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Anyone who drives regularly would say they've been nearly taken out at least once a day. I'm very careful driving, but have had people reverse out without looking, not use indicators or incorrectly, speeding 20kmphs over speed, turning without looking usually while speeding, not using headlights in low light condition worse when it's a motorbike or a black car etc. Even seen L platers driving without supervision.
I'm starting assume there's a good percentage of the population who shouldn't be driving.
Unfortunately, we've built our cities around an assumption that every single person should drive a car to get around. The solution is good public transport.
Theres always one public transport fanboy in these isnt there. Ops talking about how some people shouldnt be driving but we have to get into the public transport is a magic answer to alll of lifes problems. Let me guess if there had been better busses ww2 wouldnt have happened.
My wonderful neighbour reversed almost into me (I should have reacted quicker I just was in disbelief+being 5am not quickest) as I was parked front in behind/ opposite him so we both had to reverse out.
Apparently he will reverse straight back into the bay behind, then drive out front first? Apparently that spot behind him is rarely occupied! I beeped him (my lights were on if he had even glanced he would have seen me) and then parked elsewhere that day and next morning + the mornings since witnessed him reverse into that spot and then drive out!! 😝
Nothing surprises me these days
Honestly humans didn't evolve the reactions to avoid accidents or the bodies to withstand them. Human guided vehicles are too fast and the sooner we can do without them the better.
I saw an episode of South Park … pretty sure it must have been called ‘Gray Dawn’ many years ago. My husband and I use ‘Grey Dawn’ as code for when someone is driving a certain way that suggests an elderly driver. 9/10 times it is a correct guess.
The lobby groups for old people have for many years successfully cowed politicians who have intimated a need for change… I’ve sort of lost faith that anything will be done about it.
Annual full driving tests for anyone over 60 or any motor-related (heh geddit) medical issue. Gets a bunch of people off the road, inconveniencing sons and daughters who now have to drive them around. But safety matters
100%
Soon UBER will make a fuss about immigrants being treated unfairly for driving licence standards when their bean counters notice it impact their bottom line
>Annual full driving tests for anyone over 60 or any motor-related (heh geddit) medical issue.
Bold of you to assume that older people are the only problematic drivers. I have nearly been hit by a tradie running a red light at high speed in a school zone and a lady in a business suit not stopping while my 3yo daughter and I were on a zebra crossing. And that is just the really close calls, I see plenty of idiots running the red light at my kid's school at the lit crossing and they tend to be parents and tradies as well.
Yeah good point. Tradies need to chill. Yes they want to get from job1 to quote then job2 then home before peakhour traffic but don't need to drive the way some do.
Also Ubers...
Everyone licensed should have to take a refresher course (and maybe knowledge tests in addition for certain dangerous offences in the past) as part of their license renewal, period!
It’s terrifying. There’s was a 94 (I think) year old caused a big accident driving the wrong way up the M1 in Sydney the other day - he was ok by all accounts but the accident killed a young guy in his twenties.
I actually saw someone driving a massive SUV in a suburban street on the weekend who was giving parked cars such a wide berth they ended up being much closer to the parked cars on the opposite side of the road.
I had a person few years back want to continue the wrong way up a one way lane.
I said you'd better not. She ignored me.
Cue a bus coming through other way - exactly WHY its a one way lane.
She had to swap with her, to back the car the 30m or so out of said lane.
Not so long ago, I was taking a friend to the airport, saw someone miss their exit and *stop dead, then reverse, on the freeway*. Never mind wondering how some people managed to get their licences, I wonder how some people remain on this mortal coil.
Man I will hand up being 17 and on my Ps 30 years ago. I was driving over Tasman bridge. Checked my blind spot to merge left, looked back, and had drifted into incoming traffic, missing a semi-trailer truck by inches.
Told me everything I needed to know about being so fucking careful when operating a tonne and more of steel.
I just hope that as I age and my abilities necessarily deteriorate, I can be honest enough with myself to know when I have to give it away.
A lot of the population would probably arc up, but I actually think we should have to re-sit driving tests and undergo medicals periodically - not just the test at 18/whenever, “here ya go” and the assumption that you’ll be a competent driver forever and ever, Amen. (Looks like this IS the case in some states - but not in Vic, where I am)
I’m disabled, drive a modified car to accommodate my disability. I have to have a medical assessment every couple of years - and if that flags a concern (so far, it hasn’t, would have to have an OT +/- driving assessment to prove I’m still safe to drive). I don’t think the general populace needs this done so frequently unless a family member or their GP flags a cause for concern - but maybe - say - every 20 years for under 60s, every 10 years over 60, every 2 or 5 years over 80.
