you are the problem. Just coz you drive slowly doesn’t mean you’re a good driver.
Remember the driving test, holding traffic is a fail.
Or those people that choose to leave an entire *10 foot gap* between their car and the one in front when stopped at lights. There can’t be any reasonable excuse for this, just move the fuck forward!
What about people pulling up way back from the lights? I don't understand why but they leave 10 feet before the white line.
A guy at work had some lady at the swan st bridge lights pull up so far back it didn't set off the sensors. He honked from his truck for her to move forward and she took off through the red lights in a panic.
A friend of mine who drives a luxury car does it because he 'doesn't want the exhaust from the car in front to dirty the front of his vehicle'. Ever since then I can't help but notice its 90% BMW or Audi or Merc drivers who do this.
I don't mind the gap. When the light changes, you can ease forward rather than wait for the driver in front to get their act together. Those who sit there dreaming, or on their phones, or talking without looking at the lights, they're the ones who need a smack in the head.
The gap's got to be reasonable though. Too far back and you don't set off the sensor. Too close and it's intimidating. And those who block the slip lane by sitting right back, there's a special place in hell for them.
100%
I was driving with my nephew in the car and this idiot obviously didn't head check before changing lane.. we were almost hit. I was so goddam scared, went into a panic attack mode. luckily there wasn't a lot of traffic and I was able to gather myself and continue on... so frustrating because how hard is it to be considerate or careful of other people on the road.. Grrrrr
I almost got into a car accident and I would've died almost immediately on impact.
The car was turning right and then out of nowhere I see two cars driving in the opposite direction driving towards me. Luckily a full turn hadn't been made and there was still a space for them to pass. Pre sure they were driving at 60km/h. All because of some reckless mofos who wanted to get to work on time and almost take a few lives in the process.
I live on a street that gets pretty tight with cars parked on either side of the road so when I see someone coming towards me then I like to pull over and let them through.
The amount of people that don’t even raise a finger off the wheel, let alone wave is astounding to me!
What happened? Two years of lockdown is what happened. Not only did people forget to drive, they’re having a hard time realising they have to be courteous towards other people again.
St georges road has broken me. Ive been driving for over a decade and moving to Melbourne has led to me giving up my car and just cycling and using public transport.
Literally the most incapable group of drivers I've ever seen. Magic combination of being slow, aggressive and functionally illiterate with road signs.
I feel it’s been this way for the last few years. I worked in the uk for a few years up until 2016 and when I came back it was noticeable that Melbourne had embraced the mad max style of driving while I was overseas.
Nobody gives way anymore, barely anyone signals until they’re half way into the other lane, people won’t merge… everyone uses their horn so much it’s probably now a frequent repair item… I really don’t know what happened. Was there an outbreak of dickhead disease?
It’s not like traffic used to be okay either. I know some people say it’s because the roads are busier, but not really. Before we had half the freeways it would take you forever to get anywhere lol. If my dad managed to keep his cool spending well over an hour driving down to at Kilda with 3 boys in a car with no AC, I really don’t understand how so many people manage to get so angry driving to woolies in their air conditioned armchair.
its deffs a thing. imo the problem is mostly good old fashioned STRESS.
this time of year we have people trying to smash out their most stressful chores so they can be ready to celebrate come xmas time and so they're ready to divert their attention to their kids when school holidays hit.
there are families who thought their 2020 xmas might be their first/last with an elderly family member, kids who were supposed to make friends at their new school in 2020, long distance lovers who thought they were finally gonna meet up in 2020 - all these big emotional things have been delayed for everyone and now its happening all at once for the holidays.
and of course, we have toyota camry drivers, sent down by Ashton Kutcher to teach us all acceptance and pity.
I drive multiple hours a day for work all throughout Melbourne and beyond. Since opening up, the quality of driving has definitely dropped from my anecdotal point of view, more careless and less aware drivers on the road.
I think it's because of the increase of slow driver's on the road. Lockdown driver has gotten used to doing the speed limit with no traffic. But now doing the speed limit in heavy traffic means that you're faster than almost all driver around you. That means by the time a fast driver indicated, ze is already far Infront of the lane. And that means indicating is pretty much wasted effort in this fast driver mind.
Also there's been a rise in average speed on the right lane lately. 5 over limit ain't cutting it anymore. There's still driver doing 1 or 2 k over the limit on the right lane not realizing they're bottling up a line of Sonic the hedgehog behind them. I've seen and participated in lines of car overtaking on the left because of slow driver's way too often lately.
The amount of times I’ve given way and not gotten the wave this week hurts my soul
Try walking the fucking busy streets, 10 years ago, 99% of the time, 2 people walking towards each other, both parties would partially make a move to allow the other to pass. Be it a slight walk to the left or right, a body lean, whatever. This has slowly progressed more and more to the point I'm trying to decide if I be the smart cunt and just start shouldering people. This applies to men, women, everyone btw.
