Double lines

The winding sections of the Tasman Hwy, which goes up the east coast of
Tasmania, have been getting new paintwork. Many possible overtaking areas
that had dotted lines are now double-lines.

This means that the places where cars can legally overtake slow vehicles are
being reduced to the straight, flat safe stretches. That would be fine, but
the slow vehicles speed up to 100/110 on the 'safe, secure' bits, and you
have to speed to get past them. Naturally, those are the places where speed
cameras and radar are concentrated, so at best only a couple of cars get
past before the queue gets held up again.

The net result seems to be that there are long (by our standards) queues of
cars all tailgating at about 30kmh below the limit, too scared to pass, and
getting more and more frustrated. I predict some massive pile-ups as a
direct result of this "road-safety".

Bikes are still able to pass (illegally) pretty well anywhere by breaking
the law and crossing double lines in the hills, but it won't be long before
the cars start doing it too.

The only benefit is that once you're past the slow vehicle, you've got a lot
of empty road to play with before the next bunch.

 

Yeah - I've noticed more and more of this happening. It's almost like
they assume that if dotted lines are there then we _will_ pass
regardless of safety, instead of "there are dotted lines, if it is
safe and your vehicle is capable of passing, you may do so".

Some of the "don't pass areas" are getting absurd, yet you turn up on
a different road and the area marked as OK to pass, I wouldn't attempt
even on the Busa ...

Came down that way last weekend from Coles Bay. Seems at least the
Bust Me Gall hill resurface is cleaning up nicely.

Cheers



-------------
Kevin Gleeson
Technical Director
Blue Rocket Productions
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
www.blue-rocket.com.au

 

Just spent a pleasant few weeks back in Tassie at Hellyer with family. The
Wynyard-Stanley section sucks more big time now the log truck traffic has
increased and some OK passing spots have been marked out.

Other dumb place has always been the Wynyard bypass. Buggers me why it's a
constant curve (obviously cheaper) making eastbound passing
interesting/impossible.

 

Double-white-line-itus is a rampant disease in S.E. Queensland too.
--
Clem

(snip)

 

Welcome to Victoria !!!
When was Tassie annexed?
Wait till you get the rest of the "Safety" measures

pete

 

conehead wrote in

Seeing as how most of us ignore solid lines, I can't see any problem.
If it's safe, go past.

 

Somewhere on a Federal Gov.Transport site, there was a statement to the
effect that the speed limits were too fast for the concentration of traffic
on roads in Aust.

The agreed Fed/States solution was to slow down the speed of the traffic,
so as to cope with the congestion without accidents, as the quality &
quantity of road maintenance was deliberately being underfunded to sustain
the higher speed limits, due to lack of funds to allocated to transport
inferstructure.

If the higher speed limits + increasing traffic = accidents= increased calls
for funding (Black Spot fixes).

Logically, by stopping overtaking from happening by placing double lines
where 'overtaking' smashes may occur, Government doesn't have to fund road
improvements, because there will be no accidents.

Hence to lock in the non overtaking, place speed camera's etc in the only
overtaking places.
Those who speed, and silly enough get caught, only add to the revenue
stream, end of story.

So the brainwashing, about "every K over is a killer" crap.

The Governments of Aust. do NOT know how to fund road replacement across the
board.
When was the last time anyone can remember seeing a main road in any capital
city being ploughed up with a grader down to the road base and the road re
built, rather than patched and a overseal applied ?
Then multiply the cost and traffic dislocation across the Nation, and the
mind boggles.

So get out the Man with the red flag & lantern, or tell the Pollies that you
are prepared to pay more tax to fund safer higher speed roads, to return the
traffic concentration back to the levels of 40 + years ago.

30 years ago, you were lucky to see a car up the Mt Nebo Rd in Brisbane once
every hour on a Sunday, now every few minutes, you are passing other
vehicles in the opposite direction so it seems.

Gov.Answer: paint more double lines, police it to the limit, and the problem
will go away!
And remember that Canberra holds all the purse strings, and the States will
do as they are told, or lose funding, and no state will do that will they
now?. So paint flows in all states, on all roads.

Rob.

 

You still don't get it ... Victoria is a Tasmanian colony. Read the
history books. The original Victorian settlers gave up in disgust and
went to Tassy. It took them about 30 years to work up the courage to
come back to this dump.

Cheers
Goaty

 

Well if you want a "capital city" example, Spencer street, southbound, north
of Latrobe St. That's probably less than 1.5 km from the GPO

Nev..
'03 ZX12R
'02 CBR1100XX

 

And you know exactly why, too:
Cascade still makes good beer

Now, that the stuff get's imported into Vic...

cheers
pete

 

That would make Tasmania a Victorian colony wouldn't it?

Nev..
'03 ZX12R
'02 CBR1100XX

 

Must have been really stuffed,or were they digging up the tram tracks, and I
meant in recent time, not when your mother pushed you in a prambulator.
Rob.

 

My map doesn't show any tram tracks north of LaTrobe St.. and I was talking
about last week

Nev..
'03 ZX12R
'02 CBR1100XX

 

Are there still trams in Flinders Lane?

 

conehead wrote:

Of course, have been for many years.

Moike
(ex-connie)

 

Only if they had a continuing settlement in Vic. The absence of such
just makes it a mistake!

Cheers
Goaty

 

glitch1 said....

gl> And you know exactly why, too:
gl> Cascade still makes good beer

gl> Now, that the stuff get's imported into Vic...

Which "Cascade"? I have a headache today because of Cascade Premium,
which a mate who lives on the Gold Coast, makes at the CUB brewery
there. That and the light, which I should've drunk last night....