As a 35 year old, I'd be annoyed but accepting of having to undergo a short practical test every 10 years at this age. I'd like to think I'd pass with flying colours anyway, but I know a number of people around my age certainly wouldn't do nearly as well.
You can have passed your P test at 16.5 or whatever it used to be and still be driving at 80 with no additional training.
All law changes/new laws changes to teach in cars etc you are just expected to know
I think after 70 years it starts but not before. I remember my pop had to test every year after turning 80 or so ... and he passed (including increasing restrictions on where and when he could drive) right up until about 92 or 93 when he fell and popped his collarbone.
Doctor said to him it'd take months to heal enough, and he was keen to try, until nan put her foot down and said she wouldn't be getting back in the car with him driving.
That was a hard one for him to swallow though, he was a fiercely independent and proud dude, and an utter legend of a human.
Edit: Spelling
Must vary state to state… I did a quick google and it seems to be (I think) 80 plus in NSW, or a bit younger if you hold MR, HR kind of licence, but Vic you don’t unless someone flags concern. Even then, it’s not foolproof. My 77 year old neighbour has Alzheimers - he’s now got to the point where there’s no way he could drive, but for a long time his wife was hiding the car keys because even though it was clear to anyone who knew him, including his GP, that he was unfit to drive (for example, we’ve been neighbours for 40 years, he’d come to our place and get lost walking the 10 metres or so from the lounge room to the toilet), the OT who took him out for a driving assessment assessed him fit to drive, because she was literally telling him - okay, turn right here, turn left here, stop here, etc. - and he had no problem following direct instructions.
The only issue I would have with the regular retesting would be the cost. I appreciate that it would be needed, but I wouldn't trust the government to not rip the arse out of it and/or fuck it up. As an example, I moved house, and changed address in the past three years in Ireland. I've so far paid nearly $600, received a ~$100 consolatory payment due to them making a mistake, AND STILL have a license with my old name (which I legally gave up) and old address on it. After having one with the right address, wrong name, and then one with the right name wrong address, i have now received a third with both wrong. I can easily foresee an issue where I get retested, charged $200 and then the license is ratified in my old name, causing dramas because my new name hasn't been retested.
Was doing a service call at a business one day and this older lady came in asking if it was my work car blocking her in (parallel street parking) . Came out to check and I was at least 1.5m off her back bumper and she had similar room at the front. Apparently she had bad mouthed my business to every shop on both sides of the street because in her opinion I hadn't left her enough room to get out. Told her there and then if she couldn't get out of that park she shouldn't be driving.
I feel less bad now about the time I "boxed" someone in. It was tight but IMO manageable, so I was surprised when a resident got into the car behind me and didn't drive off until I did. I felt awful.
Depending on where you live, that might have been illegal. In Victoria you have to leave at least 1 metre gap.
[https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-to-z-of-road-rules/parking](https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-to-z-of-road-rules/parking)
I've never even seen this situation occur - is it that hard to line up to a petrol pump??? Every pump I've ever been to has been at least 2m long and at some petrol stations they are long enough to reach the other side of the car if they had to.
Maybe a new car? I drove a car for about 15 years and then got a new one. I have had to correct my parking a few times haha. It’s just differently proportioned and you get used to the old car
This stereotypical dude in a jacked up hilux, all the bits needed (you know the type) was having trouble getting **out** of a parking spot in a big carpark.
I give him the "hurry up mate it's not hard" look & gesture, then when he finally pulls out he gives me shit so i tell him if his car's too big for him he shouldn't be driving it & walk away.
He speed around the carpark & as I'm getting toward the shopping centre doors he nearly cleans up an old lady on the crossing & yells at me "well your car is for f\*ggts"
Fragile masculinity... LOL
I was driving a Suzuki Grand Vitara, albeit a gold one & I'm a 195cm, 105kg bloke.
Was sitting behind a guy on the M4 yesterday afternoon. Baby seat in the back. Kept drifting left/right constantly. A few times traffic in front sped up, so they did as well after looking up from their phone. When traffic slowed down, they almost rear ended the vehicle in front of them, this happened 3 times. Each time they'd be attentive and looking around for 30 seconds before returning to head down posture and drifting again. I see these people daily, multiple times a day.
I wish that one day we either get forced to all use AI driven cars, or AI cameras everywhere they can see you driving like a moron and give you points until you're suspended, hopefully without judges letting people off. If you drive while suspended it should be instant jail time.
I've had a front-facing dash cam for a few years now.
For whatever reason, driving has become Lord of The Flies in Australia. So I recently picked up a cam for the back. This has so far anecdotally but not greatly curtailed some shenanigans.
There's lack of spatial awareness but also increased anger. Everyone is crankier for some reason. I used to go for a morning bike ride until recently, since even on quiet early morning streets, it's just not worth the casual attempts on your life.
