Sean Lander is a videographer at CarExpert. He’s additionally very, very pissed off.
Be a part of me, if you’ll, for a second of creativeness. You’re driving down a rustic highway, and the signposted velocity restrict is 100km/h.
Your cruise management and speedometer are studying 100km/h and all is properly. You’re taking within the sights, having fun with our extensive brown land when immediately, you come up behind some plonker doing 90km/h.
“That’s positive” you assume to your self. “An overtaking alternative will seem shortly”, and you agree in for a couple of minutes of laboured driving. Abruptly, the plonker begins pulling away from you.
“Nice, they realised they have been going slowly” you assume, and also you cruise again to 100km/h.
Your cruise management takes over once more and life is nice. However the offending automobile retains pulling away. You frown, however flip consideration again to your podcast (the brand new CarExpert podcast? – Ed.).
Earlier than you already know it, the plonker is again to their previous habits and also you’re again all the way down to 90km/h.
This goes on, repeating like some bizarre glitch within the Matrix, till lastly you come throughout a damaged line and depart them behind.
That is with out query probably the most irritating factor that may occur while you’re protecting an enormous distance. Overlook folks not indicating or tailgating, this takes the cake.
It’s much more irritating on a multi-lane freeway.
Whereas it’s infuriating having to continuously modify your velocity, this apply does spotlight an enormous downside. Inattention.
There’s little question this happens all around the world, however right here in Victoria it appears extra prevalent than wherever else in Australia.
Victorians and automobile velocity have an attention-grabbing relationship. I grew up in New South Wales, which had – by comparability – a extra relaxed stance on rushing. Victorians stay beneath an iron thumb of anti-speeding tyranny.
Only a breath over the velocity restrict will internet you some extent in your licence and some hundred {dollars} in fines.
Earlier than you say it, in a faculty zone any velocity is harmful, so sticking to 40km/h is a should. However while you’re doing 100km/h on a freeway and also you coast down a hill, getting booked for 104km/h is a bit insane.
Due to this, Victorians spend most of their lives beneath the velocity restrict. Nevertheless, complacency appears to be taking maintain.
Travelling in all places extra slowly than vital, drivers are spending extra time their telephones, adjusting their Spotify playlist or, as I witnessed the opposite day, consuming their cereal behind the wheel.
Mirrors are uncared for, as are highway indicators and different autos. Drivers usually assume they’ve a divine proper to be within the quick lane at a velocity they deem enough. If that’s lower than the signposted restrict, too unhealthy for the automobile behind.
Then for no logical purpose, they hit the NOS button and rocket away. Whether or not they realise they have been holding up visitors or simply had a burst of vitality, it is a common sight.
I’m not suggesting there be jail time for the offence, however it ought to include some consequence. The difficulty isn’t even about annoying everybody caught behind the plonker, the difficulty is way broader.
Vehicles are two-tonne bullets, but folks don’t respect that reality.
Dashing shouldn’t be the primary precedence of enforcement businesses. Driver attentiveness needs to be.
On the very least, if everybody used their cruise management and maintained a relentless velocity, we may decrease the carbon footprint of automobiles. And that’s good for everybody.