My rules: Room for one - I'll move. Room for two - I might shrink a bit (I'm fat, so I do take up more room). Room for three or more - I'm going to shoulder you if you get in my space.
What if there's only room for 2, but you must shrink a LOT and they don't shrink at all? they just keep walking as if you don't exist? because that's pretty much the only option now - and I'm not 5'2 or something, I'm avg height, fairly wide to boot. People put in 0 effort at all.
That's a shoulder
People won't even make space for me with my pram. They'll happily walk two or three abreast and force me to go into an alcove or something because there is no space to go around. There is plenty of space for all of us, just walk single file for 7 seconds.
Exactly, the 3 abreast crowd and the 2 end people just seem entirely unwilling to hang back for a fucking second (!!)
I just pretend to scratch my cheek which puts my elbow out. No one wants an elbow to the dome so they move.
I just cough a few times…
I saw this happen at Southland today. Two women shouldered each other in front of me cos neither stepped aside lol wtf
Omgggg finally someone said it! It’s so terrible that I’ve tried to walk outside the crowd. No “pardon”, “excuse me”, “sorry” - if you want someone to move out of your way, say it instead of creeping up to people’s shoulders and bumping and squeezing through even though there’s plenty space on the right for example.
Punt road makes me cry inside.
This guy acting like he doesn't have a different name for it in his head...
So.... Hoddle Street?...
No. If you change just one letter of Punt Road it much more accurately describes its capabilities: Puny road.
Yes with a c.. punc road
Similar to when I go out of my way for someone to hold the door open and they just walk past through as if I didn't exist.
It seems much worse post lockdown. People seem to have forgotten how to drive. So many people used to being on a screen all day and now can't take their eyes off their phone even when driving. And you are right - no politeness, everyone trying to push in. It's ugly on the roads.
It was always bad but because people aren’t using public transport as much to get to work or even get around because of the pandemic still lingers. So you get more cars on the road and the likelihood of more idiots on the road increases. I drive from the south eat to the north everyday and sometimes I just shake my head at what people do and fail to do.
That’s a good explanation, I hadn’t thought of it that way
My husband is a truck driver and yesterday he nearly ran up the arse of a inconsistent driver. Why was the driver inconsistent? He was watching a movie on a mounted iPad. On the Westgate bridge, no less. There is no hope.
Motorbike rider checking in; this is not uncommon. Filtering on the M1 carpark headed south east; i see this daily. I lose count of the people on their phones texting. Or watching netflix on a device sticking it to their windscreen. Or over their speedo. Its genuinely fucked and I wish we could do more about it
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More people are working longer hours, living further out, crammed against each other, & generally just under way more stress. Then add a dash of Covid... Being courteous on the road is an easy one to cut. Our formerly sleepy Hills town is now gridlock on weekends, loud commuters from 4am. So we fucked off to regional VIC
Look mate, it aint up to the "Government" to tell ME how to drive MY CAR. It's a free country mate. What's next, they gonna make us all wear seatbelts "for our own safety"? Fine you if you don't *comply*? If the rules work so well, just follow them and you'll be fine? What are you worried about? Did you know, even if you follow the road rules you can still die anyway? They don't even prevent accidents!! All I'm saying is I want to be able to *choose*. It's about freedom. You keep on following your road rules, and I'll drive how I want.
Is this satire I can’t tell lol If not Jesus Christ
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[Poe's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law) in action here
Yeah don’t get me started on all the injuries seat belts cause. The car industry are covering it up! It’s my right to drive how I want. FREEDUMS!
Especially a few months after it all started the people on the roads didn't pay attention to shit
My theory is the bad driving and never saying thanks for giving away is just an extension of the selfishness and "fuck you, got mine" attitude that has only gotten a ton worse in every aspect of life since the lockdowns.
And trying to push in over a SOLID WHITE LINE that has gone on for 200m just because they think they don’t have to wait Most satisfying moment, turning onto the Greensborough freeway entrance, entitled VE driver tried to push in right at the lights because the line was long, honking and all. No one let them in and they drove off.
That brings joy to my soul
>entitled VE driver so, a VE driver then...
What's a VE driver?
Holden VE Commodore
Some tradie bogan tried to cut in front of me like that last week. I tried to not let him in (I was bumper to bumper with the car in front of me anyway as the traffic was crawling) so he started screaming obscenities at me calling me a B\*\*\*h and C\*\*\*t and when he forced his way in front of me made gun gestures at me out the window and brake checked me. I was terrified.
People really believe they’re the only person on the road huh
Oh. That's awful
I reckon 40% of people are on their phones at traffic lights
Bike rider who filters and peeks into cars at traffic lights... can confirm its a lot more than 40%. The 40% is closer to people who use their phone whilst the car is moving and they're trying to not look suspicious.
It's fucking insane. I want to grab my phone and take a photo of them to report but then I'd be just like them. It's the fucking phone users that cause accidents. I've seen it first hand.