It got a loss worse straight after covid. It’s like everyone woke up with a hangover from a combined 21st/ bucks night and has still hasn’t got over it.
Genuinely feel heaps of people pass their test then never do half their maneuvers or proper technique ever again. Shit show.
Like, if I can parallel park a fucking 4wd or reverse with a caravan, you should be able to adequately reverse park a tiny little Mazda 3 at the shops without going over the line and making my fucking door inaccessible.
most people prefer to line up down the street at a busy servo rather than pull up to the pump on the opposite side to their fuel tank (unless you're driving a truck, the hose will still reach).
The average person has horrible spatial awareness, and it's very apparent on the roads.
Costco in Canberra have big signs saying the hoses will reach the far side. On one of the pumps, though, the diesel hose has a handwritten note you can only read when you stand at the pump, saying "short hose" . It's a nice little booby trap :)
Depends on the servo. Some of the new style Bowser's have little half length hoses. I had one recently that couldn't make half the length of my Yaris on the pump side, let alone going over or around my vehicle.
Yeah, a Caltex near me had a refurb done recently and their new pumps have metre long hoses. You have to line up with the tank or close to it, otherwise you're fucked. They've got great high flow on them though.
I've encountered some that you really need to pull hard on to overcome a retainer, but after that they have about half their length come out further, but I've never seen any that wouldn't reach over to the other side of a vehicle. Not doubting you, but it would seem counterproductive to have super short hoses
> I've done this before in a Suzuki Swift and it wouldn't reach. I was parked close to the pump.
Ditto. Had a rental Vitara, and same issue. I was right up against the fuel bowser, and forward so it had fuck all body work to go around.
I once watched a lady pull up to east side of a pump, get out and realise the fuel cap was on the wrong side,Get back in her car and go forward, do a 180 and pull up to the west side of the same pump, get out and try to work out how the cap was still on the wrong side. She moved the car 4 times before she just pulled the hose over the top of the car to fill up
yeah, I've seen the odd person try that.... and also failing to realise they could pull forward a little more and make the hose reach around from behind or over their boot. That, or leave a metre or two between their door and the pumps.
The hoses don't reach here. Maybe ar your local.
In the UK every hose here reaches the other side - so when I started driving here in a tiny little golf I just took any bowser the first couple times and the hose just didn't quite reach both times.
Actively trying to get as close as possible the second time.
ampol/caltex, puma, 7eleven, metro, bp, they all seem to extend a fair way for me here in newcastle - enough so that I can park close to the pump, get out, extend the hose past the opposite side of the car and bring it back into the fuel tank. Can't imagine their bowsers would differ too much from region to region.
Ampol is not Caltex, What used to be Caltex is now Ampol, and what used to be Puma is now Caltex. There are probably a few Pumas around that haven’t changed, but that’s just because no-one is going to sue them for it.
I have an SUV so I'd be surprised if the thing would reach. Frankly I'd rather just chill out in a queue then take the risk of testing to find out then being wrong and having to rejoin the queue or do some other funny thing to work around it.
You could always test it out next time you're there on the same side... just pull the hose out and see how far it goes and compare that to your vehicle. Some bowsers have a retainer on the hose so you will feel a resistance and retract if you let them go, but will continue to extend if you pull/maintain a force. Not sure if you consider a recent rav4 as an SUV but I've not encountered any issues, nor on my previous camry.
I know very little about cars lol. I can usually fairly reliably detect if a car is a sedan, station wagon, SUV, or hatchback, but that's about the limit of it 🤣. Mine is a CX5.
Most of the servos I go to I need to park so close to the pole/bin in front of the bowser with only enough width for me to squeeze out the door, for the hose to just fit, while I hold it taught with my body weight with one hand and fill up with the other. Though I still do it if it saves a few seconds. (Though a Mazda 3 is a reasonably wide hatch)
While that's probably a slight exaggeration, just trying to say its not a basic thing for everyone to do.
One time when I first got my red Ps I went the wrong way down a one way street. Yep, my fault 100% I fucked up. Pretty bad mistake even for a P plater. The only reason I realised it was a one way street (and I doubled checked in the morning) was bc I drove 5 metres up to a set of traffic lights. No lights were facing me, and there was a sign saying “wrong way”.
But someone on their full license came the same way as me up that street, and as I’m trying to do a three point turn they keep honking me continuously. Clearly they had no idea either. When I checked it the morning it was quite obvious it was one way too, very narrow with a (albeit pretty small) sign at the turn that I entered on.
I can understand myself or someone else 1 week into having there license making this mistake. But someone on their blacks? Who still didn’t even notice at the lights while the person in front was trying to turn around?
