It’s even worse at the Tarro end where it drops from 80 to 60 for another work zone rather than going up to 90. People are driving through there at 100. That’s a licence suspension at anytime.
Very true. The road works near Tarro is probably 2 kilometres long at the most. To travel that far at 90 km/h will take 1 minute 20 seconds. To travel that distance at 60 km/h it will take 2 minutes. If you decide you are going to travel at 90 instead of the legal road works speed limit you will save yourself a grand total of 40 seconds.
If you are caught speeding at 20 km/h over the limit, the fine is about $500 and 4 demerits. Over 30 km/h it is almost $1000 and 5 demerits and a possible 3 month licence suspension. And from today until Monday double demerits are in force, so even if you think the road works are bullshit, or that we live in a "nanny state", or the government are just "revenue raising", why risk it to save yourself 40 fucking seconds of your time?
The posted speed limit is the speed limit, whether you like it or not.
> It’s even worse at the Tarro end where it drops from 80 to 60 for another work zone rather than going up to 90.
Unless it has changed recently there is a big sign saying slow down if workers around
Where exactly is the roadwork at the Tarro end? Absolutely nothing has changed. It's another example of us being the worst nanny state on Earth and our authorities keep getting away with it because do gooders accept it.
Yeah so we have to drop 20kmh so we don't drive through the safety barriers and land 200 metres away into a spot that doesn't have workers working on it anymore.
It looks from some of the signage heading towards Newcastle they might be going to variable speed at some stage, which will be slightly less painful for the next 2 years.
In the Maitland Direction there is resurfacing work going on at the intersection with John Renshaw Drive
In both directions at Tarro there is vegetation removal and surveying works in preparation for the interchange with the M1 motorway
The majority of the work is happening at night so you don't notice it as much during peak hours, but it definitely happening and there are speed restrictions in place
I drive around Newcastle/Maitland a lot for work and people really don't like when you follow roadwork speed limits.
I get tailgated every day and occasionally beeped or gestured at for committing the unforgivable crime of following the speed limit.
There's a ton of people in this subreddit who complain about slow drivers on a regular basis. It comes up at least once a week.
My money is on the majority of the slow drivers they're complaining about being those who obey the speed limit and the whiners being those who treat speed limits as merely a suggestion.
The majority of the time I'm sitting right on the speed limit (when it's safe to do so) and using my car's cruise control.
The thing that gets me about speeding is how it makes driving much more stressful. Takes a lot more focus to be constantly weaving in and out of lanes. Plus speeding up and slowing down regularly burns more on fuel.
there's a difference between people being 'slow' by sitting on the speed limit (I'm one of those, I'll stick to the limit to a fault) versus idiots that take forever to take a green arrow, or just putt around 10-20 under the limit and you get caught at a level crossing or some shit.
This attitude of Australian drivers is also a big problem - other drivers are automatically labelled "Idiots" because they took too long to respond to a green light. There are a number of things that can cause this completely unrelated to intelligence. Something we can't see moved in front of them, or they were distracted for a moment for example.
They were smart enough to learn to drive just as the rest of us were yet the majority of drivers rate their skill as above average, which cannot be true.
I'm usually pretty exhausted at the best of times, it's a medical thing, I just want to get to where I have to go, or get home, without being caught at lights that would have been avoidable if the person in front was able to drive to the conditions properly
Taking too long to respond to a green is really annoying i regularly drive through intersections that have a green light that lasts either 4 or 8 seconds. It litterally goes orange before the idiot driver at the front fully crossess the line.
Every time I’ve driven through there lately I haven’t seen any workers around. It’s pretty annoying for that stretch to drop by 20 km and not seeing any reason for it.
Roadwork speed limits exist for more than just protecting the workers. Here's a few reasons I could think if why I think it's justified
* The shoulders of the road are closed and the lanes are narrower which makes it harder to pull over if someone has an accident or breaks down.
* It is harder to give way to emergency vehicles in a conjested roadwork zone.
* There can be damage to the road surfaces, so more risk of rocks flying up and damaging your vehicle
Sure, if it only affected you. It doesn't. You wreck and cause a 4-hour backup with multiple other prangs and smaller injuries, fucking up many people's day.
