100/110 over long distances = carnage

[brismike]

Originally Posted by dylancox

Wow.. i thought Brisbane to Melbourne is around 1800km and you did that in a day? Took the backroads? or else you would have taken about 22 hours or something crazy like that

I agree ... My TomTom calculates it as 1679kms and estimates it as an 18hr 46min non stop drive using fastest route. Surely you would have to stop for a pee and food somewhere lol?

I have done Bris to Mel a few times too and we always stopover at a motel in Dubbo which is about half way. Trying to do that distance in one day is almost guaranteed to kill you eventually.

[tezxr8man]

yesterday i made the trip from The Gold Coast to Townsville without to much fuss or inconvenience, i think 120kph is easily manageable on the main highways and black spots shouldn't have slower speed limits as it makes the problem worse, if the road is buggered it should be fixed! i saw a few times a sign saying there was potholes in the road instead of the problem being fixed, really the ball has been dropped and people should be sacked if that is a good idea in their mind

[UNR8D]

Originally Posted by brismike

I agree ... My TomTom calculates it as 1679kms and estimates it as an 18hr 46min non stop drive using fastest route. Surely you would have to stop for a pee and food somewhere lol?

I have done Bris to Mel a few times too and we always stopover at a motel in Dubbo which is about half way. Trying to do that distance in one day is almost guaranteed to kill you eventually.

yes because tom tom is always correct :P

it will kill me will it?... WHY... id love to hear why I will die because I judge what im capable of and what I'm comfortable doing on a regular basis?... I didnt fall off the road or die while driving 3000+ ks a week driving limos... or doing 7000km in 7 days on my last road trip to melb via broken hill/silverton.....

[fmc351]

Originally Posted by UNR8D

yes because tom tom is always correct :P

It is only 1,600 odd km down the middle through Dubbo, Parkes, Sheparton etc.

Why will it kill you? Will is a strong word as it implies a definite. However, there have been many, many truck drivers, professionals, who have died falling asleep because they knew what they could do, they had done it many many times before, and knew their limits, until that point it hadnt killed them. Apparently everyone knows their limits, some arent lucky enough to have the chance to realise that is never true.

You only die once, therefore saying it never killed you before is really disingenuous. Its not like heartburn, a vindaloo never gave me heartburn before, you can always take a quickeaze when you find out this time you were wrong.

[20focus05]

done adelaide to townsville 36 hours
used to do Orange to Adelaide in 13 with a couple of stops at night (shift worker then, it was my awake time and big spotties)

[joolz]

Originally Posted by barra265t

What if the bloke was overtaking at the time, but doing 'the right thing' by sticking to the speed limit while overtaking. Poor bloke trying to obey the law but costing him his life and two others?

On that note why is so the idiots on a 2 way Fwy will do 90-95 km/h and as soon as an over taking lane opens up..... Wham thay do 105km/h... Sucks so bad especially when vic cops patrol the main safe place to overtake is when you over take the idiots that simply cannot drive!!!

[ltd]

I love the comments under the article, I think this guy sums it up nicely.

Richard Brown of Rosebud Posted at 5:58 PM October 23, 2010
They'll blame speed...and put another speed camera up...do you need to ask?

Fatigue management is indeed a pre-requisite of any long duration drive. You must prepare your body for the hours of sitting and being bored, so strong coffee, food and NO deadlines. If you need to be somewhere by a set time then leave earlier and have a margin to be able to have a nap if needed.

That said, the best thing I've found on long journeys where I've covered thousands of miles is a crew-rest complete with beds. This one time (not at band camp), I literally got on board, sat in the jump seat for the takeoff then went to the crew rest to sleep for four hours. I tell you, there's some days where your the statue; but other days when you get to be the pigeon.

As for higher speed limits, they're safer for those who know how to drive. I'm sure many of us can do a higher speed and will do well at it, but I'm also sure that many others will struggle and become moving roadblocks that incite the stupid behaviour we see now. To illustrate my point, take a look at a Camry. Do you mean to tell me that the driver of such engineering mediocrity is capable of doing 110; let alone 150km/h? I shudder at the thought.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by ltd

To illustrate my point, take a look at a Camry. Do you mean to tell me that the driver of such engineering mediocrity is capable of doing 110; let alone 150km/h? I shudder at the thought.

