I like this legislation...

[MAD]

Originally Posted by jpd80

While the above may be true, it is also equally amazing that almost everyone overtaking
in this country exceed the speed limit and thinks that should be acceptable.

Considering the dangers of being on the wrong side of the road for long periods of time, and the fact that most overtaking opportunities are on straight stretches of road (bends and hills with no visibility are double white lines) it should be acceptable.
A short stint to 140+ is quite easy in a modern car and when overtaking, 100% of your attention should be on the job at hand.
This should be within reason of course, just because you've overtaken someone when an overtaking lane is present, doesnt mean you should maintain that speed for the remaining length of that lane.

[arm79]

I always thought that law had been in existance forever, just no one paid attention to it.

Originally Posted by Swordsman88

It's not legal (not in qld at least)

Are you seriously saying the rule the OP posted is not a rule in Qld? Or are you referring to something else?

If ANY state in Australia needs a rule like this and needs it highly enforced, its Qld.

Awaits "********* mexican" comments.

[UNR8D]

Originally Posted by jpd80

While the above may be true, it is also equally amazing that almost everyone overtaking
in this country exceed the speed limit and thinks that should be acceptable.

might be the law, dosent make it safe or correct ill cop the fine dispite never getting one for that circumstance but the least ammount of time spent on the wrong side of the road the better, if that means i need a closing speed 10-20km/h higher than the muppit in front so be it, only becomes unsafe if your being a d*ck and doing warp 9 with clearly visable oncomeing traffic of your havent read the road surface/gap/space available.

[1970galaxie]

Originally Posted by glavas

i admit i have driven the speed limit or a couple kays under wait to be overtaken then bamm floor it. its quite funny i know its mean but i dont do it often. some people get very angry. oh well get a faster car i say.

You are lucky you aren't in the US, where you'd no doubt be popped off with a .45 caliber.

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by RG

Well considering you are driving headlong into the opposite direction of the traffic flow whilst overtaking I do think it acceptable to take steps to minimize time spent in the wrong lane.

A flat straight country this is generally not.

i quite agree with you that the less time spent in the oncoming lane the better.

[atec77]

Originally Posted by grandpa_spec_au

Went for a trip down to NSW to pick up my new toy a couple of weeks ago and I have to say, compared to QLD people seems to move the hell over a lot quicker!

Generally highway manners (just south of the border at least) seemed a huge improvement on the QLD ones. Once back in QLD, the usual "oh sugar, someone is passing me *looks at speedo* oh well I better go 10k's faster than the speed limit, block him from merging and make it unsafe for him to drop back because he now has a line of cars behind him and someone trying to overtake me as well which means he can't even merge behind me"-syndrome

It's a common problem in Qld exceeded only byscum who sit in the right lane , I find keeping a small gap with the lights on high and dropping the s+w model 28 highway patrolman out the window makes em get left
When exceeding 85 kph keep left unless overtaking
Not hard now is it

[arm79]

I really think we need legislation that enables police to fine people if they are not keeping within say 5% of the posted speed limit.

Keep traffic moving, keep everyone happy.

Then there would be less of a need to overtake at silly speeds and break laws to get around one of the lowest common denominator drivers that seem to populate our roads these days.

I got caught behind 5 nose to tail cars while driving between Canberra and Cooma one fine morning. The lead car varying between 80 and 90 in a 100 zone. None of the trailing 4 were willing to overtake on a perfectly straight road with unlimited visibility, so I took it upon mysef to act and quickly cleaned them all up.

Only to be met by Mr Plod as I was coasting down.

Interesting trying to explain that I was eager to make Cooma as the previous nights mega AGB was about to hit and tweedle dumb and friends refused to go the posted limit. Still got fined.

But I maintain had those morons been doing the speed limit, I was more than happy to follow, not risk a high speed over take and it would have saved me $228.

[Franco Cozzo]

The best thing I've ever seen regarding this law was going to work a few weeks ago, I live out in rural Victoria, anyways I was cruising at a leisurely 90 in a 100 zone going to work (whats the damn rush to get to work?), anyways I left a big gap in front of the car ahead, in case anyone wants to overtake they can safely get in front of me instead of having to overtake two cars.

