If you want to come to us and you are on the connecting road from the motorway, you first have to drive around 6 of these roundabouts. It’s like a round of roundabout roulette, where you’re betting on getting through without being hit by another car.

As in many countries around the world, roundabouts are becoming increasingly popular with traffic planners in Australia as they are believed to have some advantages over conventional intersections:

Roundabouts: A round thing for traffic flow

1. Safety First: Roundabouts are great at reducing accidents. That is a good thing because we all know how much of a headache dealing with accidents can be (literally and figuratively).
2. Improved Traffic Flow: Roundabouts keep the traffic moving, like a good dance party. There are no stop signs or traffic lights to slow things down, so you can just keep on rolling.
3. Reduced Congestion: Roundabouts can help reduce traffic congestion, which means less time spent sitting in traffic and more time enjoying life.
4. Lower Cost: Roundabouts can save money because they require less infrastructure and maintenance than traditional intersections. Who doesn’t love saving a few bucks?

Great for Cars, Not so Great for Pedestrians and Crowded Cities!

1. Increased Complexity: Roundabouts can be confusing for some drivers, especially those who are directionally challenged. It’s like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube while driving.
2. Pedestrian Perils: Pedestrians might have to dodge traffic to get across a roundabout.
3. Larger Footprint: Roundabouts require more space than traditional intersections. But that can be a challenge in densely populated areas with limited space.
4. Gridlock Gremlins: While rare, roundabouts can get clogged up if too many cars try to enter at once or if people forget how to yield, which can be a recipe for chaos (or at least some honking).

Roundabouts reduce speed – sometimes quite abruptly

OK, the theory sounds pretty good: roundabouts are supposed to reduce the risk of accidents. But I wonder if anyone can explain that to the hoons in Australia. Because on Saturday and Sunday nights, the roads get wild and crazy. These incapacitated racers have only one goal: to pimp their modified cars and race around. And that works great on wide roads, as long as it weren’t for those damn roundabouts…

After every weekend, at least a few traffic signs on the six roundabouts on our arterial road are flat as a flounder. The city council then puts them back up the following week, but the next weekend the madness starts all over again. The hoons will probably even brag about their “adventure” when a roundabout suddenly emerges from the darkness and their spoilered and roaring vehicles are suddenly abruptly slowed down to a standstill.

Roundabouts: confusion about right of way and lane choice

It is not only on hoon nights that there are problems around roundabouts. When driving at roundabouts, many people don’t seem to know exactly who has the right of way or which lane to take. And often they forget to indicate. This confusion increases with the size and complexity of the roundabout, especially if there is more than one lane going in the same direction.

Yet the rules to follow on a roundabout in Australia are actually quite simple:

Rules on the roundabout

Probably the most important rule is that you must always give way to vehicles already on the roundabout. In addition, you should only enter when there is a sufficient and safe gap in the traffic, and of course always drive clockwise around the island.

If the lanes leading to the roundabout are marked with arrows, you must follow their direction.

If you intend to turn left:

1. Approach the roundabout in the left lane or lanes.
2. Blink left as you approach the roundabout.
3. Continue to signal to the left as you leave the roundabout.
4. Switch off the indicator after you have left the roundabout.

When driving straight ahead on a roundabout:

1. Approach without indicating.
2. However, turn left when exiting if appropriate.
3. Switch off the indicator when you have exited the roundabout.

To turn right:

1. Approach the roundabout in the right-hand lane or lane.
2. Blink to the right as you approach the roundabout.
3. Continue to signal to the right until you are ready to leave the roundabout.
4. Blink to the left before leaving the roundabout.
5. Switch off the indicator after you have left the roundabout.

However, every day we see people entering the roundabout in the left lane and then turning right. Or they indicate right but turn left or go straight ahead. And very often, when entering the roundabout, people do not pay attention at all to the vehicles in the roundabout that have the right of way. Basically, one must always drive carefully and defensively at roundabouts.

If you ever wonder why it’s called roundabout or traffic circle and not squareabout or traffic hexagon – now you know: it’s all about going clockwise around the island, not wildly geometric.

