Markus Imhof wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Ian George" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> cfsmtb wrote:
>>> This is probably a question that should be posed over at aus.cars.
>>> 
Anyway for those of you with licenses, do you recall *anything*
>>> either in handbooks or the computer tests that directly related to
>>> pedestrians or cyclists?
>>>
>>> Today the media is full of depressing news about the Mildura deaths,
>>> the police admit they're bewildered over the Vic road toll and
>>> there's more defeatist pissing and moaning about aggressive road
>>> behaviour.
>>>
>>> At the Connecting Cycling Conference last Thursday, Dr John Pucher
>>> demonstrated how in the German drivers license - 30 / 40% of the
>>> questions directly pertaining to peds/cyclists interactions.
>>> Suburban zones have a strict 30km limit, the Autobahns are quite
>>> another matter!
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn
>>
>> Unless something has changed recently, the speed limit in built-up
>> areas in Germany is 50kph, around 30mph. A 30kph/18mph speed limit
>> would be impractical for a car.
>>
>
> Hate to barge in, since I'm not in .oz, but we have several speed
> limits:
Usenet would be a pretty dull place if no-one barged in, I reckon.
> General limit on Autobahn: none (but a lot of specific limits)
> General limit outside cities: 100 kph
> General limit inside cities: 50 kph
> specific limit inside cities: often 30 kph on minor roads, i.e. roads
> used by pass-through traffic are only subject to the general limit of
> 50 kph, but residential/side roads are often limited to 30 kph with a
> zonal limit ('Tempo 30 Zone'; not sure about the wording - with an
> ordinary limit, the signs are repeated along the road, with a zonal
> limit, all roads entering the zone are marked accordingly with a
> special sign). specific limit inside residential areas: occasionally,
> streets in residential areas are also marked as 'quiet' streets
> ('Verkehrsberuhigter Bereich', again not sure about the translation;
> in these areas, pedestrians and playing kids have right of way,
> driving/riding is only allowed at walking speed).
Yep, that was sort of my point. We are seeing that implemented here in
Australia too, shared zones and the like, as I said somewhere in another
post. I was only taking issue with the OP's somewhat misleading inference
that this differs in some vastly material way from what we have here. It
really doesn't, the main difference is that we lack (with the exception of
the Stuart Highway, which is basically in the middle of the desert) the
unrestricted Autobahn limits.
In recent implementations, using your headings above as a guide, we have:
Maximum Speed (Limited Access Special Zones) 110km/h
General Speed Limited Access Freeway 100km/h
Open Road Limit (Highway) 100km/h
City Limited Access divided Roads (Collectors) 70km/h
City Sub-Collectors 60km/h
Access Streets 50km/h unless marked otherwise
Special zones (Schools, Shared and Similar) 20km/h - 40km/h
So we do realistically have a model in road laws that is essentially
similar, although the infrastructure and then by definition deployment of
restrictions is less mature than in Europe generally (Germany and Holland in
particular).
> On another note: although some percentage of the driving test
> questions may be targeted at vehicle/ped/cycle interaction, a lot of
> drivers seem to forget these very quickly :-(
Is the license test there still as comprehensive as it used to be? Does it
include manatory skills training, or has it moved toward the pathetic
one-off assessment based system used here? Until the focus of legislation
and enforcement turns from revenue generation on freeways and limited access
roads (which are one area that could take increased speed reasonably safely)
to comprehensive driver training and education, and enforcement in the areas
where speed actually does pose a risk, I can't see the situation here
improving. I think you'd be appalled at how little actual training and / or
skill is required for people to get out on the road over here.
Ian