Anyways, the car ahead of me, started to slow down to about 80, I slowed keeping my distance, three or four cars overtook both of us and they all got done by a mobile speed camera haha.

[Keepleft]

'Cops not cameras' I say. (Taken from GB - a campaign which seems to have worked thanks to the conservatives).

Stickers anyone???

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by UNR8D

might be the law, dosent make it safe or correct ill cop the fine dispite never getting one for that circumstance but the least ammount of time spent on the wrong side of the road the better, if that means i need a closing speed 10-20km/h higher than the muppit in front so be it, only becomes unsafe if your being a d*ck and doing warp 9 with clearly visable oncomeing traffic of your havent read the road surface/gap/space available.

I got caught on the wrong side doing 120 kph about 3 years ago, so I too am one of the crowd.
The pruck in the left sped up and held me on the wrong side too. I was seething for the
rest of the trip so you can see that on this topic I'm being very restrained with my views

Under the law, you have no right to exceed the speed limit to pass someone and remember if you
get caught doing 20 kph or over twice inside 12 months, your open license is gone in Queensland.

[Bmobile]

You are also to take all reasonable measures to avoid an accident. So if I am overtaking a slower car and doing the speed limit, and a car suddenly appears to be approching, i have the choice to accelerate or brake. Heavy braking may make the car unstable and it may spin out of control if the brakes lock. So i decide the safer option is to accelerate if safe to do so and avoid an accident. Thems the laws i'm affraid.....

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by arm79

If ANY state in Australia needs a rule like this and needs it highly enforced, its Qld.

Awaits "********* mexican" comments.

Even without seeing the green or maroon plates, you can always pick the Queenslanders....

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by B mobile

You are also to take all reasonable measures to avoid an accident. So if I am overtaking a slower car and doing the speed limit, and a car suddenly appears to be approching, i have the choice to accelerate or brake. Heavy braking may make the car unstable and it may spin out of control if the brakes lock. So i decide the safer option is to accelerate if safe to do so and avoid an accident. Thems the laws i'm affraid.....

Adding to that, if you slam on the brakes to duck back behind whoever you are overtaking, if they do the same thing to let you in front, you are gone.

[wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

The best thing I've ever seen regarding this law was going to work a few weeks ago, I live out in rural Victoria, anyways I was cruising at a leisurely 90 in a 100 zone going to work (whats the damn rush to get to work?), anyways I left a big gap in front of the car ahead, in case anyone wants to overtake they can safely get in front of me instead of having to overtake two cars.

Anyways, the car ahead of me, started to slow down to about 80, I slowed keeping my distance, three or four cars overtook both of us and they all got done by a mobile speed camera haha.

You really think that is funny do you Damo ? You and your ilk should not be allowed within a million miles of a car or a public road . Catch the bus , it was invented for people like you .

[wrongwaynorris]

Having covered over 2 million kilometres as a rep my whole worlking life I am still infuriated beyond belief by imbeciles who sit on a single lane country road either doing less than the limit or varying their speed wildly . If there is a single lane road and the speed limit is 100 KMH you should be booked and fined the same for doing 20 kilometeres per hour under the limit as for doing 20 kilometeres over the limit . And as previously mentioned if you are not going to overtake the car ahead you should sit 200 metres behind it or get booked also . If these 2 things were enforced the road toll on country roads would drop dramatically . The amount of times i have seen accidents because someone is driven to distraction by one of these motoring morons is alarming . People just get so frustrated they end up making and overtaking manouvre they would never normally consider doing , hell I'm guilty of it a few times . As for the absolute arrogant XXXXwits who suddeny discover the accelerator the instant you go to overtake them they should be shot on sight . That is akin to attempted murder nothing short of it and should be treated as such , I am 1,000.000 % deadly serious when I say they should serve serious gaol time for it . Someone said earlier in this post that they are doing it subconsciously , if that is the case they should not be on the road at all under any circumstance as they are obviously incapable of controlling a car . Here endeth the rant from a very frustrated driver .