And if you are really unsure which direction to take at the roundabout, just take the exit back home and try again tomorrow.

The post And suddenly there was a roundabout … appeared first on GoAustralia.

If you spend more time in Australia than just on a short holiday or business trip, you might notice that the fuel price is very low in Australia in comparison to most countries in the world and that there are many big cars on Australian roads. Especially the omnipresent ute. Furthermore, a “hoon-culture” of “car-enthusiasts” is very distinct. Does all that have an effect on the average fuel economy. I wanted to find out.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) published 2019 a report, which – among others – adresses this question (“Fuel Economy in Major Car Markets: Technology and Policy Drivers 2005-2017“). That report investigates the fuel economy of newly registered light-duty vehicles (LDVs,) across the world from 2005 to 2017. LDVs are a category defined as passenger cars, passenger light trucks and light-commercial vehicles below 3.5 tonnes. For a better readability I will use the term “car” for LDV.

Average fuel consumption among the highest in the world

The average fuel consumption between countries differs substantially among countries, ranging between 5.2 l/100 km and 8.9 l/100 km. A big difference can be seen between

• advanced economies with a fuel price below USD 1/l –
  Australia, Canada and the United States, where average fuel consumption is in the 7.9 to 9 l/100 km range

and

• advanced economies with fuel prices above USD 1/l –
  European Union, Turkey, Japan and Korea, where fuel use per kilometre ranges between 5.2 and 6.5 l/100 km.

Australia consumes more than the global average car fuel consumption, reflecting larger and, therefore, less efficient vehicles.

Australia in 2017 had an average fuel consumption of 7.9 litres/100 km whereas e.g. Germany had 5.9 l, Italy 5.2 l and the USA 8.6 l/100 km. That means that Australian cars burn about 52% more fuel per 100 km than cars in Italy and 34% more than in Germany.

Heavier and larger vehicles

Advanced countries with relatively low population density and low fuel prices have larger shares of SUV/utes than other advanced economies. This is the case especially for Australia where about 30% of car sales were large SUV/utes (like e.g. Ford F-150, Toyota Hilux, BMW X5, Isuzu D-Max or Audi Q7) in 2017. In the same year, small SUV/utes (like Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V) accounted for 29% in Australia. Whereas the European Union, Japan and Korea, with much higher population densities and higher fuel prices, have smaller vehicles. In Japan, large SUV/utes had only 2% market share and small SUV/utes were just 9% of car sales in 2017. Large SUV/utes accounted for less than 5% of the car market in Germany, France, Korea and United Kingdom.

Also, vehicle weight is closely correlated with fuel use. 70% of new cars sold in 2017 in Australia weighed more than 1 400 kilograms. This ranks Australia among the world’s highest average vehicle weight markets. In contrast, around 70% of new cars in France and Italy weighed less than 1 400 kg, ranking them the most fuel-efficient among the countries assessed.

Furthermore, the report also found that city cars in the Europe Union are 15% more efficient than comparable ones in Australia. In general, it can be said that average fuel consumption in advanced economies with fuel prices above USD 1/l is more efficient than in similar vehicle size market segments in economies with fuel prices below USD 1/l.

Fuel economy improvement rate slowed down

Between 2010 and 2017, the overall average fuel consumption in advanced economies with fuel prices above USD 1/l improved by 15% and in advanced economies with fuel prices below USD 1/l improved by only 9.5%.

However, between 2015 and 2017 the average fuel economy improvement rate slowed down to 1.4% per year globally. And in advanced economies even to only 0.2% per year. Key drivers of the recent developments include the rapid decline of diesel sales in several major vehicle markets. This is most notable in Europe. Worldwide, 76% of new Cars sold in 2017 were petrol ones and just under 17% were diesel.

The growing consumer demand for larger vehicles is also a major determinant. Australia has had a particularly high market share of SUVs and utes, closing in on 60% in 2017.

