On the road again

I have always had the habit of glancing at the number plates of the cars that come my way. If they are in your home town you should be a bit more patient with them; they may be having a hard time getting around, and any courtesy you can offer will probably be appreciated. I also check out the number plates when driving interstate. Anyway, on the trip from Canberra to Melbourne, before Christmas, I couldn’t help but notice the number of cars that were overtaking me that had ACT registration numbers. At times, that’s all there was. It seemed as though every car on the road had ACT registration. There seemed to be a mass exodus from Canberra. Maybe Canberra shuts down during the holiday period. I’ve never seen the likes of it.

I’m becoming relatively accustomed to the Hume Highway. I’m also getting to know the sections of the highway where the pot holes are located and able to avoid them by changing lanes beforehand. The Hume carries a lot of traffic, and at times seems over crowded by trucks, which in itself can be a bit daunting, and may well be the main reason for the poor condition of this road.

It is generally always the left lane that is in poor condition. It’s generally the left lane that trucks use. That’s not a coincidence.

Despite the occasional road sign advising drivers to use the left lane, there is no way I’m going to drive in the left lane over ruts and pot holes that are potentially damaging and dangerous on a highway that should be properly maintained. The Hume Highway must be an embarrassment to the NSW government.

I’ve been driving for a few years having had a wide variety of driving experiences. In these few months I have been spending a lot of time on the road. The quality of truck drivers has declined, I’m sorry to say. There will always be idiots on the road. Though, with the following exceptions, most idiots are car drivers rather than truckies. In my experience of maybe 20 or 30 years ago truck drivers were generally good reliable drivers, who were courteous, and friendly on the road. They were something to aspire to. This is not quite the case anymore.

I was on a quiet country road late one evening, and I was shocked and amazed at the antics of two courier truck drivers. I was cruising on the speed limit on a relatively narrow country road, and a truck passed me like I was still in second gear. People speed and that’s okay if the road is up to it, but this particular road didn’t seem suitable for high speed driving; particularly not in a truck. Anyway I didn’t give it much of a thought at that moment, but the experience sticks in my memory because of what happened next.

In under a minute a second truck zoomed past me at much the same speed. It must have been going faster than the first because I could see that it was beginning to gain on the first truck. I was very curious so sped up to see what they were about. These two truck drivers were racing each other. The terrain was gently undulating and I could see the gap between the two trucks narrow as they twisted and turned on the road. Despite the lack of clear visibility the second truck pulled out to pass the first. For some reason it couldn’t overtake and pulled back behind the first; it pulled in so quickly that it wobbled on the road a few times. After a short time it pulled out again and started to overtake. So, here they were, two trucks with about the same engine power, and both drivers pushing them flat out, driving side by side. It took ages for that second truck to get past the first. With so much time on the wrong side of the road I was certain there was going to be a collision. They faded into the distance and I slowed to a reasonable pace. I kept my eyes open for the rest of my trip fully expecting to see the result of this pair’s stupidity. I was expecting to see blood and guts over the road, or hear the sound of an ambulance siren, as one of these two trucks had a head on collision with another vehicle. Fortunately, I saw nothing. Perhaps the collision occurred on some other road they may have turned off on to.

Then of course, you have those sections of the Hume Highway where the two lanes converge into one. And then you’ve got one semi trying to pass the other semi before the road runs out. Of course, every other motorist does this too. But when you see truck drivers behaving badly it seems so wrong. At times it is absolute madness on this road.

And so here I am, driving my little car on a one-lane section of the Hume, determined to keep within the speed limit, and I notice a semi in the distance coming up behind me. Over the next quarter hour or so I notice it getting closer, until all I can see from the rear vision mirror is the radiator grille of this monster. What did this truck driver expect? What goes through the minds of these people? I don’t doubt if the road had been less busy this truck would have overtaken me; I made it wait until the dual carriageway came our way and it shot past. It could have been that some inexperienced motorist might have succumbed to this pressure and driven faster; perhaps faster than they were capable of, which could have been dangerous, or cost them a speeding ticket. Be warned: some trucks have road handling capabilities far superior than some cars, can go a lot faster, and generally, a truck driver will know the road a lot better than you. Don't try and complete.

It’s not hard to work out exactly what’s on the mind of these people. A truck following by half a car-length will certainly put the wind up the motorist. It’s intended to do so. But that won’t be a legitimate excuse if you get caught by police radar for speeding. They want you to speed up. No one want’s 20 tons of truck looming behind you, and they know that. If a roo comes out of the blue and hops across the road in front of you, and you stand on the brake pedal there is no way a truck will stop as quickly as a car. That’s it, you’re gone.

I wouldn’t play the games of speeding up and slowing down, as I’ve done if a car has been following me too closely on multilane roads in the suburbs. Just keep to your guns and the speed limit and drive steadily and reliably, but if it’s all getting too stressful for you pull over when it’s safe to do so and let them through. Don’t make them angry as they may behave worse to the next poor sucker. Put you indicator on to indicate that you are going to shift off the road, but get your revenge by slowing down gradually. Truck drivers hate slowing down; it takes too long for them to speed up again. Perhaps if they realise the only way they can get past motorists is for them to slow significantly while you pull off the road they might be more reasonable in the future by allowing a reasonable distance between vehicles.

Anyway, back in Canberra. What will the new year bring?