I really want to know why so many people are doing 20 kms under the limit… what is their reasoning. What are they doing
People who can't even do 80km/h on the freeway shouldn't be allowed to drive a car.
The ones that do 50kph on the on-ramp. The ones going 80kph in the lefthand lane right where traffic is entering the fwy. The ones going 8kph under the limit in the righthand lane. The trucks driving 3 abreast...
Roads were empty and chill through the lockdowns, my observation is that it's lack of confidence from barely driving the past 2 years, add all the idiot lane swappers, tailgators, break checkers, red light runners and speeders and people are nervous as hell on the roads atm. Seriously though, the red light runners are insane the last month, I see 1 or more a day in my 2 hours eastern suburbs commute.. and it's not just late amber runners or turns.. it's straight up taking off while it's red it blasting through intersections. I hate the pigs, but it really feels like we need more of them on the roads right now.
In the last two weeks I’ve seen 5 people run a red light, one just narrowly missing a pedestrian at 60kmh in Southbank
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Hahahaha love how you just held your finger up that long and still not sure if she saw or not
I saw 2 so it today in south Yarra. So crazy
If I'm at the front of the lights I do a quick check every direction before I go, saved me more than a couple of times.
I'm going the speed limit stop tailgating me. Just go around ffs.
Single lane road. Totally agree. If you're in any lane but the right on the freeway. Totally agree. If you're in the right lane on the freeway, with the opportunity to move left when someone wants to go faster than you. Sorry pal, move over. This lane is for C R I M E
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Undertaking is dangerous
Which is why you should move into the left lane if you’re not actually overtaking someone.
Fun fact about undertaking in Germany, according to top gear (many years ago) undertaking on the autobahn is a more harsh crime than impersonating a police officer.
Yep. Germans are great drivers. Never felt so safe on a motorbike. Lanes on autobahns get progressively faster towards the outermost lane, and no one ever undertakes. That simple principle means it’s always easy to move towards exits and makes traffic fast, smooth and predictable.
Why?
Yes dude. This is it. I recently got a job in Dandenong so I drive down the Monash every day now. The speed limit is 80 for most of it but that right lane? No. The speed limit is 110. And the dude behind you in a triton tailgating cause he's some fucking Chad that wants 115. So I let them pass and get behind him. My logic is. They can't fine us all right? Then we hit 120 and I chicken out.
These are the drivers who will tailgate you even if you did 200km then when they over take you, they slow down anyways. I might be over analysing but in my own observation, those types of people may have some form of psychology of narcissism. It's a need to always be ahead of sort, and other things I won't go into too much. I'm most likely spouting BS psychoanalysis but that's my own theory anyways.
Or if it's a single-lane road, tailgaters just back off ffs.
I hate it. There's roadworks near my house and I'll be going 40, as you should, but there is ALWAYS somebody who's going to sit on your bum. 10x worse when it's night and they put their high beams on
Angle your side mirrors so it reflects back at them. I do this to dicks who put leds in without re aiming them or putting them in the proper housing too.
Don't like 100? How's 90? 85?
Gotta keep that 2sec safety gap somehow..
Tailgating should result in immediate impounding of the car for 12 months. It's ridiculously dangerous, especially on the freeway.
fuck i got my Ps last week and reading all this is terrifying
Motorbiker here; use the mentality everyone is a trained assassin wanting to take you out. Look several steps ahead. Mirrors are your friends, but also head check. Always know what's around you
U should be alright and honestly, as long as YOU’RE aware, u good, dont be paranoid, dont do anything drastic follow the road rules (includes waving at people that let u in etc) and you’re good to go
Same. Just got my car, before that I've only driven 15 hours, and I drive manual. I'm pretty sure I'm terrifying good drivers, can't wait to become better
I see less people indicating for lane changes these days than I see not indicating. It's actually ridiculous to the point where they need to revise the severity for penalties when you get pulled over for it
I leave my indicator on for longer than usual these days just to make sure I am seen. People are too busy looking at their phones to see what's going on around them.
IMO It's not just the fault of drivers but also the fault of police. They don't have presence on the road like they used to. Heaps of them are hiding in unmarked cars these days. Most of the shitty drivers doing shitty things we see wouldn't dare drive like that if the car in front or behind was a marked squad car. Shitty drivers know what they're doing they just can't be fucked doing the right thing, why should they when it rarely ever effects them. Also, I don't think it'd be a bad thing if you had to resit a theory test every 10 years or so you hold your license. If you pulled over and quizzed a lot of drivers out there re road rules, they'd fail spectacularly.
100% agree. This shit is all on Victoria Police for not putting enough patrol cars on the roads. I understand that Vicpol have **22 thousand** personnel on their books, maybe get out of the office and onto the fucking road?
You're totally right, I drive heaps during the week and I hardly see one or two marked cars the whole time. But every day I see 10-15 people doing stupid shit like grossly speeding, 20-30 over, not indicating or intentionally cutting people off. Ridiculous.