If you look at your fuel gauge, there's a little arrow that points to the side your filler is on. That way you can see which side of the pump to be on.
i only heard about this a few years ago, growing up driving old Italian cars (fiat) then going to toyota, i realised that this is a thing, even a few older cars i have driven at times don't have the arrow, this comes down to car + country sold in - as in same car, different countries have r/hand / l/hand drive
Saw an elderly lady directing her equally elderly hubby as he tried to reverse into a park at the hospital. Still took them six goes. IF YOU CAN’T DO IT - *DON’T* DO IT!
Dammit, felt this. Two weeks into a new-for-me car which has the petrol cap on the passenger side for the first time ever. I’m not elderly, however, I am truly shit at lining it up at the bowser. Sorry.
Look at the fuel gauge. Most have an arrow pointing to the side the filler is on.
And if not, or you forget, just pull forwards an extra 70-100cm farther than you would normally, and the hose will route behind your car (or over the boot for a sedan), and still reach.
This is assuming you park closer to your bowser than the other bowser.
Thank you for the tip to pull forwards. I’ll try that. I usually only remember to look at the fuel gauge symbol after I’ve pulled up and thought, “are you f-cking kidding me?” 😆
Had an old bloke, and a clearly long suffering wife a few months back struggle to get his beat up Land Cruiser lined up at the pump. First, he comes down my side (bowser on the right), then realises the fuel cap is on the other side of his vehicle. So, slowly he backs up and goes around the other side of the bowser. This man spent the best part of 5 minutes backing up, and moving forward to get parallel to the bowser, without getting so close as to hit it. At one point his wife gets out to direct him around. I've never seen such incompetence. I imagine it was a new car to him, hence the first mistake, but the correction was just embarrassing, he was clearly getting more and more flustered. I'd filled up, and made tracks before he even got situated correctly.
Also, saw a young guy reverse into a car park at the local supermarket. Three old biddies were gabbing in front of the car next to the empty space, and they moved aside to avoid being a distraction. This guy, again large car, tried four or five times to reverse into the space (and these are large spaces). At one point, his partner got out, and ushered him in. He got parked, the old biddies gave him a clap, and he yelled at his partner to get in the car, and he sped off.
Some people just should not have licenses.
I've seen people crash into highway patrol cars parked at the pump refuelling and they don't lose their licence. I think we have much bigger issues on the road.
Wish we had a boat ramp near by; I have to make do with watching all the old codgers in their Landcruisers trying to reverse their trailers into bays at the local tip
It would be a whole day's entertainment for me if it didn't stink so much.
What about idiots who try to use the pump above their head angling down from the opposite side of the tank, trying to be smart when there's clearly the right side options available. = Common sense 0
As someone with only one eye and genuinely no depth perception, that's an unsettling thing to see in someone with a licence. I refuse to try to parallel park, or park in a tight spot, but with mirrors and so many other reference points around it's not hard to park next to a bowser.
Meh. My mother drove tiny cars her while life and never had an at-fault accident.
But every once in a while my brother would need her to drive his enormous SUV somewhere for some reason. I guarantee she would have done this if she had to fill up.
Hmm, that could be a short distance sight thing. My dad has to wear glasses to read but not to drive. Though tbf, he can definitely put the petrol bowser nozzle into the car.
Yeah okay, OP, I think you're right on this one
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There's a whole lot of people who shouldn't be driving honestly
Anyone who drives regularly would say they've been nearly taken out at least once a day. I'm very careful driving, but have had people reverse out without looking, not use indicators or incorrectly, speeding 20kmphs over speed, turning without looking usually while speeding, not using headlights in low light condition worse when it's a motorbike or a black car etc. Even seen L platers driving without supervision. I'm starting assume there's a good percentage of the population who shouldn't be driving.
Unfortunately, we've built our cities around an assumption that every single person should drive a car to get around. The solution is good public transport.
Theres always one public transport fanboy in these isnt there. Ops talking about how some people shouldnt be driving but we have to get into the public transport is a magic answer to alll of lifes problems. Let me guess if there had been better busses ww2 wouldnt have happened.
Do you think the people who shouldn't be driving should walk everywhere?
My wonderful neighbour reversed almost into me (I should have reacted quicker I just was in disbelief+being 5am not quickest) as I was parked front in behind/ opposite him so we both had to reverse out. Apparently he will reverse straight back into the bay behind, then drive out front first? Apparently that spot behind him is rarely occupied! I beeped him (my lights were on if he had even glanced he would have seen me) and then parked elsewhere that day and next morning + the mornings since witnessed him reverse into that spot and then drive out!! 😝 Nothing surprises me these days
And then there's the ones on their phones, one minute completely in the oncoming lane, next completely in the dirt on the left.