Says they guy who spends his day playing xbox in the clouds.....

[ltd]

Originally Posted by flappist

Says they guy who spends his day playing xbox in the clouds.....

Please. You and I both know it's only minutes in the clouds, and it's a playstation. We fly on top and don't particularly support microsoft either.

[XR6TCraig]

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

A 2800km trip one way would not doubt need at least 5 refills of fuel in a 60lt tank in a car whick burns 10lt/100km. An average of $300 for fuel alone.
Plus say $90 for a motel, not to mention food etc....
wear and tear on the car....
the fact your tired by the time you get there..
and the time wasted...

You didn't do the math on what it would take to fly a family of 4 the same distance, plus then hire a car for the two weeks you were visiting said location. Work it out and all of a sudden you will realise that driving is a much cheaper exercise for families.

I just returned from Brissy with my wife and two kids. Its 1000klm each way. We drove down in one day and back in one day so no Motel bills. It cost me approx $140 in fuel each way, so less than $300 up and back.

Wear and tear is neglegible as it is only 2000klm. You would do that going to work for a month and I was gone for 3 weeks.

Food bill is not worth even considering because believe it or not, we eat every day whether driving or not, so the food bill is there regardless.

To fly would have cost anywhere from $1000-$1800, plus then I would have had to pay for a hire care for the 18 days I was there, which would have probably cost me at least $1000, unless I HIRED A GETZ, which isnt exactly a hire car. All of a sudden, driving seems pretty cheap!

It would be even better if the roads were constructed well enough for us to sit on 150klm the whole way. The fuel bill would go up but my sanity would be much more intact than t is having two screaming kids in the car for 12 hours each way. Thank god for the headrest mounted DVD players!

[UNR8D]

Originally Posted by fmc351

It is only 1,600 odd km down the middle through Dubbo, Parkes, Sheparton etc.

Why will it kill you? Will is a strong word as it implies a definite. However, there have been many, many truck drivers, professionals, who have died falling asleep because they knew what they could do, they had done it many many times before, and knew their limits, until that point it hadnt killed them. Apparently everyone knows their limits, some arent lucky enough to have the chance to realise that is never true.

You only die once, therefore saying it never killed you before is really disingenuous. Its not like heartburn, a vindaloo never gave me heartburn before, you can always take a quickeaze when you find out this time you were wrong.

Yes im off to get some “bubble wrap” to curl up in because crossing the road to work someone one day might not stop at the red and kill me...... YAWN.

Driving professionals can make mistakes like any other human in existence, however I would hazard a guess they know how to better manage their body’s and driving ability to suit the conditions then mr/mrs smith whose annual trip consists of a 200k trip to Noosa, if driving for more than 2 hours kills then our road toll would be insane.

you see, stoping every 2 hours would drive me MENTAL so for my own sanity I drive until I need fuel, stop rest have food then drive again its what SUITS ME, others are different as I have said.

there is RISK with what ever you do in life and there are those that take more risks than others, imp not saying that you have to drive 1000k a day and enjoy it like how I do but in the same sentence im never going to while I can comfortably do it stop every 2 hours because NANNY state told me to.

[flappist]

Does anyone else find it confusing that only 30 years ago it was perfectly safe to:

Drive a 1970s car at 160km/h for 1000km.
Drink full strength beer.
Hunt with an automatic rifle.
Wander around an airport and look at the aircraft.
Play on park gymnasiums with bare feet and no sun hat.
Ride in the back of a ute, truck or panelvan.
Drive at a blood alcohol level of 0.799.
Ride motorcycles in the bush or forestry.
Set up your own water tank or build your own shed.
Fish out of a tinny 100 yards offshore without $10,000 worth of safety gear.
Move a tractor from one paddock to another without $150 permit.
Camp on the side of the road.
Light a campfire on a beach.
etc. etc. ad nausium....

Now we are all just afraid of everything.......bloody pathetic really.