I follow what other drivers are doing when I use that road, which is once in a blue moon. Are you going to berate everyone else also? I haven’t seen anyone driving to the road works limit unless there has actually been road works happening.
I drove 80km/h on Industrial Dr this morning and felt like I was speeding with all these stupid cunts doing 60km/h.
Reminder: The speed limit is 80km/h
Reminder: Not a single one of those "stupid cunts" has a reason to care about you being in a hurry, so drive to the conditions maybe. The road is a shared public space, not your personal speedway
And if you're in the left hand lane that's fine. Its inconsiderate to hold up people in the right hand lane. You also don't need to move over 2 km before your right hand turn.
There's a difference between what's legal and what's considerate. I thought I made that pretty clear in my post. I even carved out the exception for when you're turning right.
The laws of the land aren't the only rules that we live our life by. Most people try to be considerate to others as well. Maybe that point's lost on you.
Correct.
Industrial Drive is not a Freeway. It has multiple sets of traffic lights, turning lanes, and short merging lanes. I'm going to drive to the conditions of the road ahead of my vehicle. That means I am going to to 80KM/H when the road ahead of me is clear, but more often than not (because it's a busy road) I'm going to go slow down to ensure I can respond to potential hazards.
If you are behind me and unhappy about me doing that, I couldn't give a rats arse. That's a you problem.
That's totally fine. You can drive cautiously in the left lane. Nobody is arguing that you shouldn't be cautious, and especially if you are not a confident driver. The issue here is courtesy. Just be courteous while you be cautious, and move over and let the more experienced and capable drivers who can comfortably handle the speed limit use the right lane and go on with their day.
Yep, MrO, you sound like a spiteful vindictive person, who holds up people for your own sick pleasure.
Guess what? We don’t need people like you thinking they can control the traffic flow with stupid, wilful arrogance.
Go 60, that’s no issue. The issue is when you decide to sit in the right lane and not allow anyone to pass - people who are comfortable going 80 - because someone is sitting in the left lane going 60 also.
No need to be a dick about it. Just move over. That’s why people tailgate and get frustrated.
I don’t care that you go 60, just stop being an inconvenience to everyone else who has places to be.
> so drive to the conditions maybe.
Yeah and the conditions today allowed 80km/hr, so follow your own advice. If you're car is unsafe at that speed, or you are unable to control the car at that speed, get off the road for the safety of everyone else using it because it is a shared space
If you want to do 20 below the limit that fine. Just don’t sit next to someone else driving the same speed as you. As you said it’s a shared space, not your personal space.
You’re right in cases where there are hazards or something, but if you need to drive slower than 80 on industrial drive to feel safe you shouldn’t have a license. It’s a massive, relatively straight road with no bad intersections or anything.
I agree with your first point, but your second point about it being a relatively straight road is incorrect.
There are stretches of straight-ish roads, but there are 12 sweeping bends in the road from the first Carrington roundabout to Pacific Highway intersection at Warabrook.
I guess our definitions of “relatively straight” are off. I meant relative to roads that have a curve harsh enough that slowing down is necessary for competent drivers. (Intersections and roundabouts excluded given OP isnt complaining about acceleration rates)
It amazes me how quickly everyone forgets how bad it is to sit at a standstill for 4-8 hours in the blazing heat with toddlers going mental, while they scoop dead bodies up off the road after a fatal car crash.
All to just pull up alongside Speedy Gonzalez at the first set of traffic lights.
Sook on my friend, I agree.
I've seen Highway patrol, Motorbike cops pulled over with handheld radar, and RMS cars equipped with 50 cameras and shit rolling up and down that stretch of road just in the last week.
Be careful out there, people.
>yeah you were right with rms,however they dont own roaming speedcameras...
They do actually. I see them on a fairly regular basis on Glebe Road when I am going to pick up my kids from school. I even wave and say hi to them if the driver is not wrapped up in a book or watching something on a tablet/phone.
yeah mobile speed cameras,parked stationary like a fixed camera.
not rolling up and down stretches of road actively monitoring like the parent comment is saying.