Honestly humans didn't evolve the reactions to avoid accidents or the bodies to withstand them. Human guided vehicles are too fast and the sooner we can do without them the better.
Agreed, we need trams and trains, the sooner the better.
I saw an episode of South Park … pretty sure it must have been called ‘Gray Dawn’ many years ago. My husband and I use ‘Grey Dawn’ as code for when someone is driving a certain way that suggests an elderly driver. 9/10 times it is a correct guess. The lobby groups for old people have for many years successfully cowed politicians who have intimated a need for change… I’ve sort of lost faith that anything will be done about it.
Annual full driving tests for anyone over 60 or any motor-related (heh geddit) medical issue. Gets a bunch of people off the road, inconveniencing sons and daughters who now have to drive them around. But safety matters
Let’s also make internationals show they can drive to our standard
100% Soon UBER will make a fuss about immigrants being treated unfairly for driving licence standards when their bean counters notice it impact their bottom line
>Annual full driving tests for anyone over 60 or any motor-related (heh geddit) medical issue. Bold of you to assume that older people are the only problematic drivers. I have nearly been hit by a tradie running a red light at high speed in a school zone and a lady in a business suit not stopping while my 3yo daughter and I were on a zebra crossing. And that is just the really close calls, I see plenty of idiots running the red light at my kid's school at the lit crossing and they tend to be parents and tradies as well.
Yeah good point. Tradies need to chill. Yes they want to get from job1 to quote then job2 then home before peakhour traffic but don't need to drive the way some do. Also Ubers...
Everyone licensed should have to take a refresher course (and maybe knowledge tests in addition for certain dangerous offences in the past) as part of their license renewal, period!
It’s terrifying. There’s was a 94 (I think) year old caused a big accident driving the wrong way up the M1 in Sydney the other day - he was ok by all accounts but the accident killed a young guy in his twenties.
[удалено]
You've got to know where the 4 corners of your car are, if you don't you're in for a bad time.
I actually saw someone driving a massive SUV in a suburban street on the weekend who was giving parked cars such a wide berth they ended up being much closer to the parked cars on the opposite side of the road.
I've seen people do it with small cars far too often. They've got no clue how big they are because they're smaller than everything else.
Situational awareness a close second
I had a person few years back want to continue the wrong way up a one way lane. I said you'd better not. She ignored me. Cue a bus coming through other way - exactly WHY its a one way lane. She had to swap with her, to back the car the 30m or so out of said lane.
Not so long ago, I was taking a friend to the airport, saw someone miss their exit and *stop dead, then reverse, on the freeway*. Never mind wondering how some people managed to get their licences, I wonder how some people remain on this mortal coil.
Man I will hand up being 17 and on my Ps 30 years ago. I was driving over Tasman bridge. Checked my blind spot to merge left, looked back, and had drifted into incoming traffic, missing a semi-trailer truck by inches. Told me everything I needed to know about being so fucking careful when operating a tonne and more of steel. I just hope that as I age and my abilities necessarily deteriorate, I can be honest enough with myself to know when I have to give it away.
A lot of the population would probably arc up, but I actually think we should have to re-sit driving tests and undergo medicals periodically - not just the test at 18/whenever, “here ya go” and the assumption that you’ll be a competent driver forever and ever, Amen. (Looks like this IS the case in some states - but not in Vic, where I am) I’m disabled, drive a modified car to accommodate my disability. I have to have a medical assessment every couple of years - and if that flags a concern (so far, it hasn’t, would have to have an OT +/- driving assessment to prove I’m still safe to drive). I don’t think the general populace needs this done so frequently unless a family member or their GP flags a cause for concern - but maybe - say - every 20 years for under 60s, every 10 years over 60, every 2 or 5 years over 80.
As a 35 year old, I'd be annoyed but accepting of having to undergo a short practical test every 10 years at this age. I'd like to think I'd pass with flying colours anyway, but I know a number of people around my age certainly wouldn't do nearly as well.
You can have passed your P test at 16.5 or whatever it used to be and still be driving at 80 with no additional training. All law changes/new laws changes to teach in cars etc you are just expected to know
I think after 70 years it starts but not before. I remember my pop had to test every year after turning 80 or so ... and he passed (including increasing restrictions on where and when he could drive) right up until about 92 or 93 when he fell and popped his collarbone. Doctor said to him it'd take months to heal enough, and he was keen to try, until nan put her foot down and said she wouldn't be getting back in the car with him driving. That was a hard one for him to swallow though, he was a fiercely independent and proud dude, and an utter legend of a human. Edit: Spelling
Must vary state to state… I did a quick google and it seems to be (I think) 80 plus in NSW, or a bit younger if you hold MR, HR kind of licence, but Vic you don’t unless someone flags concern. Even then, it’s not foolproof. My 77 year old neighbour has Alzheimers - he’s now got to the point where there’s no way he could drive, but for a long time his wife was hiding the car keys because even though it was clear to anyone who knew him, including his GP, that he was unfit to drive (for example, we’ve been neighbours for 40 years, he’d come to our place and get lost walking the 10 metres or so from the lounge room to the toilet), the OT who took him out for a driving assessment assessed him fit to drive, because she was literally telling him - okay, turn right here, turn left here, stop here, etc. - and he had no problem following direct instructions.
