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driving Toxic Custard newsletter

Stay in your lane

Intersections on curves can be tricky. Even slight curves. Every time I pass the Astor on Dandenong Road in a car, particularly eastbound, I watch what happens. It’s not uncommon for vehicles to veer into the next lane over as they cross Chapel Street. Usually, thankfully there’s nobody in the way. This morning it happened  ... [More]

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driving

Time for a car upgrade?

I’m thinking it might be time to upgrade my car at some stage soon. Some people turn them over every few years. Not me — I’ve been driving a 2000 model Astra hatchback since 2008, almost nine years. The previous car was a 1993 Magna, which I had from 1998 to 2008. Of course, I  ... [More]

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driving Toxic Custard newsletter

Learning to drive

Masters Hardware couldn’t launch a viable business against Bunnings, and only a couple of years after launching, have closed up all their outlets. As this photo shows, they also couldn’t construct a functioning pedestrian crossing: No wonder Masters is in trouble – they couldn't even design a pedestrian crossing that goes anywhere. pic.twitter.com/CN8JFL9yHk — Daniel  ... [More]

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driving Toxic Custard newsletter transport walking

Why is this road rule never enforced?

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I see a lot of motorists blocking intersections, including pedestrian crossings. Here’s road regulation 128: Entering blocked intersections A driver must not enter an intersection if the driver cannot drive through the intersection because the intersection, or a road beyond the intersection, is blocked. Penalty:  ... [More]

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driving walking

Pedestrians in the car park – often there’s no choice

I sometimes wonder if motorists driving in and out of car parks get irritated by pedestrians walking through. Often the pedestrians have no choice. These pictures are from Caulfield Plaza – with the major drawcard inside being the Coles supermarket. There is obvious pedestrian traffic from the railway station and the university campus to the  ... [More]

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driving

Don’t park on a yellow line

I’ve often thought that we have too many parking restriction signs in Melbourne. Some streets have them every few metres. One way around that is to use line markings. As a long-time watcher of British TV, I’m somewhat familiar with yellow lines: single (roughly: no parking no stopping at specific times, but with some exceptions),  ... [More]

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driving Morons on the road Toxic Custard newsletter transport

The Montague Street bridge strikes again

It used to be that the fashionable bridge for high vehicles to crash into was the Spencer/Flinders Street rail overpass — eleven hits in five years. But it’s been usurped by the Montague Street tram bridge. At lunchtime on Tuesday I went down to have a look. Certainly no shortage of warnings signs. In this  ... [More]

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driving Toxic Custard newsletter

I TOLD YOU, DON’T PARK ON THE FOOTPATH!

(Yeah nah I didn’t really damage the car with my sneaker. Apparently it was damaged in a collision on Wednesday night, and left at the scene, presumably for later towing. Hopefully nobody was hurt.)

Categories
driving Toxic Custard newsletter

Thoughts from the road

I don’t drive as much as many people (my average kilometres per year figure is about half the national average), but here are some recent random observations… Seat belts. Why do some people wait for a few hundred metres before they put on their seatbelts? Do they think they’re somehow immune from accidents for the  ... [More]

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driving

Keep clear: Pedestrians walking!

I was pleased to see a couple of articles on page 5 of the May 2014 City of Glen Eira council newsletter, about the rights of pedestrians on footpaths. The first notes the rules around keeping footpaths clear: Clearing the way for walking During community consultation for Glen Eira City Council’s Walking Strategy, various concerns  ... [More]

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driving

Rego stickers are *so* last year

Lots of cars still seem to have rego stickers on them, even though they are being phased-out — you haven’t needed to have one on your car since the end of last year. …from 1 January 2014, Victoria will abolish registration labels for light vehicles, including passenger cars. … How will people know when they  ... [More]

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Morons on the road transport

Elizabeth Street tram works / #RoadMorons invade the Bourke Street Mall

Works on the new Elizabeth Street tram platform stops are going full steam ahead. This is significant, because with the rollout of the new E-class trams onto route 96, it’s expected some low-floor trams will be available for the first time on Elizabeth Street, at last providing accessible services from the CBD to the Hospital  ... [More]