[dylancox]

Originally Posted by flappist

Does anyone else find it confusing that only 30 years ago it was perfectly safe to:

Drive a 1970s car at 160km/h for 1000km.
Drink full strength beer.
Hunt with an automatic rifle.
Wander around an airport and look at the aircraft.
Play on park gymnasiums with bare feet and no sun hat.
Ride in the back of a ute, truck or panelvan.
Drive at a blood alcohol level of 0.799.
Ride motorcycles in the bush or forestry.
Set up your own water tank or build your own shed.
Fish out of a tinny 100 yards offshore without $10,000 worth of safety gear.
Move a tractor from one paddock to another without $150 permit.
Camp on the side of the road.
Light a campfire on a beach.
etc. etc. ad nausium....

Now we are all just afraid of everything.......bloody pathetic really.

So true... Back when we could honestly sing 'Australians let us all rejoice, for we are YOUNG and FREE'. They might as well change our national anthem

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by joolz

On that note why is so the idiots on a 2 way Fwy will do 90-95 km/h and as soon as an over taking lane opens up..... Wham thay do 105km/h... Sucks so bad especially when vic cops patrol the main safe place to overtake is when you over take the idiots that simply cannot drive!!!

Interesting you mention that, a few weeks back I was coming home from work and I was stuck behind someone doing 60 in a 100 zone, there was a convieniently placed camera car in one of the only safe places to overtake in the 40km stretch of the road. When the slow driver saw this he slowed down to about 40, no fail, every time there is a camera car somewhere everyone goes even slower, same thing happened in Bulla, it jammed up 100m past the wildwood roundabout because there was a camera car on the side of the road and someone decided to crawl past it at 10km/h.

Me and quite a few others where stuck behind this guy for about 20km before he turned off, I just followed them because I didn't want to overtake on double lines, especially on this potholed, crappy excuse for a road, funny that there have been so many deaths on this road I'm talking about and it isn't considered a "black spot".

Originally Posted by flappist

Does anyone else find it confusing that only 30 years ago it was perfectly safe to:

Drive at a blood alcohol level of 0.799.

How the hell is that even possible? I'd assume you pretty much embalmed yourself if you got to that level, you'd pass out way before you could normally drink to that level unless you inserted a 2L bottle of whiskey into your anus so you keep taking in alcohol until you're dead.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by brismike

I have done Bris to Mel a few times too and we always stopover at a motel in Dubbo which is about half way. Trying to do that distance in one day is almost guaranteed to kill you eventually.

Hmm, I'm not dead....yet.

Once upon a time when radar detectors were only in Mr Plod's dreams it was possible to drive a Truck from Melb to Bris in 18hrs (20 hrs if you didn't have one with an overdrive gearbox.)
These days we do it in 19hrs but use three drivers.

Back then it was also possible to do two trips a week. Yes you were knackered at the end of each week, but hell it was fun!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Hmm, I'm not dead....yet.

some of the roads out there will try to buck you into a tree long before fatigue sets in.

[20focus05]

CONCENTRATION
CONCENTRATION
CONCENTRATION
= getting there alive
No matter what speed

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by dylancox

I do a fair bit of long distance driving myself and I've always thought 100/110 for hours on end, on our substandard interstate highways is deadly boredom and a disaster waiting to happen. Can we do anything about this?

Yes, (//).

[Keepleft]

Originally Posted by XC_Lizzard

In a real world example, the reduction of the speed limit from 110 to 100 on the Newell Highway in NSW has changed a trip that I do about 3 times a year from 8.5 hours to 10 hours, and the fatigue resulting from that extra 1.5 hours is very noticable.travel at that speed.

The 110km/h limit has been reinstated;-

2009 - RTA announced the reduction:-
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/newsevents...peedlimit.html

2011 - RTA (Coalition Minister) announces the return of 110km/h;-
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/newsevents...speed-limit.pd

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by bingoTE50

not all cars are created equal,with no yearly inspections there are some s%%T boxes on the roads.

true, i used to drive a Hyundai. it struggled to do 90 around corners that my falcon could do 130 around.

Originally Posted by Mad_Aussie

Try hitting a boomer at 140kph.

i assume you mean wildlife. this is an unfortunate reality. wombats don't give way.

Originally Posted by Brazen

therefore they are more easily distracted, concentrate less and 'zone out'.

i've tried speeding up to combat the 'zone out'. it doesn't work. sleep is the only cure for fatigue.

[geckoGT]

We have too many speed related threads at the moment to go thread mining old ones.