Mandatory fuel economy standards have an effect

The fuel economy improvement rate of countries after implementing fuel consumption standards or efficiency-based purchase incentives was nearly 60% higher than countries without standards and incentives. The higher improvement rate is also reflected by the higher market share of electrified cars (hybrids, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles). Regulated countries are amongst others Canada, China, European Union, Japan, Korea or the United States. Wheras Australia has no regulations but some incentives like Brazil, Chile, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.

Fuel saving technology – turbocharging

Turbochargers enable the recovery of energy from exhaust gases. This allows the engine to operate closer to its optimum efficiency throughout the drive cycle. In addition, vehicles with the same power rating can be produced with smaller engine displacement and lower engine weight, further reducing fuel consumption.

Nevertheless, the diffusion of turbochargers in petrol engines is lower in Australia where engine displacement remains far larger than elsewhere. The lower share of turbocharged petrol vehicles in Australia may be partly due to lower fuel octane values.

Electrification is going to be crucial

The electrification of cars is going to be crucial to ensure that fuel economy can be effectively improved. Countries that currently have high average fuel consumption values, like Australia, could benefit the most from electrification since electrified vehicle efficiency is less dependent on size and weight.

The uptake of fuel saving electric powertrain technologies (hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric) is higher in countries with regulations and incentives than those without. The market share in 2017 for electric powertrains only reached 1.1% in Australia where there are no federal fuel economy regulations, though several states provide incentives up to 4% of the vehicle price (Queensland Government, 2018; NSW Government, 2018).

No clear policy towards electrification

Unfortunately there is no clear policy in Australia regarding electric vehicles (EVs). A patchwork of conflicting regulations and road-user taxes between states and territories is inhibiting take up of EVs.

The Australian federal “emissions reduction minister”, Angus Taylor, has ruled out policies used elsewhere to drive EV uptake. These policies might include direct subsidies to consumers or a ban on new fossil-fuel car sales from 2030 or 2035 as promised in countries including the Germany, the UK, India, Thailand and Japan. Instead, the Australian federal government is spending billions of dollars on subsidies for the enormous twin cab utes that dominate Australian car sales.

However as of May 2021, Canberrans who buy electric and other zero-emissions vehicles automatically receive two years’ registration for free. The Australian Capital Territory already waives stamp duty for clean cars, and has promised households and not-for-profit organisations interest-free loans of up to $15,000 to buy them.

On the other hand also in May 2021, the Victorian parliament passed the country’s first road user charge – a tax on every kilometre driven – for EVs and hybrids. The Victorian government argues that it had to impose a new tax on EVs because drivers of those vehicles don’t pay fuel excise. This makes about as much sense as taxing nicotine patches on the basis that those giving up smoking aren’t paying tobacco excise any more.

But the New South Wales government just announced it will waive stamp duty on electric vehicle purchases and provide subsidies for 25,000 new purchases as part of a $490m strategy to drive uptake of EVs.

Conclusion

The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season was a major climatic event and the largest wildfires Australia has ever seen. At the same time, Australia is among the countries in the world with the highest average fuel economy and CO2 emissions per km. To change this is to increase the number of electric vehicles. A road user charge for electric vehicles should be many, many years off. Not now and not before Australia has a reasonably priced electric vehicle market and the right level of supply. The uptake of EVs needs to be encouraged.

The post Fuel economy and fuel price – big cars appeared first on GoAustralia.

E.g. according to WIKIPEDIA
“An avenue is traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side” and
“A boulevard is a type of large road, usually running through a city”.

But since Australia is a far far away from Europe so is the practical use of the street designations. There are many avenues without any trees or shrubs or boulevards which are just a few hundred metres long and not very large. In short, the street designations don’t mean much in Australia.

But Australia wouldn’t be Australia, if there weren’t an Australian standard 4819-2011 Appendix A ‘Road Types – Australia’ for rural and urban addressing. The standard establishes requirements and guidance for – amongst others – naming roads. That standard gives a description for the most road types in use in Australia, even though it hasn’t been accurately observed by the local governments and some other addressing authorities.

Using widely accessible address databases (based on information from Australia Post and the Australia Bureau of Statistics) I have compiled a list of street designations in use in Australia. There is the astonishing number of 148 urban address designations in Australia, and I don’t think I have listed all of them. I am also happy about any addition/remarks about the list.

I have also added – when available – the description of each street designation according to standard 4819-2011. Find out yourself if your local street names comply with it ….

The post Avenues, Boulevards and Parades appeared first on GoAustralia.

Restrictions on provisional/probationary drivers

But it actually shows that the driver is on a provisional/probationary licence (or learner’s licence) and carries restrictions. It also indicates other drivers this is an inexperienced driver, and they should make allowances for him.

In reality P-Platers also seem to get a bad name because the P-Plate is easily identifiable and memorable. A prejudice is, if one sees a P-Plater on the road one might expect they will engage in some form of hooning. Some drivers will even target P-Platers.

Also, since P-platers have more restrictions than other drivers, a P-Plate makes it easier for police to enforce the law.

Only a few other countries have a sign-system which shows abilities of drivers

Australia is one of very few countries, where it is compulsory to display P-Plates (or similar plates, like a Japanese shoshinsha mark for new drivers). A new driver holds a Learner licence/permit which has a minimum age of 16 or 15 and 9 months in some areas. This must then be held for a certain amount of time before a driving examination can be undertaken usually 12 months later. The driver must display ‘P’ plates after he passed the test.

Holders of a provisional/probationary licence may be restricted compared to fully licensed drivers in speed, blood alcohol limits, limits on the type and power of their car’s engine (i.e., no more than 6 cylinders, no forced induction), and number of demerit points that can be accrued. Typically, a single serious traffic offence is sufficient to lead to a licence suspension.

While P plate laws in Australia vary by state and territory, there are a few restrictions that apply to provisional drivers throughout Australia:

• A requirement that all provisional licence holders must maintain a 0% blood alcohol level whenever operating a vehicle
• P-plate drivers are required to have their provisional licences on their person whenever driving, and display these to authorities on request
• During the first stage of provisional licensing (P1), or where provisional licensing is not split into two stages, novice drivers are required to prominently display red and white P plates on or in their vehicles

Different rules in all states and territories

So if a P-Plater wants to drive across the several states, he is better to know the different “must” and “must nots” for P-Platers, since they can vary quite a bit. And not knowing may result in fine, even if you are from another state …

For example, already the required design of the Plates to be displayed deviates from state to state.

The post P-Plates appeared first on GoAustralia.

Now a new Australian study by researchers at Monash University, QUT’s Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) and the University of Melbourne’s School of Psychological Sciences, has found that cyclists are not human — or rather,  55% of their study group doesn’t see them that way. Bicycle riders in Australia are as unpopular as cockroaches.

This starts in the language and ends in dangerous actions, such as taking the right of way or throwing objects at cyclists. Common insults for bicycle riders Down Under are ‘cockroach’ or ‘mosquito’.

‘Cockroaches on wheels’ have no right to use the road

With this type of insult, a police officer in Queensland hit the headlines in 2014, denouncing bicycle riders on a social network as ‘cockroaches on wheels’ and declaring that ‘cyclists have no right to use the road’.

‘Cockroach on wheels’ – a strong image: After all, most want cockroaches crushed under their shoe soles or killed in another way. The case of the accused police officer illustrates exactly this ‘dehumanization’, from cyclist to cockroach: The linguistic comparison makes the people on wheels ideal targets for aggression and harassment, say the researchers.

In the study, cyclists and non-cyclists from different regions provided information on how they think about cyclists. On the basis of two development scales – from the monkey to humans and from the cockroach to humans – they should indicate at which point of the evolutionary stage cyclists are:

Abuse, cut, block

55 percent of non-cyclists surveyed did not assign cyclists completely to the human species. For the researchers, this also explains the following behaviours: 17 percent of respondents said they had once deliberately blocked cyclists, 11 percent had passed extremely close to bicycle riders, and 9 percent had already deliberately cut them off.

Once someone classifies someone other than ‘not totally human,’ he can more easily justify hate or aggression.

Mechanism: devaluation justifies discrimination

The results of the study were so striking that researchers recommend we abandon the word “cyclist” altogether, replacing it with the term “people on bikes.” Because as humans, we all share the streets with each other.

‘Once someone classifies someone other than ‘not totally human,’ he can more easily justify hatred or aggression,’

However, there is no need for a study confirming that bicycle riders in Australia are being harassed and cursed by many motorists on a daily basis. You just have to cycle a longer distance to experience this aggression yourself.

The post Cyclists in Australia are not human appeared first on GoAustralia.

Public transport is often no alternative

If I intend to use public transport at 7 a.m. from our home to Southport (about 15 km away) I need about 1 hour and 5 minutes (according to the Journey Planner of Translink). By car, I would do it in just over a third of the time. If I would like to cover the same distance at 7 p.m., Translink gives me travel time of 1 hour and 42 minutes. By car that would take only 20 minutes in the evening.

Certainly a healthy and sporty alternative to the car would certainly be the bicycle. My wife and I are well-equipped with bicycles, and we are used to covering long distances by bike every day from our time in Munich. But the conditions here in Australia are a bit different.

Another reason not to use the bike, are the high temperatures accompanied by high humidity in summer. The result is that you need a good shower with almost the same probability as the height of the relative humidity after a bike tour (100% humidity = 100% shower need). And if then at your destination (job, restaurant, invitation to friends …) no shower is available, you’ve got a problem. Although an invitation to friends in the summer months is usually associated with being in the open air (e.g. for a barbecue), it would be advantageous in this situation …

A further even more important consideration for not using a bicycle is that cyclists have not yet established themselves in the minds of motorists as equal partners. Not just a few motorists see cyclists more as an obstacle to traffic and take pleasure in expressing this with their driving style.

One in five Australian drivers admits to cyclist road rage, survey finds

A recent article in “The Guardian” of 2nd November 2018 refers to a survey, released by Ford Australia, which found that road rage was highest among people aged between 18 and 34 – 23% of whom admitted to swearing, honking their horn or making hand gestures when passing a cyclist. Examples of such a behaviour have happened to my wife and me more than once in just our first few months here.

Furthermore, we have experienced that motorists – in our perception – deliberately came quite close to us to frighten us. The Guardian also published a video of a violent road rage incident in Melbourne, released by the Australian Cycling Alliance. A dash cam video shows a cyclist travelling along a road on a bike path before a four-wheel-drive swerves into him and knocks him off his bike onto the footpath. The driver then gets out and grabs the bike, throwing it into nearby bushes, and verbally abuses the cyclist.

This is also one reason why we don’t see cyclists more often in daily traffic. And rather in the major cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane) than in the smaller communities. Here on the Gold Coast, despite a population of approximately 650,000, the cyclists are few and far between.

Governments are improving bicycle infrastructure

Nevertheless, both the state governments and the local communities are trying to promote cycling. More and more bike paths are being created. Yellow bicycle signs on the roads indicate that cyclists are sharing the road. Traffic laws have been adjusted (e.g. a motorist has to leave a safe distance of 1 to 1.5 metres between his vehicle and a cyclist when passing or overtaking). Furthermore, there is already a pretty good offer for cyclists online (example Gold Coast). Though it is always a little adventure, if you want to go longer distances by bike.

Often e.g. bike paths end out of the blue and you are back on a busy road. The bike paths or bike ways are usually also more a patchwork of very short and medium long sections. Likewise, the markings for cyclists often make little sense. Furthermore, one must have quite iron nerves, if the cars or even huge trucks tailgate you about 1 meter away…

But still, here too, it is a serious alternative to the car, especially in the “winter months”, with wonderful cycling weather. And the more people ride a bike, the more the conditions for cycling will improve.

The post Cycling in Australia appeared first on GoAustralia.

A hoon is a person who deliberately drives a vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner, generally in order to provoke a reaction from onlookers.

Hoon activities (or hooning) can include speeding, burnouts, doughnuts, or screeching tyres. Those commonly identified as being involved in hooning are young and predominantly male drivers in the age range of 17 and 35 years.

Probably there is no real word for the term “Hoon” in other languages, as these specific behaviors occur to a much lesser extent outside of Australia.

As an observer in Australia you notice that there are a lot of extremely pimped-up cars here and the spoiler on the car generally enjoys extreme popularity. In addition, there are so-called “sports exhausts”, which are primarily intended to simulate a sporty vehicle with a sporty engine, as for some vehicle owners, the sound of a vehicle is an important (emotional) factor that is significantly influenced by the muffler.

It’s been almost 40 years since a Formula One World Champion came from Australia (Alan Jones 1980), but apparently many Australian men think that they were born Formula One champions or at least as cool as James Dean was once.

To emphasize this feeling you of course have to have a corresponding car. Since often for real sports cars (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes AMG, Bugatti, etc.) the financial resources are missing, so-called muscle cars serve as a substitute. These are cars that are based on serial-production models, but are sometimes much more motorized. Furthermore, the cars are then equipped with often extremely ridiculous-looking (and useless) spoilers in the size of a pub-counter, fake air inlets indicated with stickers and other common car accessories such as wide low-profile tires, alloy wheels, lowered suspension, door sills and not least the important sports exhaust.

Some mounted mufflers have dimensions like the drainpipes of toilets and sound alike. Many are designed so that if you attract the wrong type of attention, you can make the exhaust quiet.

And if you already have such a car, you are naturally forced to show it off. For this you have to drive through every residential area at least once and demonstrate again and again how extremely loud the sports exhaust can be. Of course, both windows are cranked down and one hand has to hang out. In the back, the thin series pipe of the four-cylinder flows into a stovepipe into which a handball would fit and the motor  unleashes its 70 hp at 7000 rpm.

In Europe one would think that the exhaust is certainly broken and needs a workshop visit, but among muscle drivers here in Australia, it seems to be considered particularly cool and masculine, if one can press down the accelerator and the exhaust is doing a lot of noise.

The highlight is the burn-out. Many think of burnouts as more of a personal crisis, which might also apply to the Hoons. But with the burn-out referred to here, the hoons spin the wheels of one axle (with the brake on the other axle pulled). This not only consumes a lot of fuel, but the tires wear out very quickly and are then unusable. Also that other parts of the vehicle, such as e.g. gearboxes and drive shafts, wear out considerably, seem to play just as little role for hoons as the fact, that such antisocial behaviour is more likely to be expected from pubescent teenagers than from adult men.

In almost all areas you can find traces of burn-outs, in and out of town, in residential areas such as business districts, on secondary and main roads and even on motorways. In some places, where the police rarely come past, large-scale extreme tire abrasion as well as a lot of remnants of tires testify to firmly established meeting places for such (usually nocturnal) activities.

In fact, it seems that the hoons have copied something from the graffiti scene here, and try to leave burn-out tags in as prominent a place as possible, e.g. a busy intersection. You can then brag about that to other hoons (because only they will find something like that great).

While almost all states in Australia have tightened hounding prevention legislation, which can sometimes result in the vehicles being impounded and disposed by the police, this does not seem to have any effect. Every day, and especially every night, we hear the hoons driving around, annoying everyone with their extremely noisy antisocial macho behaviour, and see new burn marks almost every day on the streets.

It is interesting that these sports exhausts, which can be switched between noise and normal, can be legally sold. Some even advertise indirectly that near the police, etc., the exhausts can be switched to quiet:

This means, if you attract the wrong type of attention, you can make the exhaust quiet. When it is switched to quiet, it is dead quiet – like stock. This is especially handy for early morning starts, talking hands free, or if Police are about.

Possibly it would help if in all states in Australia something like a motor vehicle inspection would be compulsory, in which one has to get the car regularly every two years checked for safety…

The post Hoons and their toys – spoilerland appeared first on GoAustralia.