Duane W Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 After living and driving in Gauteng driving here is surreal.You can drive at the speed limit ( a 1st for me) and not get sworn at and threatenedYou can drive slightly slower than the speed limit and everyone is happy to follow you there may be some tailgating but no worse than than what I am used to.Everybody is so law abiding no sudden stopping no diving off the road because a stop was missed. No ducking and diving through the traffic.Its almost therauputic after what I am used to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzT Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Isn't it great? That was the first thing I noticed too. There is a lot more traffic than I was used to but it's not in the least bit intimidating and just about everyone plays the game. I hated that pressure on the highway when you get flashed by someone behind you because they want to get past, meantime you are driving at the speed limit, even over. What I also love is that there isn't that panic when two lanes merge and you have to move into another lane. You know that you will be let in and there won't be some idiot with some kind of secret one upmanship agenda who would rather see you pushed off the road than let you in front of him. It is infectious and very quickly you find yourself dropping your own SA habits and becoming a lot more courteous on the roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polyanna Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Another thing I enjoy is being able to safely cross the pedestrian crossings, knowing cars will stop for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeInOz Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Duane, its good to see you made it. I think Rods should be in Townsville soonMackay is a bit of a hick town so all these things I have seen here. (Apart from the pedestrian crossing rules and 40km/h in school zones which are obeyed ) Cars wil NOT EVER let you in especially female drivers. Also nobody ever signals on right turns or exiting round abouts as per page 114 of " Your Keys to Driving in Queensland"There are tons of overpaid teenagers driving V6 and V8 with noisy exhausts and sound systems that rattle evey body panel into submission that wheel spin, speed, overtake left.When we were here a few months I did not have the car in gear ready to race off as the lights changed Palmyra style (Palmyra is a local drag strip). So of course the car decided not to go into gear, so i let out then pushed in the clutch (in less than 10 seconds I was away). A lady hooted at me and then drove next to me and rolled down the window and swore and made signs and then threatened to F*** me up.Coming from Gauteng I just laughed at this which made her absolutely wild, so she followed me hooting and telling me to pull over. I think a day there would cure her of all her agressions becuase she would be shot by a taxi. The best thing is there are many out of towners here who drive in real cities and obey the law, so slowly thing seem to be changing.We had a family visit us last year and they loved walking accross the road at a crossing in heavy traffic, just to see all the cars stop. One word of warning to the newbies at driving here. You will see at some stage a youngsters with an iPod who will step in front of your car at the last second and then look in amazement at how close they get to you whilst you wrestle to stop in 0.5m. i slow if I see anyone upto a few meters from a ped cross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chris Rimmer Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 (edited) Duane, its good to see you made it. I think Rods should be in Townsville soonMackay is a bit of a hick town so all these things I have seen here. (Apart from the pedestrian crossing rules and 40km/h in school zones which are obeyed ) Cars wil NOT EVER let you in especially female drivers. Also nobody ever signals on right turns or exiting round abouts as per page 114 of " Your Keys to Driving in Queensland"There are tons of overpaid teenagers driving V6 and V8 with noisy exhausts and sound systems that rattle evey body panel into submission that wheel spin, speed, overtake left.When we were here a few months I did not have the car in gear ready to race off as the lights changed Palmyra style (Palmyra is a local drag strip). So of course the car decided not to go into gear, so i let out then pushed in the clutch (in less than 10 seconds I was away). A lady hooted at me and then drove next to me and rolled down the window and swore and made signs and then threatened to F*** me up.Coming from Gauteng I just laughed at this which made her absolutely wild, so she followed me hooting and telling me to pull over. I think a day there would cure her of all her agressions becuase she would be shot by a taxi. The best thing is there are many out of towners here who drive in real cities and obey the law, so slowly thing seem to be changing.We had a family visit us last year and they loved walking accross the road at a crossing in heavy traffic, just to see all the cars stop. One word of warning to the newbies at driving here. You will see at some stage a youngsters with an iPod who will step in front of your car at the last second and then look in amazement at how close they get to you whilst you wrestle to stop in 0.5m. i slow if I see anyone upto a few meters from a ped crossYou gotta love Australia,The only country in the world,where the men are men............................................................................................................................andthe women are men too! Edited October 6, 2007 by Chris Rimmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 Hey Chris,On your last comment, I went into a tyre repair place checking out stuff for my Ute (wanna see an Aussie go cross-eyed when you say "bakkie"!) and one of the mechanics was a woman!!Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nilo Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 Yep, the ozzie chicks believe in Girl Power, hubby met a female Electrician the other day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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