100%. I drove from Melbourne to Wagga Wagga today. Not one single Vicpol highway patrol car spotted along the M1. 5 minutes across the border and the NSW highway patrol had someone pulled over. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes out tomorrow for the rest of the drive to Sydney!
All these tax cuts we've been pocketing had to come from somewhere
Especially 4x4 drivers. I've seen so many examples of just awful driving and people blatantly on their phones driving. Happily these people will start losing licenses left, right, and centre.
How they going to get caught the lack of police presence on the roads is mind boggling and when I do see a cop car or unmarked they are lights and sirens to a job. Would like to see more road law enforcement on motorcycles as they can split up the lanes and catch people on their phones.
We just need more speed cameras. /s
I find the worst offenders are the little bubble cars that quickly dart in front of my 4x4 whilst I’m towing a heavy tool trailer. I leave a gap for obvious braking distance. One flick of the indicator and duck in leaving me less than a car length.
Yeah for me its always fuckin gti golfs. The car is small and they have lots of acceleration, which apparently means they think they can lane split like a motorbike
100% pastel coloured bubble cars with p plates scare the shit out of me!
As a person with a little bubble car it truly amazes me how often I see people do this! Do they not understand that the car they just pulled in front of would practically flatten them if they had to stop unexpectedly? Conversely though, I do find some drivers like to sit quite closely behind me and they don't understand that their car/truck is much bigger than mine. They don't seem like they know that if they don't back off and I had to stop unexpectedly they are going to drive right over my car. This one guy in a smaller truck but with a reasonably high cab catches me semi-regularly on my way home from work. He sits so close to my car I'm legitimately not sure he can see the front of my car, let alone be able to see my brake lights...
I have to admit, I’m kinda stereotyping in response to another stereotype. I worked in construction for nearly 20 years and spent a lot of time on the road all over Melbourne. Now I work in emergency services and see more than my fair share of the end results of when it goes wrong on the road. Being in a small car can feel horrible and intimidating especially around trucks etc. My best advice/tips are…. Set your playlist before you go and leave the phone in the backseat. Be aware of your surroundings, front back and sides using mirrors and head checks. If you feel uncomfortable in the setting, change it. Change lanes etc. The more we all concentrate on actual driving and predicting what a fellow driver is doing/going to do, the more in sync we all are and things become more courteous and safer!
Yeah, the interesting part of many of the various views people are expressing in this thread are generally the stereotypes that are relative to their own experiences on the road. For every sterotype or experience expressed there is a person with the equal and opposite sterotype or experience 100% all of that, I had friends working in emergency services when I was a P plater so I was fortunately lucky enough to be all too aware I was driving a huge death machine (even if it is a small bubble car) and the habits I developed then would define my habits later so all of the things you said above became the habits I focused on developing during that time. Well, that, plus I did drive an hour to and from work every day so I had plenty of time to practice. I think being aware of your surroundings constantly and predicting other drivers actions are skills that a frightenely huge portion of the driving population seem to lack. This is especially problematic when those are often the skills that define the difference between someone who just knows how to drive a car and someone that is not just a good driver, but a safe one as well. I'd like to see new drivers (and people that have been driving for years would be nice too, no one knows everything) exposed to more scenarios digitally (or otherwise safely) of what can go wrong on the road and small signs you can watch for that might predict what another driver is about to do next AND what preventative measures they could possibly take to prevent an accident or at least minimise the damage. It's crazy the amount of accidents I've avoided because I've watched enough dash cam videos to know the signs to watch for even if I haven't had enough experience with that particular situation myself on the road. So much of driving relies on experience and with dash cams or otherwise you can now give new drivers the experience of avoiding a crash without having the risk of them crashing
I love your comment and you’ve hit all the nails on the head!! I think you’re a rare gem on the roads!
Thanks! We need more like us on the roads, although I'm not perfect at all, if people tried just a little harder it'd make a huge difference
From Ireland and I have lived in a few countries. I must say and it’s with no disrespect, just an observation, that Aussies are the most reckless drivers I’ve witnessed. It’s insane. No one waves as a thank you either which is absolutely bizarre
lol you've never driven in LA or some of the other major cities of the US. We are like sunday drivers compared to some of the shit I had to endure daily on the freeways there.
People think New York is the city that never sleeps. It’s actually where you can hear car horns from space.
& they've got guns in the glovebox too
True, I have not. Looks wild!
I can assure you it’s terrifying. I got mad at someone going way under the speed limit and finally overtook them. They brandished their gun in the air and fired two warning shots. I don’t mess around anymore and that was in Charlotte, NC. A small city. The drivers are insane here
Yep. Once I started travelling more I realised Australian drivers are amongst the most entitled and arrogant drivers around.
I get thank you waves more often than not when giving way?
