Elon Musk, I owe you an apology

[Blue heaven]

Not me personally,

Elon Musk, I owe you an apology

The author claims Sydney drives are the worst in the nation, I find it hard to believe it could be worse than Perth.

 

[raynewman]

Not me personally,

Elon Musk, I owe you an apology

The author claims Sydney drives are the worst in the nation, I find it hard to believe it could be worse than Perth.

Na - Toowoomba!

 

[RichardMcN]

Not me personally,

Elon Musk, I owe you an apology

The author claims Sydney drives are the worst in the nation, I find it hard to believe it could be worse than Perth.

I could be biased, but I thought Sydney drivers were pretty well the best. I generally get given a gap when I need it, and do not see too many drivers hogging the right lane. There is a general consciousness of the need to keep the traffic MOVING !

Contrast this with another state capital with much lighter traffic where other drivers will change lanes or otherwise go way out of their way just to cut you off. Can you guess which place I'm talking about?

 

[HVM]

I can figure yes, Australian traffic can be demanding:

(Is this the place U talking about?)

 

[Blue heaven]

I could be biased, but I thought Sydney drivers were pretty well the best. I generally get given a gap when I need it, and do not see too many drivers hogging the right lane. There is a general consciousness of the need to keep the traffic MOVING !

Contrast this with another state capital with much lighter traffic where other drivers will change lanes or otherwise go way out of their way just to cut you off. Can you guess which place I'm talking about?

You've been to Perth then? In their defence though I'd have to say it's hard to find Pokemon on a small screen and drive at the same time.

 

[Chopr147]

I generally get given a gap when I need it,

Try that in New York!
I hear people here having cruise on 4 or 5 or 7?! Anything less than2 will get you cut off.
HVM: Having never been to Australia, that is what I picture the roads like

 

[Saghost]

Try that in New York!
I hear people here having cruise on 4 or 5 or 7?! Anything less than2 will get you cut off.
HVM: Having never been to Australia, that is what I picture the roads like

In my experience, folks cut in on you even on 1. At 1 or 2, the car won't react soon enough to prevent a collision when they do.

Cruising through rush hour traffic on 4 or 5 is quite doable, and more relaxing. To do that, you do have to accept that a certain percentage of idiots will rush past you and cut in - and let it happen.

That far back, the car reacts safely and usually doesn't even have to slam the brakes.

I did see a video the other day of an accident in this situation - someone in a stopped adjacent lane pulled about a quarter of the way in well ahead of a Tesla on AP, then stopped, and the Tesla didn't react to the partial intrusion (neither did the driver, who later said they were picking up a dropped iPad at the time.)

 

[MacGreiner]

Anything more than 1 is a public invite for a cut in here in DC.
A 0.5 would be great!

 

[wesley888]

lol. So true. I get cut off lot of times even at 1.

 

[Homer]

I could be biased, but I thought Sydney drivers were pretty well the best. I generally get given a gap when I need it, and do not see too many drivers hogging the right lane. There is a general consciousness of the need to keep the traffic MOVING !

I agree, though of course I could be biased too. A friend who lived in London for many years but who now calls Melbourne home (though he's currently working in Sydney) tells me that Sydney drivers remind him of London drivers — the roads are so congested that drivers here have worked out that we all need to cooperate and let people in (the "zipper" merge) for the road system to work otherwise the road network will grind to a halt.

 

[RichardMcN]

Try that in New York!
I hear people here having cruise on 4 or 5 or 7?! Anything less than2 will get you cut off.
HVM: Having never been to Australia, that is what I picture the roads like

Actually (and not everybody agrees) the best drivers I have seen are in LA. I was expecting road rage like you see on the news and I found plenty of agreeable Californians willing to let you in despite my being affected by the awkward handling characteristics of those left-hand-drive vehicles over there !

As you say that observation does not apply in NY !

 

[strykeroz]

My vote is that Sydney has the best in Oz also. There's no hesitating, they just get the job done. I once got on the bridge in the far left lane and needed the far right - people let me across and we got it done. After all who needs to hold up the traffic any more than it already does.

In contrast drivers in my home town of Brisbane can't merge two lanes into one to save themselves, often will speed up to prevent someone changing lanes when they see an indicator come on, stay in the right lane when a single lane becomes two (anyone in the left lane is cheating), will go faster when the overtaking lane appears on the highway so you stay stuck behind them, and are prone to hesitating on motorway onramps. Because indicators give away your intention to others so they can block you, they're often used as an apology after changing lanes rather than advance warning too. And what cracks me up most is when a Brisbanite will tell me they don't like driving in Sydney because of Sydney drivers.

 

[McRat]

If people are cutting you off in TACC mode, then you need to consult your doctor for a prescription of Valium. Relax.

Oddly enough, traffic actually flows more cars per minute when you leave the proper 2 second distance.

Why? The Squirrels (drivers who zigzag constantly to get 1 car ahead) can get through so less folk behind the squirrels have to nail their brakes, which causes a chain reaction of slowing.

This is why in California, one of the busiest traffic areas in the world, it not unusual to see the right lane (slow lane) move FASTER than the fast lane when traffic is congested. The trucks that are forced into the right lanes by law, typically leave bigger gaps than cars do, so lane changes do not start chain reaction slowing. The fast lane tends to packed full of tailgaters, which is why we enjoy more chain collisions than necessary.

But we as a species are not clever enough to see this pattern which is as old as the Tortoise and the Hare story. Sometimes going slower is actually going faster. Speed can be an illusion in traffic. ETA is your goal.

 

[PJF000]

HVM: Having never been to Australia, that is what I picture the roads like

Your very close Chopr147. It looks to be the centre of downtown Sydney. The only thing missing is the mob of kangaroos hoping across the road.