02 of 30 - Driving in Australia vs California, a Comparative Analysis

[aggienaut]

   I have found driving in Australia to be fundamentally somewhat different from driving in California. Beyond the obvious driving on the left side of the road thing.

   In California, on highways with two or more lanes in each direction, such as The Five (California's main North-South artery) for most of its length, on paper the fast (left) lane is for passing only. I hear in other states they actually enforce this and people abide it and I assume all aspects of life are therefore better in these states and people wake up with a smile plastered to their face every day as a consequence. However, that is not the case in California. In California people get in the "fast" lane and sit there. Even if they are going the speed limit or even less. They expect slower moving cars in front of them to move to the slow lane to let them by and generally enforce this by tailgating, honking, light flashing, and/or generally being obnoxious and probably swearing a lot in the confines of their own car for the assumed benefit of their target. Long queus of cars form in the fast lane when someone won't move over, possibly because said front car driver is saying to himself "well I'm going the speed limit gosh dang it so I'm not getting out of the way."
   And that's another thing. The speed limit. Even on paper the speed limit is basically a suggestion, though I don't think they explicitly say you can go faster. Generally on the 5 the flow of traffic is around 80mph even when the speed limit is 65. But because everyone has a different interpretation of how much leeway they have, you are always passing and being passed.

   Now in contrast, in Australia the speed limit seems to be almost always 100kph, aka 62mph in the One True System. This speed seems a bit slow on the highways, and crazy fast on the narrow two lane farm roads winding through the gum forest. And on those narrow farm roads people generally DO go zipping around at 62mph, which frankly terrifies me. But on the major highways... people STILL go exactly 100kph. You see, the thing is, in Australia they apparently enforce a strict interpretation of their speed limits. I've heard of people getting ticketed for going 102. So everyone gets on the road, and get up to exactly 100 and sits there right on it. As a result, you aren't passed nor do you pass anyone else generally once you get going, the cars just move along the highway in line like they're on a conveyor belt.

   And generally everyone does stay in the slow lane util they're passing, but I found another thing happening. I am often turning on to the highway from small farm roads, so I need to quickly accelerate to 100 as cars are zipping by. So as not to impede everyone else, I found myself moving immediately to the fast lane (which I started doing after seeing other people doing it), until I get to 100 and THEN I move into the slow lane and move along with everyone else. I think other people do this too. Weird how the de facto use of lanes doesn't stay as intended.

Comments

[dhatchling.livejournal.com]

What you described about i-5 actually happens everywhere else in the country as well.

It sounds like there's some flexibility going on down there, just as there happens sometimes here in the states, depending on the situation.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Well not much flexibility on the speed limit here but as long as you don't linger in the "fast lane" it seems good for cars going faster or slower than others.

And yeah I went on a roadtrip or two around the states and most states seem to be the same, but I think there was one or two where I really noticed people actually kept out of the passing lane when they weren't passing.

[anyonesghost.livejournal.com]

The thing that freaked me out the most about driving in Oz was the monitoring on the highways. Like, they'd send you a bill if you got from Point A to Point B too quickly. I was really, really happy when I figured out cruise control there. (Also, when the navigation system was switched away from Mandarin.)

At least California drivers are polite enough to send a signal? In New York, they just pull up behind you and hover until you get the hint. ;-)

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah the automatic speed cameras are freaky! It really does give me a feeling of constantly being watched!

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

Your California description perfectly fits both Chicago and Wisconsin Interstate drivers. Australia's drivers sound far more civilized.

I will never understand why people are so angry when they drive. Even driving to work in the mornings was an adventure in psychology. Why are people in such a hurry to get to work? And why are they so angry so early in the day?

PS - I am following your 30 in 30 example!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah I don't know! I have a friend who is very very sweet in real life, and she gets behind the wheel and she's shouting at the other cars! I think, I like to think anyway, that maybe people are worse when they have a passenger? Like the fact that they got cut off reflected poorly on their driving skills unless they really unleash about how it was all the other car's fault?

So far in 30 in 30 I'm already a day behind..;. but it's going really well I think! I've gotten a lot of comments on the entries I've made already and starting to get in the "constantly thinking about my next entry" mindset. The hardest part is finding the time but of course that's part of the challenge, if it weren't for my 30 in 30 obligations I'd just put the posts off until, well, they're as infrequent as they had been!

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

PS: scurries over to see your 30 in 30 entries (:

[selucius.livejournal.com]

Nope, not just California. I think everyone gets the "gosh dang it" regulators, which cause bottlenecks. People here have figured out that they don't have to yield when instructed. They see the inverted triangle as totally optional because they know I don't want to fuck up my car and I'll probably be able to stop in time, so eh... why not just barrel right on out. And then they flip me off when I honk at them. Nice.

Australian drivers sound lovely.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yeah so far I haven't had any bad experiences driving here. I've heard legends about some weird dreaded "J Turn" they have in Melbourne thouhg, where you turn right (ie across the opposing lanes) by first coming to a stop on the left (outtermost) lane of your side and wait for a break in traffic to dart across. I don't know why in the world they don't make the turn from the innermost lane like everyone else!!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the "#1 lane for passing only" rule observed in any US state that I have driven in. In Washington there is lip service paid to the rule, or rather they whine about the alleged unsafeness of passing on the right, and there are short spates of enforcement, but otherwise it's the same crap. The only place I've ever seen people consistently drive as if the leftmost lane is for passing is in Europe.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I've had friends criticize me for allegedly "passing on the right," to which I patiently explain that you are supposed to drive in the rightmost lane available, and if that causes me to pass a car to my left it's their fault for not following the rules, not mine (o:

[pundigrion.livejournal.com]

Australia just moved up a couple of spots on the potential countries to move to someday list!

Ontario drivers btw make SoCal drivers look like professionals. Couple all of the above behaviour with a complete lack of attention to anything going on around them...stop signs, red lights, other cars, lane markings, whatevs! It drives me nuts.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Yikes!

I've always been terrified to drive in Africa where there literally ARE no laws... and as you may have read i indeed had to for 40 minutes at night in Kampala and it was pure pure hell!!

[pundigrion.livejournal.com]

Eep! They do at least follow *some* laws here, like staying on the right side of the road (although they are reckless at passing and I have had people pass even in the middle of an intersection) and staying off the sidewalk (except to park, with their four-way flashers because that somehow makes it less illegal?)

[kaishin108.livejournal.com]

I used to hate that about Calif. the drivers policing the fast lane! I noticed a huge difference in Idaho now that we have moved here. There are signs everywhere to use the fast lane for passing and all slower vehicles are to stay to the right. I like that part about Idaho :-)

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Nice. It works so much better if people follow the rules! I hate the long queues that form in the left lane in California behind slow cars, and then people giving ME dirty looks when I "pass" them on the right!