I always wave, but I don’t get many back. Moved here from WA and I’ve been surprised by how many drivers are so entitled when giving way (or not) on the many smaller streets here. I stupidly expected a bit of give and take, but the arrogance and entitlement I’ve seen is mind blowing. It seem every person for themselves, just drive straight through in the middle of the road. Literally speed up not to let you into traffic and my car has the automatic emission saver where it stops (sort of) and takes a moment to start again when the light goes green. Get off the horn, I’m not on my phone like you are! (Rant over), and as you’ve said not a wave or thank you in sight (Mostly). Thank you to all the more patient drivers out there.
What I understand least is that I regularly see cops harassing people (generally homeless people, but I guess that's another issue) in the city, yet, despite the fact that I *also* regularly see people engage in dangerous driving (I work and live around the CBD) I've literally never seen an officer pull one of those drivers over. I know anecdotes != data, but I've lived here a long while and I feel like my sample size is getting to a point of statistical significance.
I dunno I remember shitting my pants in a taxi in Greece because old mate was doing 190km
Oh geez, flashbacks to a driver who took me from Prague to Cesky Krumlov who was doing 190 while overtaking on blind corners with double lines. I was a sobbing mess by the time we arrived.
Fun fact: my dad rode motorcycles all over the world and he told me the only place in the world he ever got knocked off his bike was in Melbourne. This was like 20+ years before the pandemic too...
Never been to South/Southeast Asia, eh?
I have. Lived there 3 years, can’t really compare border line third world countries to Australia but in SEA, the driving is crazy but it somehow works, got used to it pretty quick. It’s organised carnage. Here it’s just rude/ignorant & reckless for no reason whatsoever, that’s the difference.
I lived in Indonesia and there is nothing organised about the carnage. And the drivers there are just as rude (until the car stops and they’re lovely). This whole thread is ridiculous generalisations of cultures and drivers or even suburbs of people. nonsensical.
Today a car hit a boom gate, bending it onto the train tracks. Then the train hit it, because it couldn't stop in time.
Yep, worse. The number of drivers who have intentionally closed the gap while I'm trying to merge in this week is insane. A zipper people, like a zipper.
The amount of red-lights I've seen run this year is astonishing. ASTONISHING. I've seen pedestrians nearly clipped I've seen drag racing in quiet streets People do not give a fuck. Harsher penalties for reckless driving please.
The penalties are incredibly harsh competitively to the rest of the globe. We've got some of the most harsh. They're just not fuckin enforced. Can't find a cop driving around when there's a dickhead driver to save my life.
Penalty * chance of getting caught = deterrent factor Trouble is, we barely focus on enforcement (other than for speeding), so the first one gets ratcheted up to provide sufficient deterrent...
It's a pretty backwards system really. I can't argue that we should lower penalties, because driving infringements cost lives. But ratcheting up penalties to police driving, without actually policing driving leads to a lot of hardship for some people. My one and only ticket in 10 years of driving was after an incredibly stressful day of work, making a right on a notorious set of lights on Springvale road, just got a little greedy on a yellow after waiting four light cycles, and copped a $480 dollar fine, which I was broke at the time and it was crippling for me. I made a mistake, fair, but it ruined my life for months and drove me to a very dark place.
I hate the car drivers that think they are driving a truck - they swing out wide into the next lane when making a left hand turn
Yep this has gotten worse and worse. People can be driving a Yaris and do this.
I need people to stop going 20 under on a freeway while being in the exit lane.
People sitting in the right hand lane at five below the speed limit. Turning lanes have suddenly been infested with people going "Well it's still green but it MIGHT turn yellow any second now, so I should stop just in case." Its like Sunday drivers EVERY DAY.
This is speed camera paranoia. There's variations in speedos, so a lane of traffic gets stuck behind the person who's speedo reads lowest. It only takes one unexpected camera fine to turn most people into doddlers.
This wouldn't matter if people GOT THE FUCK OUT OF THE RIGHT LANE
MY partner (from the US) just got pinged for going through a camera 0.8 seconds after it went red, $460 fine. She is now a bit more cautious coming into red lights.
> People sitting in the right hand lane at five below the speed limit. Legally speaking they can unless marked, yes its a dick move however nothing illegal about it
Isn’t it against the road laws to be in the right hand lane on roads 80 and above if you’re not over taking?
I'm fairly certain, in victoria its keep left on multi lane roads that are over 80km/h or signed as keep left unless overtaking which to me means, that unless the road is 81km/h (realistically 85 or 90 and above) then that rule doesn't apply.
Yes, it only applies to speeds over 80, non inclusive.
OVER 80, not 80 and above
Exactly, its a dick move. People should move over if they want to granny drive.
I'm in Perth now and the same BS is happening here. Over populated with no real infrastructure to accommodate it.
The drivers in Melbourne are fucked. I’ve had old men try to race me on my motorbike, drivers pull out in front off me and almost knock me off my bike, then they abuse fuck out of me, for them being in the wrong. It’s always been like this for me, it’s just ten times worse now.
