Driving in Australia
Discussion
Hiring a camper next week to drive from Brisbane to cairns. Got a couple of questions to avoid any fines or problems:
1. How strict are the speed limits? Are you allowed 10% over as in the UK? How common are police doing speed checks?
2. If there's a speed camera sign, does that mean there will be a camera in the vicinity?
3. Does wildlife cause any problems with driving at night in Queensland?
Thanks for any advice!
1. How strict are the speed limits? Are you allowed 10% over as in the UK? How common are police doing speed checks?
2. If there's a speed camera sign, does that mean there will be a camera in the vicinity?
3. Does wildlife cause any problems with driving at night in Queensland?
Thanks for any advice!
Last time I was there, my local mate told me to stick rigidly to the limit as there is effectively no tolerance.
However you can go for miles without seeing another car so you can get away with a little over the limit if you feel like taking the risk. I don't think they have to make cameras conspicuous like we do though, so you may not know if you've been caught until it's too late.
However you can go for miles without seeing another car so you can get away with a little over the limit if you feel like taking the risk. I don't think they have to make cameras conspicuous like we do though, so you may not know if you've been caught until it's too late.
I have heard the same, ie no tolerance to speeding. I took the view that it was just not worth it, unless in the Ar*e end of nowhere. I can't speak for Queensland, but I hired a motorhome and drove from Perth to Melbourne and places between - 8000kms in total and no stops, no fines. Did I stick to the limits? No, but I was very careful to observe them in and close to any settlements, large or small.
Wildlife in the dark is a big issue - we only drove during the day, until we went across the infamous Nullabor, when in order to get enough distance in, we drove a few hours after dark. I followed a car doing less than the speed limit (plenty of gap for sudden braking!) for maybe 50kms and he nearly hit half a dozen kangaroos. We stopped for fuel and sure enough a few miles up the road, there he was with a broken car having hit one. Unless you have serious extra lights in addition to normal headlights and roo-bars, my advice is not to even think about it. You might be fine, but there is a big chance you won't and they are solid when you hit 'em.
Wildlife in the dark is a big issue - we only drove during the day, until we went across the infamous Nullabor, when in order to get enough distance in, we drove a few hours after dark. I followed a car doing less than the speed limit (plenty of gap for sudden braking!) for maybe 50kms and he nearly hit half a dozen kangaroos. We stopped for fuel and sure enough a few miles up the road, there he was with a broken car having hit one. Unless you have serious extra lights in addition to normal headlights and roo-bars, my advice is not to even think about it. You might be fine, but there is a big chance you won't and they are solid when you hit 'em.
When we drove that part of Auz it tended to be a cop sat about 10k's before the "welcome to nowhereville" sign as you came into town and his deputy was sat 10km beyond the "thanks for visiting nowhereville" sign. The locals seemed to think there was no tolerance for speeding which meant you often found yourself at the back of 10 cars all doing 60kph all so close you couldn't get a cigarette paper between them which had two effects. 1) if the one at the front wanted to turn right, the one about 4 cars back was on the verge as by that point the braking room was <= none, 2) if you wanted to get past you had to do an epic 10 car pass with fluffy bunny rabbits and small children flying in all directions.
This was 13 years ago, back in the good ol days before they got really serious about speeding.
As for wildlife, Get something with roo bars! but on our Perth>Cairns with a north>south through the middle, the body count was something like 10,000's of bugs, some the size of your hand that covered half the windscreen when they go splat, 1000's of locusts sunning themselves on the road that bounced of the underside of the car as you drove over them, 1000's of butterfly's in a swarm that got stuck in the wipers and made a mess on the windscreen, A few snakes, couple of birds and one small roo, fortunately we saw the cows in time while tanking it foot to the floor for 300km on NT's derestricted roads, btw we only drove in daylight when out of town, I hear its worse at night!
This was 13 years ago, back in the good ol days before they got really serious about speeding.
As for wildlife, Get something with roo bars! but on our Perth>Cairns with a north>south through the middle, the body count was something like 10,000's of bugs, some the size of your hand that covered half the windscreen when they go splat, 1000's of locusts sunning themselves on the road that bounced of the underside of the car as you drove over them, 1000's of butterfly's in a swarm that got stuck in the wipers and made a mess on the windscreen, A few snakes, couple of birds and one small roo, fortunately we saw the cows in time while tanking it foot to the floor for 300km on NT's derestricted roads, btw we only drove in daylight when out of town, I hear its worse at night!
Edited by ViperDave on Saturday 22 June 13:15
The Queensland police commissioner has recently been on the air & TV announcing a "new" no tolerance policy, so I suggest the tolerance we have always believed was 10% may be shaved somewhat. Having recently got rid of a spendthrift state government, we are pretty broke, so your contribution in fines will be welcome.
It is only the cameras you really have to worry about, there are few motorcycle cops out side of the major cities, & not many more highway patrol cars either. Friday night & all Saturday there is a "booze bus" presence, checking for drunk drivers, which can get quite thick. I find I am usually pulled up for a breath test about once every 10,000Km.
