I've been in Australia for about 3 weeks+ now, going to be a month. There's still a lot of adjustment to make and I would like to highlight one thing that has been a culture shock for me - albeit a positive one I guess. Drivers here are so zen. The speed limit on most roads I've driven on here is 60km/h, even on the "highway" (it's called a 'highway' but it's really just a 2-lane country road to me), and drivers really keep to that speed limit and sometimes even lower than the speed limit. And the distance between cars is like one full car length or more. Then everyone maintains that speed throughout.
After a red light turns green and cars start to move, everyone also takes it easy. Even if there's a car that takes off 5 seconds later, there's no honking going on and people are just zen about it and patiently waiting for the other party to move off. In Singapore, within 2 seconds the honks will go off.
And when you signal to change lane, almost every single time the car in the next lane is going to let you merge in. No joke. Really.
Even when I'm driving in the city and it's rush hour and there's a traffic pile up, someone is still going to give way once you signal. When i get out of the car park i need to change 2 lanes from the extreme left lane to the extreme right in order to make a U-turn to get to the highway towards school, but the distance between the exit of the parking lot to the U-turn is quite short so i basically need to change 2 lanes at one go. That street that i turn out on is perpetually jammed up every moment, but i would manage to get out of the car park onto the street, and then signal right... wait in the midst of traffic until a space opens up, and i'll be able to change lanes again. No one honks even though i'm sort of holding up traffic in the lane i'm in due to the time lapse when i'm waiting for a space to open up in the lane beside me before merging over. It's all so peaceful even in the morning rush hour.
Cannot believe this is happening. If I were to attempt this in Singapore, i think the driver behind me is going to road rage on me.
So I guess driving here is really nice, especially if you are used to hectic and aggressive city driving. I really enjoying have the space and distance here, definitely missed all the space on the roads when I moved back to Singapore after being in the US for so long. I'm still trying to get used to the peacefulness and taking it easy mindset on the roads. i can't help but get nervous and feel guilty if i'm holding up traffic even though everyone is giving way. Must try to be zen...!
After a red light turns green and cars start to move, everyone also takes it easy. Even if there's a car that takes off 5 seconds later, there's no honking going on and people are just zen about it and patiently waiting for the other party to move off. In Singapore, within 2 seconds the honks will go off.
And when you signal to change lane, almost every single time the car in the next lane is going to let you merge in. No joke. Really.
Even when I'm driving in the city and it's rush hour and there's a traffic pile up, someone is still going to give way once you signal. When i get out of the car park i need to change 2 lanes from the extreme left lane to the extreme right in order to make a U-turn to get to the highway towards school, but the distance between the exit of the parking lot to the U-turn is quite short so i basically need to change 2 lanes at one go. That street that i turn out on is perpetually jammed up every moment, but i would manage to get out of the car park onto the street, and then signal right... wait in the midst of traffic until a space opens up, and i'll be able to change lanes again. No one honks even though i'm sort of holding up traffic in the lane i'm in due to the time lapse when i'm waiting for a space to open up in the lane beside me before merging over. It's all so peaceful even in the morning rush hour.
Cannot believe this is happening. If I were to attempt this in Singapore, i think the driver behind me is going to road rage on me.
So I guess driving here is really nice, especially if you are used to hectic and aggressive city driving. I really enjoying have the space and distance here, definitely missed all the space on the roads when I moved back to Singapore after being in the US for so long. I'm still trying to get used to the peacefulness and taking it easy mindset on the roads. i can't help but get nervous and feel guilty if i'm holding up traffic even though everyone is giving way. Must try to be zen...!
1 comment:
Yeah, you are good driver here! Finally find somewhere to practice your driving!
Post a Comment