Quality Of Australian Drivers

[Kozeyekan]

Ok, so I admit that I thought Australian drivers were amongst the worst in the world. We sometimes forget to indicate, some people do not check blind spots, or pull into lanes at inconvenient times.

I have recently rethought this, however now that I am in Brasil.

The whole of South America´s road rules can be summed up with "Get there before the next guy" .

Seatbelts are optional. So too is indicating, selecting lanes (The lines on the road are just guidelines, good drivers don't need them, one cabbie told me) tailgating is the norm, dodging pedestrians is a game and the footpath is often a short cut. I wish I could say that it's only Brasil, but it´s all over South america. It was the same in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay seemed to be the sort of lawless country where blinkers were seen as a sign of weakness, and driving up a one way street as a challenge that should be undertaken at every opportunity.

So, the point of all this is for people to know that us Aussies don~t come off so bad on a global level in terms of driving. Sure the Germans might be better, but they're still Germans.

Can someone form an insurance company please take note and drop my premiums now please?

[sickem555]

Ok, so I admit that I thought Australian drivers were amongst the worst in the world. We sometimes forget to indicate, some people do not check blind spots, or pull into lanes at inconvenient times.

I have recently rethought this, however now that I am in Brasil.

The whole of South America´s road rules can be summed up with "Get there before the next guy" .

Seatbelts are optional. So too is indicating, selecting lanes (The lines on the road are just guidelines, good drivers don't need them, one cabbie told me) tailgating is the norm, dodging pedestrians is a game and the footpath is often a short cut. I wish I could say that it's only Brasil, but it´s all over South america. It was the same in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay seemed to be the sort of lawless country where blinkers were seen as a sign of weakness, and driving up a one way street as a challenge that should be undertaken at every opportunity.

So, the point of all this is for people to know that us Aussies don~t come off so bad on a global level in terms of driving. Sure the Germans might be better, but they're still Germans.

Can someone form an insurance company please take note and drop my premiums now please?

Well if you think they are bad go to India or even China, there does not seen to be any Road Rules

Cheers

Andrew

P.S Hope ur enjoying ur trip m8

[DivHunter]

China they are just trying to get there before the car tears in half.

[khunjeng]

I have driven in thailand and malaysia and singapore for many months when i worked and lived in those countires.

initially they seem to have no idea...but once you in the zone you see that their system is actually way more advanced.

In KL for example...you can cut some1 off to merge with little or no drama...its expected. I had no experiences with road rage etc in any of those places and believe me i was doing crazy stuff with my wicked lease cars...haha

persoanlly...when i got back to Melbourne and then live din Syndey for another 6 moths...i found ppl here to be annoying and aggressive...

So there you go.

Oh and btw in Thailand i used to drive my S class merc at 250 on the expressway...was pulled over a few time..$10 later...on I go again...no drama....now tell me that isn't the way to go

[Gazee]

I was under the impression that over seas its first in best dressed... no one waits for no one lol

[West]

I've raced (street race, only 250cc ) motorbike in Vietnam, Thailand. If you have a dead wish, drive in Asia but its fkin fun ,

[Ska]

Rush hour in downtown Bombay (now called Mumbai) was interesting, wierd because at a red light everyone turns thier cars off, and like a second before it goes green, everyone starts up and rpm limiter heaven and the BAM we're off and racing!

[JulzR32]

Yeh the driving in china is...different...

once in a airport shuttle taxi we went the wrong way up a one way bike lane full of cyclists, this was next to a main road too! was quite exhilerating tho!

[KamikazeR33]

u think thats bad, try driving on the moon! no road rules there n u can even play some "capture the flag"

[Evil]

south america is shocking... i drove from santiago to the south of chile on a road trip and could believe the drivers... if your at a red light and don't start moving before it goes green other drive start honking...

[ziad]

i think australia is quite an easy driving country. there are rules and almost every one follows them. other countried, wether they are in asia, europe or africa (and america) are quite a fair bit more lawless.

in pakistan, its a three lane road and u will generally see atleast 5 cars parked side by side plus a few donkey carts, motorbikes, cyclists. people will generally go the wrong way a one way main road or side street if it means that they save a few meters and seconds of the drive. compound it with the numbers of cars/busses/every thing else increasing practially every week. it appears that every road is a traffic jam.

if you honk someone cuz he is riding his cycle or walking in the middle of the road they dont even flinch its like they are walking in the garden of eden.

italy and france and england are all same. i have seen really funny thing in bankok and KL etc.