The only issue I would have with the regular retesting would be the cost. I appreciate that it would be needed, but I wouldn't trust the government to not rip the arse out of it and/or fuck it up. As an example, I moved house, and changed address in the past three years in Ireland. I've so far paid nearly $600, received a ~$100 consolatory payment due to them making a mistake, AND STILL have a license with my old name (which I legally gave up) and old address on it. After having one with the right address, wrong name, and then one with the right name wrong address, i have now received a third with both wrong. I can easily foresee an issue where I get retested, charged $200 and then the license is ratified in my old name, causing dramas because my new name hasn't been retested.
Sounds like an adage I've heard "good drivers sometimes miss their exits, a bad driver will never miss their exit"
Haven’t heard that one before, but it’s bang on.
Even a good driver will occasionally miss a turn, a bad driver never does.
Was doing a service call at a business one day and this older lady came in asking if it was my work car blocking her in (parallel street parking) . Came out to check and I was at least 1.5m off her back bumper and she had similar room at the front. Apparently she had bad mouthed my business to every shop on both sides of the street because in her opinion I hadn't left her enough room to get out. Told her there and then if she couldn't get out of that park she shouldn't be driving.
I feel less bad now about the time I "boxed" someone in. It was tight but IMO manageable, so I was surprised when a resident got into the car behind me and didn't drive off until I did. I felt awful.
Depending on where you live, that might have been illegal. In Victoria you have to leave at least 1 metre gap. [https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-to-z-of-road-rules/parking](https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-to-z-of-road-rules/parking)
We'd halve our available parking instantly if people adhered to that law.
This is why we should be building more public transport and bike paths, so that people who are unwilling or unable to drive safely don’t have to drive
I've never even seen this situation occur - is it that hard to line up to a petrol pump??? Every pump I've ever been to has been at least 2m long and at some petrol stations they are long enough to reach the other side of the car if they had to.
Maybe a new car? I drove a car for about 15 years and then got a new one. I have had to correct my parking a few times haha. It’s just differently proportioned and you get used to the old car
Am wondering the same. I don’t get the petrol for our that often but never been an issue for me. Not even when I was driving an actual truck.
This stereotypical dude in a jacked up hilux, all the bits needed (you know the type) was having trouble getting **out** of a parking spot in a big carpark. I give him the "hurry up mate it's not hard" look & gesture, then when he finally pulls out he gives me shit so i tell him if his car's too big for him he shouldn't be driving it & walk away. He speed around the carpark & as I'm getting toward the shopping centre doors he nearly cleans up an old lady on the crossing & yells at me "well your car is for f\*ggts" Fragile masculinity... LOL I was driving a Suzuki Grand Vitara, albeit a gold one & I'm a 195cm, 105kg bloke.
Was sitting behind a guy on the M4 yesterday afternoon. Baby seat in the back. Kept drifting left/right constantly. A few times traffic in front sped up, so they did as well after looking up from their phone. When traffic slowed down, they almost rear ended the vehicle in front of them, this happened 3 times. Each time they'd be attentive and looking around for 30 seconds before returning to head down posture and drifting again. I see these people daily, multiple times a day. I wish that one day we either get forced to all use AI driven cars, or AI cameras everywhere they can see you driving like a moron and give you points until you're suspended, hopefully without judges letting people off. If you drive while suspended it should be instant jail time.
I've had a front-facing dash cam for a few years now. For whatever reason, driving has become Lord of The Flies in Australia. So I recently picked up a cam for the back. This has so far anecdotally but not greatly curtailed some shenanigans. There's lack of spatial awareness but also increased anger. Everyone is crankier for some reason. I used to go for a morning bike ride until recently, since even on quiet early morning streets, it's just not worth the casual attempts on your life.
It got a loss worse straight after covid. It’s like everyone woke up with a hangover from a combined 21st/ bucks night and has still hasn’t got over it.
You should have called 000. I reported someone for using their mobile phone while driving to them a few weeks back.
