Mood:
d'ohTopic: aust govt
Politician demands driver makes right hand turn "just here"? City based Comcar driver stops in the middle of the road thinking a right hand blinker provides adequate protection and warning for traffic behind?
Here is our experience of 6 months living on Wisemans Ferry Rd Cattai in the Hawkesbury in 2009 (where the sand trucks barrel along to the sandmines at Maroota via Pitt Town). And we already had 5 years delivery driving cars and vans around the inner city, with license for 25 years and no crashes.
Whenever you slow down on a country road with fast traffic and apply the right hand indicator - in our case most every day returning home - this ambiguously suggests you are encouraging an overtake on your right. Like a gesture you want to drive below the speed limit. If they do overtake and you do turn right your driver door will connect with their bumper bar and quite possibly instant death.
You have two much safer choices than relying on the correct interpretation of an ambiguous right hand blinker, as you approach your right hander:
1. The best method is put your hazard lights and start slowing down 200 metres from the right turn. This will cause the traffic behind to slow right down behind you every time. They will be wondering if you have an engine failure or there another danger like animal on the road. Traffic further behind will slow down on the brake lights in front. They key is to do this gradually and well before the turn, avoiding any necessity to actually stop. Then you will have enough time to turn right well clear of traffic behind when you switch from hazards to right indicator. It seems like alot of fuss for simple right turn but it's heaps safer.
2. Indicate left and pull over to the left and stop leaving the open road for the traffic behind. This is not always as easy as it sounds because inevitably there will be 2 wheels on gravel and you want a spot with real clearance on the road's edge. Once there wait for traffic to pass then make wide turn right across both lanes of the road, watching out for any new oncoming traffic in the meantime.
There is nothing like a sand truck up your *rse on a country road on a down hill incline where the trucks go faster than your 1989 Ford Corolla sedan to clarify safe turning method!