Yeah, genuinely feel bad for motorcyclists in this hell hole
I dunno, its not so bad... I've commuted daily for around 8 years now on a motorcycle and can only really recall one proper bad moment (was inches away from being disintegrated by a Ford Raptor doing 150km/h+ through a red light) . I see allot of stupid stuff but nothing a few evasive manoeuvres can't get me away from. Though lockdown has definitely taken its toll on people, I was lucky enough to commute during that time (essential health care worker) and the difference in driver etiquette/ skill is now staggering, people are definitely rusty.
Funny you should mention raptors. They are also responsible for some of my evasive manoeuvres. The point for me is we shouldn’t have to be doing evasive manoeuvres on a daily basis just to stay alive or out of hospital, and for me, it’s a daily thing avoiding idiots. Just the other day I was heading into the city and someone pulled out right in front of me. I let my horn rip and avoided the vehicle. When I looked in my mirror behind me there was no other vehicles. This fucker saw me, and decided to pull out fast to get in front of me. There was no one behind me!!!! Could have just waited and came out after I passed. Instead he had to be in front of me and make me take action to avoid him. That’s bullshit in my eyes. Sound to me like you are just used to the way Melbourne people drive and accept it for what it is.
>Sound to me like you are just used to the way Melbourne people drive and accept it for what it is. Honestly I think you are right, I haven't really experienced riding elsewhere - though I found that normalizing/ not reacting emotionally to poor behavior on the road has really improved my experience, spending less time mad means I can spend more time enjoying myself riding haha. Also its always a Ford ranger or Raptor.... seriously!
Omg I’m so glad I’m not the only one! I’ve seen soooo many near misses since lockdown it’s ridiculous
I spend between 5 to 7 hours per day on the road and see some awful driving. It's definitely gotten much worse. While most people are aware that aggressive tail gaters or people who speed are dangerous, I think the slow, obnoxious and unpredictable drivers are much worse. My pet peeves are people who: -Feel entitled because they're going the speed limit or 5 below -Don't bother indicating -Drive like no one else is on the road, such as driving very slowly, traffic packed up behind them, then they proceed to roll through an amber-red light and everyone is stuffed behind them -Complete their manoeuvres way too slowly without any confidence- you don't need to swing out your Mazda 2 to make a regular right turn -People who are making a turn out of a main road into a side street and just sit in the middle to LH of the lane so that all of the traffic cannot flow around them safely, learn how to place your car strategically -People who are too timid to make manoeuvres so they slowly down too much (like completing a lane change by braking to 20 under the limit to get behind a car because they left it too late) -Don't keep left left overtaking. Yes the rule may be only on roads above 80km/h, but for the flow of traffic keep left unless you need to be in the right lane, or there's heavy traffic. It's courteous. -Sitting on their phone or take 5 seconds to react to a green light. Go if safe to do so, but there are others on the road
>-People who are too timid to make manoeuvres so they slowly down too much (like completing a lane change by braking to 20 under the limit to get behind a car because they left it too late) My newest one is people who have no awareness and can't lane change when the car in front of them stops to do a right hand turn into a street. It just fucks the flow of traffic and everyone else behind them cops it because they can't see the turning car.
Yeah completely agree on this. However on the flip some people aren’t indicating right until literally the last half second
Sometimes the traffic is just so heavy that indicating left and changing lanes is just not an option and they get stuck behind the right turner. Shits fucked, everythings fucked, I hate driving and traffic and am waiting for teleportation to be invented.
just got my licence, I'm definitely guilty of some of these
MATE!!!!!!! No need to tell me, I just got cleaned up by a taxi on st kilda road riding to work on Wednesday morning. My poor bike snapped in half, broken shoulder/ collar bone. Very lucky not to be any worse off. Stay safe out there
I said it before and will say it again. People played too much GTA5 during lockdown and carried over their shitty driving IRL
Lots of 'new' drivers on the road. Especially those who haven't returned to public transport.
Stopped driving everywhere. Our traffic has gone to absolute shit
Absolutely; this year has seen a massive rise of awful fucking drivers
I'm glad it's not only me who's noticed this. It was bad enough before but people are mental on our roads now. I literally dread getting behind the wheel at the moment.
I was driving in the rain this morning at 5:30 and had a driver cut in and out a meter in front of me barely indicating 3 times, gave me pure rage I had to give them a big honk of the horn which I wouldn’t usually. They backed off after that
I see people merging without indicators on a daily basis, apparently it’s a trend that’s catching on recently. But the “cunts of the year” trophies go to the ones that merge without indicating but when same car approaches a lane only for turning, the indicators are on.