I am not the slowest driver in my district by a fair rate, & have only been booked once in 15 years when I missed a school sign in an unfamiliar area, & was doing 53 in a 40 school zone.
You don't have to worry too much about wild life, at least on the main highway south of about Rockhampton. They are there, but with high traffic the ones you'll see have mostly all ready found their car. If you get onto the more interesting back roads & scenic routs then don't drive after dusk is good advice.
Most car accessories shops sell a small cheep passive wind driven whistle, [ultra sonic], Kangaroo frightening thing. We have 2 on my wife's car & she rarely sees a roo in our country area at night. My son, on the same roads with out the thing, became an expert roo dodger.
Once north of Rocky, where settlement gets a bit sparse the best night technique is to pick a semi trailer, there are hundreds of them, & follow at a close safe distance. They don't gave big bull bars for no reason, & will be cruising at the highest possible speed-camera safe speed.
Do make sure you get out to the barrier reef, best done in the Whitsundays probably, & do have a ball.
It is only the cameras you really have to worry about, there are few motorcycle cops out side of the major cities, & not many more highway patrol cars either. Friday night & all Saturday there is a "booze bus" presence, checking for drunk drivers, which can get quite thick. I find I am usually pulled up for a breath test about once every 10,000Km.
I am not the slowest driver in my district by a fair rate, & have only been booked once in 15 years when I missed a school sign in an unfamiliar area, & was doing 53 in a 40 school zone.
You don't have to worry too much about wild life, at least on the main highway south of about Rockhampton. They are there, but with high traffic the ones you'll see have mostly all ready found their car. If you get onto the more interesting back roads & scenic routs then don't drive after dusk is good advice.
Most car accessories shops sell a small cheep passive wind driven whistle, [ultra sonic], Kangaroo frightening thing. We have 2 on my wife's car & she rarely sees a roo in our country area at night. My son, on the same roads with out the thing, became an expert roo dodger.
Once north of Rocky, where settlement gets a bit sparse the best night technique is to pick a semi trailer, there are hundreds of them, & follow at a close safe distance. They don't gave big bull bars for no reason, & will be cruising at the highest possible speed-camera safe speed.
Do make sure you get out to the barrier reef, best done in the Whitsundays probably, & do have a ball.
Thanks for all the advice, sounds like we'll be very careful in urban areas, might risk it a little once we're far away from towns. The plan isn't to drive at night but if we do it'll be on the main highways, following a truck sounds like a very good idea. The barrier reef will definitely happen, just need to decide if we do it at the Whitsundays or cairns!
If you see a new 4WD parked on the side of the road, make sure you are at or under the limit. Queensland put up a camera sign, in front of the car, so you are past it before you see the sign.
Worst I saw in Qld was a motorcycle cop standing with a speedgun on the right hand emergency lane ( which was barely wider than his bike) in the shade under a bridge. It was unbelievably dangerous, but such is the mania around speeding that he obviously felt it was worth the risk.
Oh, and Queensland highway patrol use HSVs.......but they are bright yellow and easy to spot
Worst I saw in Qld was a motorcycle cop standing with a speedgun on the right hand emergency lane ( which was barely wider than his bike) in the shade under a bridge. It was unbelievably dangerous, but such is the mania around speeding that he obviously felt it was worth the risk.
Oh, and Queensland highway patrol use HSVs.......but they are bright yellow and easy to spot
One other advantage of following the big trucks is their CB chatter.
The moment one of them sees the flash of a camera, every long distance truck within about a 60Km radius knows where it is.
The hand held radars can be out at night, & there's no chance of seeing them. Incidentally be careful of those highway patrol cars. They are equipped with radar looking forward through the windscreen. It takes only about 2 seconds to clock the speed of a car approaching from the opposite direction.
Probably your biggest danger is going to sleep at the wheel, out of sheer boredom, when you spend a day driving a thousand kilometers at a steady 105Km/H.
The moment one of them sees the flash of a camera, every long distance truck within about a 60Km radius knows where it is.
The hand held radars can be out at night, & there's no chance of seeing them. Incidentally be careful of those highway patrol cars. They are equipped with radar looking forward through the windscreen. It takes only about 2 seconds to clock the speed of a car approaching from the opposite direction.
Probably your biggest danger is going to sleep at the wheel, out of sheer boredom, when you spend a day driving a thousand kilometers at a steady 105Km/H.
t everywhere!
randomwalk said:
On Tuesday I was driving my UK car down the M3 to take it to the ship for import to Oz. I was doing 90mph thinking it will never do a long sustained speed like this once in Australia.
Yes randomwalk, & imagine how that feels to us natives, who used to average something near that, quite legally, on 500 mile interstate overnight trips.I was quite surprised the other day, overtaking a large truck with a dog trailer, when I hit 150Km/H, & it felt quite fast. 40 years ago had I been cruising at that speed, it would have been the truck overtaking me.
I think I go about that fast in a go-cart, but am not used to it on the road these days.
Edited by Hasbeen on Thursday 27th June 15:32
Gassing Station | Australia | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff