Oversize vehicles on the road
I mentioned in the previous post about crossing the Nullarbor that I saw a large number of oversize vehicles on the road.
I wouldn’t be exaggerating to say we saw about 40 or so between Norseman and Port Augusta in two days.
I can’t recall seeing any on my previous crossing in January 2006. Read more
Crossing the Nullarbor
We successfully crossed the Nullarbor in two cars with four kids and arrived safely today in Moonta Bay on Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.
We’re resting here a couple of days while waiting for our furniture to catch up. We’ll head to Mount Gambier on Thursday and unpack on Friday.
We bought a house in Moonta Bay last year and will inspect it on Wednesday.
The trip across the Nullarbor was my second. Here are some observations and impressions: Read more
Newspaper mistakes
“Rotary supports bowel cancer” proclaimed the headline in the Golden Mail.
They were writing about the Bowelscan program, which aims to detect and prevent bowel cancer.
In the Kalgoorlie Miner this week we dropped a clanger by describing a vehicle which caught fire as a Holden when in fact it was a Falcon. That’s like calling a Muslim a Catholic.
Holden-loving revheads were quick to point out their fancies never spontaneously combust.
Hoon problem
Western Australia has a hoon problem. It exists everywhere to some extent, I suppose, but I never encountered it in the parts of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia I lived in previously.
Hoon activity can be doing a burnout; dangerous or reckless driving; racing another vehicle, speeding, and accelerating or braking and skidding wildly.
I think it’s fair to say WA is the hoon state of Australia and Kalgoorlie-Boulder is the hoon capital. I saw some figures last year which showed there were more hoon arrests here than anywhere else. Read more
Reward good drivers
I wrote a few weeks ago about the road toll and an idea to reduce it.
I suspect that most traffic-related charges these days result from cameras and ray guns. When was the last time you heard of someone charged with overtaking on double lines, failing to indicate when turning or failing to stop at a stop sign?
And how many times have you seen someone fail to indicate? I see it almost every day on the road.
That’s my rant over with. Read more
Home again
We left Falcon at 9am and arrived home in Kalgoorlie at 6pm. The nine-hour journey was much better than the 13-hour detour we had to endure on the way out because of the highway closure.
I took some back roads this morning via Boddington, Pingelly, Brookton, Corrigin and Narembeen to Merredin. It might have been a little further but wasn’t much longer in time considering we had quite a few stops.
Ah, the joys of travelling with children. Why is it they need a toilet break 10 minutes after you’ve stopped for everyone to relieve themselves? Read more
Traffic lights theory
While on holiday in the highly regulated traffic environment of Mandurah I’ve been testing a theory I developed several years ago.
Have you ever noticed when you’re stuck in a queue at a red light it takes a long time to actually get moving when the light changes? I mean, you would think that if every vehicle in the queue started moving instantly the light turns green, then you’d be on your way immediately.
That’s not the case. According to Michael’s theory of traffic relativity (patent pending), you have to count one second for every vehicle in the line before you’re mobile.
Test it.
The road toll
Bill Tuckey wrote a thought-provoking article in The Australian today about the escalating road toll. He posed the question is there too much emphasis on speeding and drink driving as the cause of road deaths?
I think there is.
I saw some figures recently that police road patrols in Western Australia have reduced at a time the state’s road toll is rising. The government’s response was to say that police action is more targeted.
It’s more targeted towards catching speeders and boosting government revenue. Instead of motorists seeing police on the road, speed cameras are concealed to catch the maximum number of offenders. Read more
Holiday driving
It’s a good idea to avoid the highways during holidays, but not always possible.
As our kids get older we inevitably plan to take holidays at the same time they do. That involves facing heavy traffic on the roads.
My tips for avoiding traffic stress are:
1) Leave early. Hit the road before 7am.
2) Share the driving. Swap drivers every four hours.
3) Plan your stops and avoid unscheduled pullovers.
4) Don’t get agitated.
Going to Esperance we stop at either Norseman or Salmon Gums, but not both. Going to Perth we stop at Merredin or Tammin.
If the traffic is slow or you get stuck behind a road train it’s better to be patient and wait for a decent opportunity to pass.
As a young driver I was pretty reckless. I remember speeding for the sake of it, overtaking inappropriately and worse. I think that’s true of most young males and we can simply count our blessings if we survive from 18-25 without a serious accident.
New vehicle
I took delivery of a new Kia Grand Carnival today. It’s always exciting to get a new vehicle and this was no exception.
It’s too early for me to write anything resembling a review, but so far I am very impressed with the internal space.
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