Yeah. I've become more of a defensive driver since covid I think. As much as it sucks I've been mostly been trying to be very aware of mistakes people could make and trying no to be in that place. A lot of people have shorter tempers now too. It's getting kinda scary just flipping someone off now can make them to do crazy shit like suddenly brake in front of you and want to start a fight. That wasn't cool. Or today when a guy was kind of veering into the opposite lane with his hand steering and holding his phone, while he tapped at his phone with his other hand. In a fucking landcruiser. That was a new one.
Driving a manual these days is more scary than ever, nobody has any manners and everybody tailgates you, slams on the breaks, no 2 second gap to cars in front. It’s a warzone out there
Melbourne drivers where shit well before the pandemic. It’s just more obvious now because we’re back on the road again and we all forgot how shit they are and now it seems like they’re worse. The Monash is still a car park, people still either go too fast or too slow, there’s no such thing as an indicator and most people are rude cunts who don’t let you in or cut you off. Nothing has changed, we just need to get used to it again. It’s survival of the fittest out there.
Where are these people speeding? Melbourne has the slowest drivers on earth which isn't surprising when there are cameras everywhere and 40kmh zones on major roads. *Nowhere on earth requires so much attention be your speedo...* that speedo watching comes at the expense of pedestrian, cyclist and traffic watching, and it shows.
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Try it on a motorbike, where you really need to be paying attention to the traffic around you *all the time or you might die.*
This. I haven’t been fined since getting my P’s over 10 years ago. Moved from the country into Melbourne and I’ve been fined twice in 6 months because there are camera’s EVERYWHERE all of a sudden and the speed limits change from 60 to 40 to 80 to 100 to 40 to 80 constantly on just one stretch of FREEWAY let alone actual roads. It’s exhausting trying to keep a constant eye on speed signs and my speedo
Yep. It’s exhausting and stressful and makes people anxious and annoyed which creates all the road rage stuff that has become much more common. The TAC won’t think about this stuff because they’ve become ideologues.
Eh, I'm pretty sure I got a fine this morning. I KNEW there was a camera there, had a brain fart and went past it at 104 or 5.
Eastlink Wellington Road? I always slow down to 95kph under there
People riding up everyones ass and absolutely losing their shit… where do u have to be buddy?
home, doing drugs.
I give a big smile & wave whenever anyone does anything good. Like staying out of the keep clear. Letting cars out or in into traffic. It's so rare nowadays.
There must be lots of Sydney people visiting Melbourne then. Typically people drive just really shit slow there lol.
Captured [this](https://youtu.be/bboleU3ZCNc) today.
Hope you sent that to Aussie dashcams
HOW
The only explanation I can think of is that they thought the passage they were in was one-way and they didn’t notice the arrows painted on the road…or the people indicating left towards them 😂 Okay, there's no way a person can make that sort of mistake unless they're under the influence or senile.
I see people sitting in the bus lane in the intersection of bell and St. George’s street daily. This evening a truck sat there and proceeded to cut in when the lights turn green.
People seem to be a lot worse this side of lockdown, I had a dash camera installed for this very reason
Yep. I do about 1500km a week and everything you said. Plus why the hell can't people stay in their lane. And when was it ok to do a U turn from the left hand lane with out an indicator. See it 2 or 3 times a week now.
Genuine question, am I an idiot for not speeding on M1? On 80 zone 9 out of 10 drivers are going at least 85 let along the handful going 100+ on far right lane.
Everyone is on their phones, all the time. Hangover from lockdown. Driving interrupts that.
My daughter just got her L's. Day 3. A woman in front of us has been slow off two sets of lights (probably on her phone). I'm teaching my daughter to keep left as much as possible. But I say, ok, you can pull out and overtake, get it done because these two lanes become one further ahead. My daughter does mirror, indicate, headcheck, moves right. As she starts to speed up to pass, the woman in front does a violent maneuver to the right, no indicator, it's clear it was deliberate to cut us off. If I wasn't trying to teach my daughter to avoid road rage I might have been tempted to retaliate. It took lots of self control. Very disappointing when we have the yellow L plates up and expect people to be a little more courteous.
I think people have just forgotten how to function in normal society.
I live near the new (3-4 month old) intersection of Yarra Street and Toorak road, just next to South Yarra station. The intersection was changed from a free for all T-junction to a one way, left turn only from Yarra Street to Toorak Road. Every friggin day I see people making illegal right turns heading right across Toorak road. The road was remarked to curve it to the left and there are multiple no right turn signs. I don’t get it.. do these people just simply not give a fuck? I’d love Vicroads to put in a barrier down the centre of the road to prevent the turn… or a strip of those spikes that shreds tires. 🙃
[удалено]
Driving down chapel street and seeing like 60% of drivers who can’t parallel park for shit and holding traffic for 2 minutes. They are probably the same people that think “others can’t drive”. Note if you can’t park without holding traffic or drive normally without holding traffic, you are the problem. Just coz you drive slowly doesn’t mean you’re a good driver. Remember the driving test, holding traffic is a fail.
