Police targeting traffic control

Will they ever target fog lights, or tailgating? My thoughts go out to the male dickhead driver of the NSW-registered Sangyong Musso silver dual cab ute who tailgated me, then everyone else, on Parkes Way westbound this afternoon around 2pm, leaving Parkes Way at the ANU turnoff. You clearly have some psychological problems, mate, and I hope you seek help and are successful in resolving them. In the meantime, I suggest you stop driving.

IP

JC said :

kumadude said :

I disagree, using a blinker entering and exiting roundabouts shows consideration to others waiting to enter. The flow of traffic is far more efficient and petrol consumption is reduced: those waiting can tell what you wish to do, react accordingly, usually not need to come to a complete halt, therefore not needing to a whole lot of petrol getting out of first gear.

If people indicate properly on ENTRY then it is quite easy to work out where the car is going without the need for a left indication on exit with the benefits, however small you mention above. The only places this really doesn’t apply is roundabouts with 5 or more exits, as clearly those going to the 4th, 5th will be indicating the same as to which exit to use. But not too many of these around Canberra in particular.

That said it isn’t hard to indicate on exit for all the larger roundabouts around the place. The smaller generally suburban ones different story, but guess that why the law says to indicate unless it is not practicable to do so.

Again I disagree, I am simply hearing waffle waffle excuse excuse for lack of discipline and inability to operate a vehicle.

Consider the situation where a person wishing to enter a round and a car is coming round with their right hand blinker on. At this point the person waiting does not know if they will take the exit adjacent to them or the driver is doing a full uturn. Strangely, the driver takes the adjacent exit with their right hand indicator still on.

The minimum that driver could have done is tapped the indicator off with their right hand, better would have been to flick it all the way up, suggesting they are turning left of the roundabout.

The waiting driver is now still there befuddled and being beeped at from behind.

Operating a vehicle is not simply pressing a few pedals in combination, it is about domination of the mechanics and electrical engineering whilst also being connected with the flow and rhythm of the road. I believe you should ride the road like a wave, smooth lines. I know this may sound tossy to you, but some people do not have the cognitive ability nor the passive appreciation of roads to drive properly.

Spiral said :

Indicating to leave roundabouts seems to be a tricky issue when the driver is going straight through.

For a large roundabout it makes sense to indicate when you want to exit, even if you are going straight through as other users may not have seen where you entered.

For small roundabouts there is often so little time that some people put their left indicator on even before they enter the roundabout, making it difficult for other users to judge if the driver is actually turning left or going straight through.

Small roundabouts are pointless in many cases hence why the law says indicate unless it is not practicable to do so.

kumadude said :

I disagree, using a blinker entering and exiting roundabouts shows consideration to others waiting to enter. The flow of traffic is far more efficient and petrol consumption is reduced: those waiting can tell what you wish to do, react accordingly, usually not need to come to a complete halt, therefore not needing to a whole lot of petrol getting out of first gear.

If people indicate properly on ENTRY then it is quite easy to work out where the car is going without the need for a left indication on exit with the benefits, however small you mention above. The only places this really doesn’t apply is roundabouts with 5 or more exits, as clearly those going to the 4th, 5th will be indicating the same as to which exit to use. But not too many of these around Canberra in particular.

That said it isn’t hard to indicate on exit for all the larger roundabouts around the place. The smaller generally suburban ones different story, but guess that why the law says to indicate unless it is not practicable to do so.

kumadude said :

The use of blinkers should be an automatic prerequisite response to turning, changing lanes and entering/exiting roundabouts. When I witness people not using blinkers I wonder if they are on drugs, drunk, uncoordinated, mentally suffering, foreigners on holiday or simply Canberrans.

Probably on the ‘phone…

The three rules I use to keep me and my family safe on the roads are:

Always tell the others what you intend to do – then do that. Don’t do anything else.
Always leave an ‘idiot gap’. If someone takes it, make a new one.
Everyone on the road is an idiot except me – and I’m not real sure about me.

Stay safe, Rioters.

magiccar9 said :

“not using a roundabout correctly including indicating off roundabouts.”
I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a police officer indicate leaving a roundabout. The only people who do it a duttering old biffers, or learners with instructors. Its a pointless rule.

It’s not a pointless rule, it’s common sense and is a courtesy to cars waiting to enter the roundabout; indicating tells them that they can. Traffic flows better, there’s less delays caused by roundabouts.

Plus, when you see someone exiting a roundabout with their right indicator going, they are demonstrating that they are a drooling moron.

Indicating to leave roundabouts seems to be a tricky issue when the driver is going straight through.

For a large roundabout it makes sense to indicate when you want to exit, even if you are going straight through as other users may not have seen where you entered.

For small roundabouts there is often so little time that some people put their left indicator on even before they enter the roundabout, making it difficult for other users to judge if the driver is actually turning left or going straight through.

magiccar9 said :

“not using a roundabout correctly including indicating off roundabouts.”
The only people who do it a duttering old biffers, or learners with instructors. Its a pointless rule.

I disagree, using a blinker entering and exiting roundabouts shows consideration to others waiting to enter. The flow of traffic is far more efficient and petrol consumption is reduced: those waiting can tell what you wish to do, react accordingly, usually not need to come to a complete halt, therefore not needing to a whole lot of petrol getting out of first gear.

The use of blinkers should be an automatic prerequisite response to turning, changing lanes and entering/exiting roundabouts. When I witness people not using blinkers I wonder if they are on drugs, drunk, uncoordinated, mentally suffering, foreigners on holiday or simply Canberrans.

JC said :

Now don’t laugh I recall reading an article years ago when I lived in Sydney that said if drivers going along Anzac Parade were to obey all traffic rules, including leaving a safe distance then due to the behaviour of other drivers as described above it was take the best part of 2 hours to drive from Maroubra to the City.

I bet the drivers who were involved in the collision took longer than two hours to get to work though. The old road safety maxim about “Better to be late than dead on time” comes to mind.