Friday 18 November 2011

Driving in the Bay

A few words regarding driving in Byron Bay.

If at all possible; this activity should be avoided at all cost.

Yet, being a country-town (sort of) and completely lacking things like public transport - I find myself behind the wheel on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, so do other people.

You see, this would be a total non-issue were it not for other drivers. And to the sceptic - YES it really is them, not me. So...


Dear Other Drivers of Byron Bay!
I have devised a couple of helpful instructions for you, so that we may all enjoy the driving experience around the Bay.

Firstly, refrain from entering a "main road" from other (side) roads (including carparks) if a car is approaching and it is clear that the driver of this car will have to slam their breaks and come to a complete stop in order to not crash into you. The correct course of action in this situation is TO WAIT YOUR BLOODY TURN.

Secondly, no U-Turns on Lawson Street. Seriously?!? Use one of the roundabouts on either end of the street - which are never more than 50 metres away from you.

If you are parked on the side of the street - well done to you for scoring a spot there! Still, you should respect the law and pull out only when there is an opening, instead of pulling out whenever YOU FEEL LIKE IT and nearly crashing into the sides of other traffic.

Perhaps most importantly: Use your indicators. On the side of your steering wheel, usually on the right side (but please do a test run before you head out into traffic) there is a little lever which you can move up or down depending on whether you are turning left or right.
But BEWARE! Many drivers are driving around with their indicators ON - but they are NOT actually planning to turn! This is misleading and also wrong. I know this is very, very, hard to get.

Let's stay on the topic of indicators for now. When entering a roundabout, if you are turning left: indicate left. If, on the other hand, you are turning right: indicate right. Yes! Even in a roundabout! Some people, who actually HAVE a drivers-license, will also indicate OUT of the roundabout. This we can consider an extra bonus and you do not need to worry about that one right now.

At no time is it strictly speaking necessary to drive within one metre of the vehicle in front of you. This is called tail-gating, and is OK in Queensland - but try to avoid it anywhere else.

Cyclists should... you know what, nevermind.







4 comments:

Smugglosmurf said...

Där har du det! Folk är idioter, och just därför tänker man sig för både en och två gånger innan man vågar ta körkort. Varför måste världen innehålla så många idioter?

Anna said...

Jag tror du skulle bli en intressant bilist!

Bec said...

Hahaha detta med blinkersen ar ju klockren. Dock sa ska jag inte saga sa mycket, eftersom jag nar jag skulle satta mig bakom ratten for forsta gangen pa typ fem ar (och for forsta gangen i australien) satte pa vindrutetorkarna i varje kurva istallet for blinkersen eftersom de sitter pa "fel" sida... :P

Men i ovrigt, JA! Australienare kor som idioter (aven i Sydney!)!

Anna said...

Jo Bec, det gjorde jag också - så fort jag blev stressad och var tvungen att ta en exit snabbt eller svänga så var det PÅ med vindrutetorkarna! haha! Men det är en bisak, huvudsaken är att alla andra kör som krattor!!
Efter några veckor så sitter det där i ryggmärgen som man säger - så det finns ingen anledning att aussies inte skulle veta vart blinkersen sitter...