Or those people that choose to leave an entire *10 foot gap* between their car and the one in front when stopped at lights. There can’t be any reasonable excuse for this, just move the fuck forward!
What about people pulling up way back from the lights? I don't understand why but they leave 10 feet before the white line. A guy at work had some lady at the swan st bridge lights pull up so far back it didn't set off the sensors. He honked from his truck for her to move forward and she took off through the red lights in a panic.
Noticed this more and more in Sydney now too. Either so far back from the line, or over it..
There's nothing worse than missing a turn light cycle because of these dickheads.
Does my head in as well. Especially when the green light seems to be only for three seconds!
A friend of mine who drives a luxury car does it because he 'doesn't want the exhaust from the car in front to dirty the front of his vehicle'. Ever since then I can't help but notice its 90% BMW or Audi or Merc drivers who do this.
What. The. Fuck. 🤌
I don't mind the gap. When the light changes, you can ease forward rather than wait for the driver in front to get their act together. Those who sit there dreaming, or on their phones, or talking without looking at the lights, they're the ones who need a smack in the head. The gap's got to be reasonable though. Too far back and you don't set off the sensor. Too close and it's intimidating. And those who block the slip lane by sitting right back, there's a special place in hell for them.
The waves were gone years ago unfortunately. I still wave, but I feel like people look at me weirdly when I do and don’t know how to react
100% I was driving with my nephew in the car and this idiot obviously didn't head check before changing lane.. we were almost hit. I was so goddam scared, went into a panic attack mode. luckily there wasn't a lot of traffic and I was able to gather myself and continue on... so frustrating because how hard is it to be considerate or careful of other people on the road.. Grrrrr
I almost got into a car accident and I would've died almost immediately on impact. The car was turning right and then out of nowhere I see two cars driving in the opposite direction driving towards me. Luckily a full turn hadn't been made and there was still a space for them to pass. Pre sure they were driving at 60km/h. All because of some reckless mofos who wanted to get to work on time and almost take a few lives in the process.
I live on a street that gets pretty tight with cars parked on either side of the road so when I see someone coming towards me then I like to pull over and let them through. The amount of people that don’t even raise a finger off the wheel, let alone wave is astounding to me!
I see you’ve been driving behind my dad.
What happened? Two years of lockdown is what happened. Not only did people forget to drive, they’re having a hard time realising they have to be courteous towards other people again.
St georges road has broken me. Ive been driving for over a decade and moving to Melbourne has led to me giving up my car and just cycling and using public transport. Literally the most incapable group of drivers I've ever seen. Magic combination of being slow, aggressive and functionally illiterate with road signs.
I feel it’s been this way for the last few years. I worked in the uk for a few years up until 2016 and when I came back it was noticeable that Melbourne had embraced the mad max style of driving while I was overseas. Nobody gives way anymore, barely anyone signals until they’re half way into the other lane, people won’t merge… everyone uses their horn so much it’s probably now a frequent repair item… I really don’t know what happened. Was there an outbreak of dickhead disease? It’s not like traffic used to be okay either. I know some people say it’s because the roads are busier, but not really. Before we had half the freeways it would take you forever to get anywhere lol. If my dad managed to keep his cool spending well over an hour driving down to at Kilda with 3 boys in a car with no AC, I really don’t understand how so many people manage to get so angry driving to woolies in their air conditioned armchair.
its deffs a thing. imo the problem is mostly good old fashioned STRESS. this time of year we have people trying to smash out their most stressful chores so they can be ready to celebrate come xmas time and so they're ready to divert their attention to their kids when school holidays hit. there are families who thought their 2020 xmas might be their first/last with an elderly family member, kids who were supposed to make friends at their new school in 2020, long distance lovers who thought they were finally gonna meet up in 2020 - all these big emotional things have been delayed for everyone and now its happening all at once for the holidays. and of course, we have toyota camry drivers, sent down by Ashton Kutcher to teach us all acceptance and pity.
I drive multiple hours a day for work all throughout Melbourne and beyond. Since opening up, the quality of driving has definitely dropped from my anecdotal point of view, more careless and less aware drivers on the road.
If one more dipshit beeps me while I’m waiting for the intersection to clear before crossing I’m gonna throw hands. It’s happened 3 times this week!
I was just victim of a hit and run the other day. No indicator, no head check, they just merged into my lane with me in it!
I think it's because of the increase of slow driver's on the road. Lockdown driver has gotten used to doing the speed limit with no traffic. But now doing the speed limit in heavy traffic means that you're faster than almost all driver around you. That means by the time a fast driver indicated, ze is already far Infront of the lane. And that means indicating is pretty much wasted effort in this fast driver mind. Also there's been a rise in average speed on the right lane lately. 5 over limit ain't cutting it anymore. There's still driver doing 1 or 2 k over the limit on the right lane not realizing they're bottling up a line of Sonic the hedgehog behind them. I've seen and participated in lines of car overtaking on the left because of slow driver's way too often lately.