[Omurru]

Well if you think they are bad go to India or even China, there does not seen to be any Road Rules

I lived in china for a few years when i was younger due to dad's work. his company wouldn't allow us to drive there they deemed it to dangerous so we had our own personal driver we'd ring when we wanted to go somewhere

[lvlong]

lol i was in a overcrowded bus in VietNam. The "highway" is just wide enuf to fit 2 buses ( 2 ways traffic). Ppl drying their rice n vege on the side of the road so it got narrow down to 1.5 lanes. Also there were metal sheets in the middle of the road ( so the cars can straighten them when driving over it) . The scariest bit is everytime a truck/bus approaching , it looks like we are going to have a head on collision but somehow they swerve at the last second and avoided it.

i heard they have over a hundred death per DAY from traffic accidents.

[adznight]

Indonesia and Thailand are crazy too! REALLY crazy!

[R32Big_boy]

Thailand FTW!!! let others know where you are in their blind spot by honking your horn. it was some crazy shit over there.

[Taso84]

In ITaly and Greece, its particularly bad

[Kozeyekan]

Just saw something else funny.

On street parking is very crowded, so people parallel park, but do it literally bumper to bumper.

They get parallel behind someone, and then turn the car off and push it until it is resting against the bumper of the car in front of them, then they give their cell phone number to a ´parking inspector´(both official ones and unofficial ones) and they get a call when they need to move out.

Initially, I was dissapointed with the lack of skylines here, or nissan, toyota or mazda in general. The ´ricer´cars are all peugeut´s, fiats (!), or audi´s. Most cars are chevrolet´s though. Not inspiring.

However, I soon saw the bright side in this lack of japanese fibreglass on the roads, as almost all cars have some very sad looking panel damage. Maybe it~s part of the skyline conservation effort that none are in Rio.

Makes me feel better about it anyway. Takes my mind off the fact that my little brother might find my keys while Im away and take my gts-4 for a spin.

Óh, and to anyone planning to come to brasil, what they say about Brasillian women is 100% true.

The average Aussie bikini could make a dozen brasillian ones. Not only do they wear small bikinis all around Rio, but they actually like it when guys are caught staring at them.

Speaking of which... gotta go...

[khunjeng]

Just saw something else funny.

On street parking is very crowded, so people parallel park, but do it literally bumper to bumper.

They get parallel behind someone, and then turn the car off and push it until it is resting against the bumper of the car in front of them, then they give their cell phone number to a ´parking inspector´(both official ones and unofficial ones) and they get a call when they need to move out.

Initially, I was dissapointed with the lack of skylines here, or nissan, toyota or mazda in general. The ´ricer´cars are all peugeut´s, fiats (!), or audi´s. Most cars are chevrolet´s though. Not inspiring.

However, I soon saw the bright side in this lack of japanese fibreglass on the roads, as almost all cars have some very sad looking panel damage. Maybe it~s part of the skyline conservation effort that none are in Rio.

Makes me feel better about it anyway. Takes my mind off the fact that my little brother might find my keys while Im away and take my gts-4 for a spin.

Óh, and to anyone planning to come to brasil, what they say about Brasillian women is 100% true.

The average Aussie bikini could make a dozen brasillian ones. Not only do they wear small bikinis all around Rio, but they actually like it when guys are caught staring at them.

Speaking of which... gotta go...

fark mate..bout to head off to work and have meetings. dont make me upset..rio ftw baby.

[RCHOO]

I was under the impression that over seas its first in best dressed... no one waits for no one lol

I found in Indonesia that the right of way came on whos horn was louder.

eg..

Truck horn loud , Motor bike not so loud bike gives way to truck

[Jordan]

I have driven in thailand and malaysia and singapore for many months when i worked and lived in those countires.

initially they seem to have no idea...but once you in the zone you see that their system is actually way more advanced.

In KL for example...you can cut some1 off to merge with little or no drama...its expected. I had no experiences with road rage etc in any of those places and believe me i was doing crazy stuff with my wicked lease cars...haha

Manilla - Philippines. Exactly the same thing there. Didnt get a change to drive myself but its just so logical and straight forward. Scared sh*t out of my wife though, but she got used to it eventually

Oh and btw in Thailand i used to drive my S class merc at 250 on the expressway...was pulled over a few time..$10 later...on I go again...no drama....now tell me that isn't the way to go

Same, police get payed crap-all, so a little honest corruption is tolerable