You give way to vehicles ALREADY on the roundabout...not necessarily give way to right. If they are NOT on the roundabout, you have right of way...but be cautious with this.
Sooooo many times I have entered a roundabout with the bus before a car on my left entered, but because I am slower they come up to me and blast their horn and shake their fists, even had a guy accelerate as he entered then squealed to a halt with hand on the horn to try and make his point Frank
LIFE IS LIKE A COIN YOU CAN CHOOSE TO SPEND IT ANYWAY YOU WISH BUT YOU CAN ONLY SPEND IT ONCE. MAKE YOUR CHOICES WISELY
Just a short note to them that use a WDH When Hayman Reece say for extra traction leave the van pointing down slightly it als means DONT lift the van too high and lose traction in a corner. Nothing worse than having the backend taking control on a long sweeping corner just because you wanted to keep it all level.
And one for the pedantic /When changing lane indicate so until your right side of the vehicle have crossed the dividing line.
Yes, when indicating, you should indicate for at least 3 seconds before changing lanes, etc, and if changing lanes, must leave the indicator on until the vehicle is wholly within the next lane. Bugs the poopy out of me to see people flick once and change, or begin moving into the lane THEN indicate. Sheesh. This is more important when towing of course.
Post by shaggydog on Jun 28, 2012 21:29:20 GMT 9.5
As an Assessor/Assessor Trainer in more recent times I can say that none of us are as good as we think we are.
A few will be above average but most drivers are average and always will be no matter how much experience or training they have. No different to any other activity or occupation.
Keeping that in mind every driver should strive to be as good as they can be. Be informed. Know and recognise your limitations and drive within your abilities. You can do no more.
I have found those who usually reckon they are an ace, aren't.
Take it easy.
SD
Last Edit: Jun 28, 2012 21:31:12 GMT 9.5 by shaggydog
We had an incident on the return leg of our recent trip to South Oz that scared the crap out of me.
We were somewhere east of Balranald and I had just come out of a long sweeping right hander sitting on 100kph and coming straight at us was another vanner being overtaken by a B double. They were still a fair distance away, but as the gap between us and them was rapidly decreasing I thought it best to give a call on 40 and just let them know that I had nowhere to pull off and that it was time for somebody to back off. The truckie came back quick as a flash saying that he was trying to shed speed, but the fool (not the exact terminology) towing the van was backing off at the same rate.
To this day I don't know how the 3 of us managed to pass one another and I do know for sure that we were 3 abreast on that section of road - a truck coming up behind me called up and said that he would not believe it if he hadn't seen it. He reckoned that each vehicle was only separated by a coat of paint.
The message to all vanners : if you find yourself in the position of that other vanner just maintain your speed and let the truckie back off - they can do it with safety, but only if you let him.
The thing that really stirred me up was that the other vanner had a great expanse of grassy verge that he could have moved onto, but chose to stay on the blacktop. Idiot!!!
Post by Mick themungrel on Jun 29, 2012 16:58:46 GMT 9.5
Diesel I have had that happen to me a couple of times , once heading south between Dalby and Moonie when I pulled out to overtake a van when a car came out of a driveway and didnt matter what I did he was stuck beside me just behind the lead trailer . Only for a parking bay which he pulled into followed very bloody closely by me and words spoken it could have been nasty .
Travelling still Always will
WARNING: Using Towballs for recoveries can and do kill people and damage property
Diesel I have had that happen to me a couple of times , once heading south between Dalby and Moonie when I pulled out to overtake a van when a car came out of a driveway and didnt matter what I did he was stuck beside me just behind the lead trailer . Only for a parking bay which he pulled into followed very bloody closely by me and words spoken it could have been nasty .
I have no idea what the stats are for accidents involving caravans Mick, but it's a wonder we don't see a lot more of them on the roads considering the high number of vanners out there with very little towing experience.
The fact that a large percentage of them have never towed anything bigger than a 6 x 4 box trailer to the local tip a couple of times a year with the family sedan and then on retirement they climb into a two and half tonne 4wd loaded to the hilt coupled to a 3 tonne caravan also loaded to the hilt and then hit the highways is a scary situation.
I mainly blame the licencing system for allowing this to happen even though the ultimate responsibility for towing competence is wholly and solely that of the driver.
During my years as a diesel mechanic I became experienced in driving everything from a pin punch to a Cat 777D and even though I worked in some damn harsh, rough environments with haul trucks, excavators, dozers and a lot of massive farm machinery , the place that has always worried me most is the open road.
Now that I am getting a bit long in the tooth I know that my reflexes and driving skills are nowhere near as sharp as they used to be and I'm constantly aware of this fact. There are a lot of old buggers out there towing big rigs who refuse to acknowledge that they are not the competent driver that they once were and it is these drivers that I believe should not be allowed out of their yard let alone on the streets and highways.
Post by Mick themungrel on Jun 30, 2012 11:19:10 GMT 9.5
Diesel thanks to people like Rod Hannify who posted on forums like CF and C&M caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=12746 who has made a big effort at his own expense to improve the knowledge of caravaners to sharing the road with trucks that the knowledge bas has improved , also some company's that run on what are basicly public haul roads (the Lynd Rd Charters Towers to Mt Garnet) have put out information on sharing the roads caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4398
Travelling still Always will
WARNING: Using Towballs for recoveries can and do kill people and damage property
Post by shaggydog on Jun 30, 2012 11:26:24 GMT 9.5
Diesel,
Yeah you are right.
A lot of people start this caravaning business when their capabilities are well and truly on the wane but there they are, massive rigs and little experience or any real idea how to handle them.
I feel many, if they were put through a test of any sort that would match the skills required to tow these big rigs, would fail.
Many would fail a standard driving test for that matter.
Self assessment does not come easy. It requires honesty and a big reduction in ego.
The Getz and Teardrop is not just a whim, it is a recognition of where I am at. Towing the van was becoming too much like hard work.
SD
Last Edit: Jun 30, 2012 11:34:44 GMT 9.5 by shaggydog
A week or so back I watched a big rig (200 series and Trackmaster) pull into the shopping centre carpark in Emerald and an elderly gentleman climbed out from behind the wheel and was having all sorts of problems getting his balance until his wife came around and fished 2 walking sticks out of the back seat for him - I thought he was 3 parts tanked at first.
I watched as they both shuffled across the carpark totally oblivious of any other vehicles moving around and it puzzled me how either one of them could possibly handle their rig with any degree of competence.
Yeah, you're right there Rainy - the bride reckoned it was one of the rare occasions that she had seen me so rattled that I never let loose with a gobfull of expletives. I have quite a vocabulary of terms and definitions for those motorists who blatantly put others lives at risk.
Just noticed that I have been promoted to a camper trailer - I'll partake in another wee dram just to celebrate the event.
Yeah, you're right there Rainy - the bride reckoned it was one of the rare occasions that she had seen me so rattled that I never let loose with a gobfull of expletives. I have quite a vocabulary of terms and definitions for those motorists who blatantly put others lives at risk.
Just noticed that I have been promoted to a camper trailer - I'll partake in another wee dram just to celebrate the event.
diesel
Ah hem better check your glass's
Travelling still Always will
WARNING: Using Towballs for recoveries can and do kill people and damage property