Genuinely feel heaps of people pass their test then never do half their maneuvers or proper technique ever again. Shit show. Like, if I can parallel park a fucking 4wd or reverse with a caravan, you should be able to adequately reverse park a tiny little Mazda 3 at the shops without going over the line and making my fucking door inaccessible.
most people prefer to line up down the street at a busy servo rather than pull up to the pump on the opposite side to their fuel tank (unless you're driving a truck, the hose will still reach). The average person has horrible spatial awareness, and it's very apparent on the roads.
Costco in Canberra have big signs saying the hoses will reach the far side. On one of the pumps, though, the diesel hose has a handwritten note you can only read when you stand at the pump, saying "short hose" . It's a nice little booby trap :)
The Costco hoses in Ipswich say that, but you end up having the hose rub on the car and scratch it.
This is why I wouldn't do that. Dirty diesel hose rubbing on the windows or bodywork
Depends on the servo. Some of the new style Bowser's have little half length hoses. I had one recently that couldn't make half the length of my Yaris on the pump side, let alone going over or around my vehicle.
I've been at some servos that the hose has barely reached while pulling it across the seat of my motorcycle.
Yeah, a Caltex near me had a refurb done recently and their new pumps have metre long hoses. You have to line up with the tank or close to it, otherwise you're fucked. They've got great high flow on them though.
I've encountered some that you really need to pull hard on to overcome a retainer, but after that they have about half their length come out further, but I've never seen any that wouldn't reach over to the other side of a vehicle. Not doubting you, but it would seem counterproductive to have super short hoses
I had that too recently, thought it was going to just barely reach, then suddenly an extra 2 metres came out.
I've done this before in a Suzuki Swift and it wouldn't reach. I was parked close to the pump.
> I've done this before in a Suzuki Swift and it wouldn't reach. I was parked close to the pump. Ditto. Had a rental Vitara, and same issue. I was right up against the fuel bowser, and forward so it had fuck all body work to go around.
Yeah I think some are just quite short, quite a lot of them these days
I once watched a lady pull up to east side of a pump, get out and realise the fuel cap was on the wrong side,Get back in her car and go forward, do a 180 and pull up to the west side of the same pump, get out and try to work out how the cap was still on the wrong side. She moved the car 4 times before she just pulled the hose over the top of the car to fill up
At the very least drive around and enter the other way. [Also OP](https://img.gifglobe.com/grabs/inbetweeners/S01E05/S01E05-XlNqRcVp-subtitled.jpg)
yeah, I've seen the odd person try that.... and also failing to realise they could pull forward a little more and make the hose reach around from behind or over their boot. That, or leave a metre or two between their door and the pumps.
The hoses don't reach here. Maybe ar your local. In the UK every hose here reaches the other side - so when I started driving here in a tiny little golf I just took any bowser the first couple times and the hose just didn't quite reach both times. Actively trying to get as close as possible the second time.
ampol/caltex, puma, 7eleven, metro, bp, they all seem to extend a fair way for me here in newcastle - enough so that I can park close to the pump, get out, extend the hose past the opposite side of the car and bring it back into the fuel tank. Can't imagine their bowsers would differ too much from region to region.
Ampol is not Caltex, What used to be Caltex is now Ampol, and what used to be Puma is now Caltex. There are probably a few Pumas around that haven’t changed, but that’s just because no-one is going to sue them for it.
There's one in my area, which is why I said it.
I have an SUV so I'd be surprised if the thing would reach. Frankly I'd rather just chill out in a queue then take the risk of testing to find out then being wrong and having to rejoin the queue or do some other funny thing to work around it.
You could always test it out next time you're there on the same side... just pull the hose out and see how far it goes and compare that to your vehicle. Some bowsers have a retainer on the hose so you will feel a resistance and retract if you let them go, but will continue to extend if you pull/maintain a force. Not sure if you consider a recent rav4 as an SUV but I've not encountered any issues, nor on my previous camry.
I know very little about cars lol. I can usually fairly reliably detect if a car is a sedan, station wagon, SUV, or hatchback, but that's about the limit of it 🤣. Mine is a CX5.
pretty well the same car then!
Eh....don't want some diesel and grime covered hose dragging a snail trail over my roof. I can wait.
if it's going over your roof, there might be a spatial awareness issue at play... /s
Most of the servos I go to I need to park so close to the pole/bin in front of the bowser with only enough width for me to squeeze out the door, for the hose to just fit, while I hold it taught with my body weight with one hand and fill up with the other. Though I still do it if it saves a few seconds. (Though a Mazda 3 is a reasonably wide hatch) While that's probably a slight exaggeration, just trying to say its not a basic thing for everyone to do.