[WMD351]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

You really think that is funny do you Damo ? You and your ilk should not be allowed within a million miles of a car or a public road . Catch the bus , it was invented for people like you .

easy wrongway, have a bex and a good lie down.
if Damo is leaving plenty of room for people to overtake him what's the problem?
I haven't done 200000000000 klms or anything, I've only averaged about 150 a day in a small truck for most of my working life, but if it has taught me anything it's that there are a hell of a lot of stupid people with very short tempers out there and you just have to learn to accept that and just stay safe and sensible out there.

[Swordsman88]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Having covered over 2 million kilometres as a rep my whole worlking life I am still infuriated beyond belief by imbeciles who sit on a single lane country road either doing less than the limit or varying their speed wildly . If there is a single lane road and the speed limit is 100 KMH you should be booked and fined the same for doing 20 kilometeres per hour under the limit as for doing 20 kilometeres over the limit . And as previously mentioned if you are not going to overtake the car ahead you should sit 200 metres behind it or get booked also . If these 2 things were enforced the road toll on country roads would drop dramatically . The amount of times i have seen accidents because someone is driven to distraction by one of these motoring morons is alarming . People just get so frustrated they end up making and overtaking manouvre they would never normally consider doing , hell I'm guilty of it a few times . As for the absolute arrogant XXXXwits who suddeny discover the accelerator the instant you go to overtake them they should be shot on sight . That is akin to attempted murder nothing short of it and should be treated as such , I am 1,000.000 % deadly serious when I say they should serve serious gaol time for it . Someone said earlier in this post that they are doing it subconsciously , if that is the case they should not be on the road at all under any circumstance as they are obviously incapable of controlling a car . Here endeth the rant from a very frustrated driver .

Great post. On my recent highway roadtrip i encountered the situation you describe a few times, and after a good while of frustration some of the moves pulled were very 'low percentage' as the motor racers would say. Rep points headed your way for the frank post.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by jpd80

While the above may be true, it is also equally amazing that almost everyone overtaking
in this country exceed the speed limit and thinks that should be acceptable.

Oh dear you have had a sheltered life. Haven't you?

I drive Interstate for a living with Trucks that are speed limited to anything between 99 and 104kmh.
If a car overtakes me with his cruise set on 105 he spends a bloody long time on the WRONG side of the road to get past 26 metres of Truck.

An unwritten law (in Transport) on single lane roads is that if another Truck pulls out to overtake me - remembering that there is probably only a 3kmh speed difference - I back off to about 80kmh until he's past then we both go on our way. He's around me safely and I've lost about 15sec in time. Win Win.

As far as I'm concerned the less time spent on the wrong side of the road better. The Enemy is over there

[WMD351]

Originally Posted by jpd80

While the above may be true, it is also equally amazing that almost everyone overtaking
in this country exceed the speed limit and thinks that should be acceptable.

Is it just an old wives tale or was there once upon a time a rule that you could not be fined for speeding on the wrong side of the road?
Didn't the police used to teach overtaking as quickly as possible?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

You really think that is funny do you Damo ? You and your ilk should not be allowed within a million miles of a car or a public road . Catch the bus , it was invented for people like you .

For driving safely? I was doing 90km/h all the way to work, it just happens that they decided to overtake in the wrong spot. Its not like I sped up while they tried to overtake or slowed down on purpose so they'd get booked, I even left a gap for them to get in front of me if they needed to. Hell If I said I was 10km/h over the speed limit, it'd be "DAMN P PLATERS, THEY SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO DRIVE UNTIL THEY'RE 65!"

I would take the bus, that would work excellently but theres no such thing as public transport here in Rural Victoria. It would save me a fair bit of dosh, rather than doing 500km a week just to get to and from work.

You can drive me to and from work though

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

For driving safely? I was doing 90km/h all the way to work, it just happens that they decided to overtake in the wrong spot. Its not like I sped up while they tried to overtake or slowed down on purpose so they'd get booked, I even left a gap for them to get in front of me if they needed to. Hell If I said I was 10km/h over the speed limit, it'd be "DAMN P PLATERS, THEY SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO DRIVE UNTIL THEY'RE 65!"

I would take the bus, that would work excellently but theres no such thing as public transport here in Rural Victoria. It would save me a fair bit of dosh, rather than doing 500km a week just to get to and from work.

You can drive me to and from work though

I don't think he likes people going below the speed limit.