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What is the government doing?

Honestly, when the new government came to power, I thought that it was going to be a change for the better. That fresh blood would mean new ideas, ideas that would make a difference to the country. It seems not.
Close to where we live, we have had a bridge extension built - it was clearly done to keep people in jobs, instead of being done because it was needed. The problem here is congestion, the only solution is to provide people with an alternative means to get to work that would keep them out of the CBD. Not exactly rocket science, but to keep people in jobs, we built another bridge. That by itself seems to have been a bit of a nightmare as well, part of the bridge build was automatic tolls - you can't pay with money, and instead have to pay within three days - how the hell is that ever going to work, for those that are visiting the area? Even if the automated system worked flawlessly this is a silly idea, but it didn't so instead people who could not get hold of the tags to allow the automation to work got through the tolls for free. Well planned and executed. Kind of a bit of a waste of money was that, wasn't it?

So, here's the thing, why instead of building a bridge and a tunnel, to get yet more traffic into the city, don't we build an underground rail network, and get people to park outside of the CBD, and commute in? If the tickets are reasonable prices, and the service has decent coverage, and runs on time, then that is going to both raise revenues, and solve the problem. And there's the thing, the problem appears to be with a complete lack of lateral thinking.

What the hell is going on??

Well, I keep seeing advertisements on the TV telling me that the state's economy is in great condition because of all these projects that we have created to keep people in work. Whilst I think that that is commendable, if we have traffic congestion, is a tunnel or a bridge going to fix the problem? No. Have we spent a lot of money keeping people in work, instead of spending a lot of money getting the right solution? Yes!

It would have been much better to bite the bullet and spend all that money on a decent public transport system, such as an underground train system. Personally Id much prefer to not have to drive first thing in the morning, when I'm tired, if I can slump on a train, and get to where I want to go to, in decent time.

We might have kept people in jobs, but come on, that is not justification for wasting money.

And another thing, what happened to improving broadband in the country. There's something else that would have a profound long term effect on the income of the country. Amazes me, it really does!

Car Indicators

Hey!

My pet hate - car indicators, and signalling when drivers are driving.

Surely if indicators are supposed to be used in the way that they are, then they should be called 'confirmers' instead?
Seriously, what is the point in driving up to a junction, braking, so the car behind is wondering why you're braking, then finally figures it out, you're turning, then you put the indicator on? Is that supposed to cut the incidence of accidents?

Also, and this only illustrates the lack of consideration, is a driver indicating when nobody is near and nothing can affect them. This just shows that it is a reaction to a thought impulse and not a conscious decision to actually indicate intention.

I find it annoying when you're forced to drive someone else's car for them, because they can't be bothered to think about other road users.

Look around while driving, all around, so you're sure that someone needs indicating to, or if there is not room, indicate and wait for the space. If people did that, generally there would be so much less road rage, since people wouldn't cut in because they're not looking properly, and people would not cause others into any extreme manoeuvre to avoid an unsignalled intention.

Life would be so much easier - so who is with me?

ANZAC Day

Really enjoyed watching some of the documentaries on television on ANZAC day. It really makes you think about what people went through in their lives, so that we can have nice easy ones.
This particular documentary was about Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop, who did some amazing things during the second world war, but also thereafter. You imagine people such as him to be people from 'ordinary' backgrounds doing extraordinary things. This man won many awards whilst studying medicine, was a champion boxer, played for the national rubgy team, The Wallabies.
Before joining the army, and doing the amazing things he did, this man had already done more than most people would achieve in their lives.

The man chose to stay in Java, Indonesia, and became a prisoner of war, because he didn't want to leave his patients. He used his position as a doctor as well as being an officer to get the Japanese keeping them prisoner to agree to things, or prevent them from killing the prisoners, as was the case with Bill Griffiths.
Sir Edward kept alive a lot of his colleagues who were literally overworked and underfed, and often beaten by the Japanese keeping them prisoner, for relatively minor things. The man himself appeared to have suffered a few beatings during his time in the prisoner of war camp, for standing up for his friends.

This man put himself in danger so many times to take part in smuggling in medical supplies to keep his friends well.

Absolutely amazing to watch what the man went through, and the conditions that he and his friends went through, so that they could serve out their time during the war as prisoners.

Makes you realise how lucky you are as a free individual, and how things like work worries are really nothing much at all, and pale in comparison.

That Drives me mad!

I see clipping from the government of plans to increase learner driver training hours, force the display of learner and probationary plates and so on, in an attempt to cut down on young driver accidents on the roads. I think these ideas are great, but what happens once the driver is out of the probationary period, who will their role models then be?

What I'm getting at here, in the complete lack of courtesy most drivers exhibit when driving. It's a case of squeeze through on an undertaking manouvre, and overtaking manouvre or whatever is required to get the overtaking car's nose in front of the other car. What happened to merging traffic giving way?

When I learnt to drive, part of the rules were that you had to give way, that when you pull out into traffic, you are not to slow the progress of traffic, and also when someone is nice enough to let you in, generally it is good form to wave thanks to them. Perhaps if drivers are taught to be courteous that will slow down the onset of road rage?

I still haven't found the section in a driver handbook that states that the driver of a V8 automatically has right of way, no matter how late that driver leaves the overtaking, over any driver of a 4 cylinder car.

Indicators, now there's a misunderstood tool. My driving instructor, and my driving handbook told me that when I intended to make a manouvre, I should put my indicator on, in enough time to show the drivers nearby that I was intending to do just that. My next task was to check if the way was clear, and finally if it was, to complete the manouvre and cancel the indicator. What I see is the indicator used as a right of way signal, or worse still put on for such a small time that it is almost a rebuke. Personally I blame that on guidance in driver handbooks that say that you should always signal, as that gets the driver into a habit of signalling without considering any further. If the driver had instead to figure out if the way was clear by looking over their shoulder first, then deciding if the signal was required, they would be much less likely to be driving inconsiderately. This is more the way of advanced drivers, and I think that it is good to involve the thought process instead of stating that something should always happen without regard for it's usefulness.

Tailgating - now that's just plain stupid. People should be stopped for doing that, if you don't leave a two second gap at least, and you're caught by police, you should be fined. That's an accident waiting to happen, and therefore is premeditated.

Whilst driving at speed is dangerous, I think the extreme manouvres, tailgating, not indicating and the like are much more dangerous. Perhaps if people improved in these areas, then the speeding would not be as necessary, and road rage would be so much less, as people simply wouldn't get stressed.

Before anyone asks, no, I'm not some old person at all. In my past I did sucessfully complete and advanced driving course, the same as the police drivers have to do. It really does teach you some good things, including how to control the car properly, and avoid accidents before they even get a chance to occur. Of late, I have found that I am forced to use those skills more and more to get myself out of the way of some bad driver who thinks that they're good doing stupid things on the road.

You can't force idiots to do advanced courses, as they'd do it, then only take what they wanted to from it, and thus probably be more dangerous than before. However, I do think that it would be good to be able to punish these people for making everyone else drive in a much more stresses state because of the stupid few.

I also think that it's about time the road layouts were changed instead of these extra lanes appearing then disappearing in such a way that they give these idiots the idea that they can hammer through the small space easily. Those lanes should be for left or right turnsonly, and anyone doing overtaking in them should be penalized.