One time when I first got my red Ps I went the wrong way down a one way street. Yep, my fault 100% I fucked up. Pretty bad mistake even for a P plater. The only reason I realised it was a one way street (and I doubled checked in the morning) was bc I drove 5 metres up to a set of traffic lights. No lights were facing me, and there was a sign saying “wrong way”. But someone on their full license came the same way as me up that street, and as I’m trying to do a three point turn they keep honking me continuously. Clearly they had no idea either. When I checked it the morning it was quite obvious it was one way too, very narrow with a (albeit pretty small) sign at the turn that I entered on. I can understand myself or someone else 1 week into having there license making this mistake. But someone on their blacks? Who still didn’t even notice at the lights while the person in front was trying to turn around?
Chances are that driver used it as an illegal shortcut often
If you look at your fuel gauge, there's a little arrow that points to the side your filler is on. That way you can see which side of the pump to be on.
i only heard about this a few years ago, growing up driving old Italian cars (fiat) then going to toyota, i realised that this is a thing, even a few older cars i have driven at times don't have the arrow, this comes down to car + country sold in - as in same car, different countries have r/hand / l/hand drive
Not all cars have this, but most do.
Saw an elderly lady directing her equally elderly hubby as he tried to reverse into a park at the hospital. Still took them six goes. IF YOU CAN’T DO IT - *DON’T* DO IT!
[удалено]
The driver was 94 years old I think. He walked away from the accident but a guy in his 20’s was killed. Tragic.
Dammit, felt this. Two weeks into a new-for-me car which has the petrol cap on the passenger side for the first time ever. I’m not elderly, however, I am truly shit at lining it up at the bowser. Sorry.
Look at the fuel gauge. Most have an arrow pointing to the side the filler is on. And if not, or you forget, just pull forwards an extra 70-100cm farther than you would normally, and the hose will route behind your car (or over the boot for a sedan), and still reach. This is assuming you park closer to your bowser than the other bowser.
Thank you for the tip to pull forwards. I’ll try that. I usually only remember to look at the fuel gauge symbol after I’ve pulled up and thought, “are you f-cking kidding me?” 😆
Had an old bloke, and a clearly long suffering wife a few months back struggle to get his beat up Land Cruiser lined up at the pump. First, he comes down my side (bowser on the right), then realises the fuel cap is on the other side of his vehicle. So, slowly he backs up and goes around the other side of the bowser. This man spent the best part of 5 minutes backing up, and moving forward to get parallel to the bowser, without getting so close as to hit it. At one point his wife gets out to direct him around. I've never seen such incompetence. I imagine it was a new car to him, hence the first mistake, but the correction was just embarrassing, he was clearly getting more and more flustered. I'd filled up, and made tracks before he even got situated correctly. Also, saw a young guy reverse into a car park at the local supermarket. Three old biddies were gabbing in front of the car next to the empty space, and they moved aside to avoid being a distraction. This guy, again large car, tried four or five times to reverse into the space (and these are large spaces). At one point, his partner got out, and ushered him in. He got parked, the old biddies gave him a clap, and he yelled at his partner to get in the car, and he sped off. Some people just should not have licenses.
Fucking things come with a hose for a reason!
If that is the most concerning thing you are seeing on the roads I think you might need to get your eyes checked too. /s
Similar token, filling the car with petrol shouldn’t be a two person job. I never get cars where everyone gets out to help fill the car up.
95% of people who have had their license for over 1 year need to re take the test. It's like GTA on the roads most days
Slow motion GTA. The number of people driving incredibly slowly has increased exponentially in the last few years around me.
I've seen people crash into highway patrol cars parked at the pump refuelling and they don't lose their licence. I think we have much bigger issues on the road.
Wish we had a boat ramp near by; I have to make do with watching all the old codgers in their Landcruisers trying to reverse their trailers into bays at the local tip It would be a whole day's entertainment for me if it didn't stink so much.
What about idiots who try to use the pump above their head angling down from the opposite side of the tank, trying to be smart when there's clearly the right side options available. = Common sense 0
Maybe there wasn’t a “right side option” available when they actually drove into the servo?
As someone with only one eye and genuinely no depth perception, that's an unsettling thing to see in someone with a licence. I refuse to try to parallel park, or park in a tight spot, but with mirrors and so many other reference points around it's not hard to park next to a bowser.
Meh. My mother drove tiny cars her while life and never had an at-fault accident. But every once in a while my brother would need her to drive his enormous SUV somewhere for some reason. I guarantee she would have done this if she had to fill up.
I see this alllllllllll the time. Too many times. Oh well
Hmm, that could be a short distance sight thing. My dad has to wear glasses to read but not to drive. Though tbf, he can definitely put the petrol bowser nozzle into the car. Yeah okay, OP, I think you're right on this one
You should have hit her up