TheAustralianOutbackisreallyhuge,andthishasgivenrisetotheimportanthand-wavingrule.Becauseyoumightnotseeanothercarforhoursatatime,it’spoliteandcustomarytowaveateverycaryousee.
ThisisfineintheOutback,butwhenyougetintoatownitcanbeveryhardnottocontinuewavingateverycaryousee.This,however,isnotadvisableasitcanbeveryhardtosteerwhenconstantlywaving.Asyoudrivetowardsincreasinglyurbanareas,youmightliketobearinmindthefollowing:
MelbourneDrivingEtiquette
InMelbournetherearetramseverywhereslowingdownthetrafficandgenerallyannoyingeveryonewhich,whilstquaint,areadeptatstoppingyoufromgettingtoworkontime.It’sgenerallyregardedaspoliteifwhenbehindatramthatisstoppingyoualsostop,anddon’tseizetheopportunitytoovertakeontheinsidelanetogetinfrontoftheslowmovingannoyance.Infact,morethanetiquette,thisisalawwhichisaimedatstoppingdriversfromrunningoverinnocentpedestriansastheyunwittinglydisembark.
TheproblemwiththeaboveisthatinMelbournenobodywantstostop.Everybodyseemstoberunningtwohourslateforeverything,andasadirectconsequenceyoucanneverswaplanesortaketurnoffs.Also,youcan’taskfordirectionswhilststoppedintraffic,becauseeveryoneistoobusyswearingintotheirmobilephones.
DrivingetiquetteinMelbournecanbesummedupasfollows:dowhateveryoudamnwelllike(exceptrunningoverpedestrians),justdoitwithconviction,otherwisethosepeopleswearingintotheirmobilephoneswillstartswearingatyou.Andthenyou’lldefinitelyneverbeabletochangelanes.
PerthDrivingEtiquette
Themastermindswhodesignedinner-cityPerthdecidedthatwhatwasreallyneededwasawholeloadofone-waystreetsandtwopedestrianmalls.Therefore,ifyouseedriversfrothingatthemouth,withglazed-overeyes,andgrippingthesteeringwheelwithwhite-knuckledhands,theyareprobablytryingtogettosomewherethatisimpossibletoapproachfromthatangle,andarenowtryingtofindtheTownHallsotheycandrivetheircarstraightthroughthefrontdoortoregistertheirdiscontent.
Asifthatwasn’tbadenough,thesamemastermindshavejustreversedthedirectionsofmanyoftheseone-waystreets.It’snowquiteanadventuretodriveinthecitybecausethechancesofendingupwhereyouwantedtogoarequiteremote,soyoucanspendyourtimetryingtowipeoutthosepeskybicyclecourierswhoflitabouteverywhere.
Thus,inPerth,fewrulesapply.Whenparking,particularlyintheparallelparkingbaysalongthebeach-front(forexample,inCottesloe)parkascloseaspossibletothecarinfrontofyou,tomakeitjustthatmuchharderforthemtogetoutoftheparkingbay.Thisisespeciallyimportantifyouarethelastcarinthelongline,andhaveplentyofspacebehindyou.