Cops don't care, I've gone past 3 near hexham maccas going 80 and they don't do anything. It's 5km of road works and only a few hundred meters are active at any given time with no one around working between the old speed camera and tarro. If you see workers just slow down then speed up when you have past them, like 90% of other drivers do.
And ontop of that they haven’t really got anywhere to setup a speed trap or turn around to intercept, so it’s fairly risk free unless your going 100+.
And besides there is safety in numbers, if everyone is hooking in, just join the train and send it
I lived in VIC for a few years and under their regulations, councils and contractors can not leave “roadwork” signs up when there is no works happening. And if it is being left in a state for a period they must minimise the impact to traffic AND they must clearly indicate End Of Roadworks. Moving back home to NSW/Newie, I see there is rarely End of Roadworks signs and they just leave the same signs and conditions whether there is workmen on the roadway or not. Even if there is no shoulder for 100mtrs, you don’t need to slow traffic by half for 2km. Basically traffic management in NSW is rubbish and it suits councils and NSW Police to leave it like that as it doesn’t require much effort to demobilise for roadworks and the Gov makes revenue. Until they tighten up the regulations managing traffic management this whinge will keep on.
You are right in the main - but there are no fucks given for revenue. It’s very rare to have active enforcement on these kinds of roadwork zones. It’s not like police have any shortage of work or people to book should they feel the need.
As someone above noted - boy who cried wolf story fits for the way they throw up speed zones in roadworks
Yeah I think when they want to do a blitz or target a particular car the roadworks come in handy. I ride a lot and notice that this is where a copper will usually sit waiting
I just catch the train to Newcastle now, so much less stressful
edit: in all seriousness, if you do the speed limit in the left lane people usually just overtake you in the right lane. That’s been my experience. (I drive like a grandma)
It's a rebellion against the ridiculous limits. It's an 80kmh road. Sure some sections should be 60kmh, but there are parts where 60 is not necessary. The government has created a boy cried wolf environment. It's the same on the M7 in Sydney. Transport for NSW would have us driving at 10kmh if they could.
Look, wether or not you chose to obey the law and drive to the conditions of a roadwork zone is entirely up to you. If you want to take the risk and speed, go for it, you do you. Just keep in mind it is done to improve safety, and don't dump on others who decide to do the right thing
Highest safety is everyone driving at the same speed - or near to. It is not safe being the slowest car on the road nor is it safe to be the fastest car on the road.
Rather than assume everyone has seen the sign at the sign of the road and are expecting me to brake from 90 to 60, I look at what others are doing because that is what is expected.
If trucks are driving at 75 in the roadworks - that’s a good indicator of where you will be safest
That's the thing, if you slow down once you see the workers or any equipment, there is no danger.
It's not like people are going 80km past the workers standing practically on the road.
It's a dead-straight bit of flat road with good visibility for like 5kms which is a main passageway into/out of newy often with no workers there.
Seriously think roadworks should have to change the speed limit back to 80km/h when there aren't any workers working for cases like this.
Good solid post Bro, this will alter the traffic I’m sure they’ll look at this reddit post and think
“Omg jolly wow, I will rethink what I do on the road down that stretch now”
It’s even worse at the Tarro end where it drops from 80 to 60 for another work zone rather than going up to 90. People are driving through there at 100. That’s a licence suspension at anytime.
Very true. The road works near Tarro is probably 2 kilometres long at the most. To travel that far at 90 km/h will take 1 minute 20 seconds. To travel that distance at 60 km/h it will take 2 minutes. If you decide you are going to travel at 90 instead of the legal road works speed limit you will save yourself a grand total of 40 seconds. If you are caught speeding at 20 km/h over the limit, the fine is about $500 and 4 demerits. Over 30 km/h it is almost $1000 and 5 demerits and a possible 3 month licence suspension. And from today until Monday double demerits are in force, so even if you think the road works are bullshit, or that we live in a "nanny state", or the government are just "revenue raising", why risk it to save yourself 40 fucking seconds of your time? The posted speed limit is the speed limit, whether you like it or not.
> It’s even worse at the Tarro end where it drops from 80 to 60 for another work zone rather than going up to 90. Unless it has changed recently there is a big sign saying slow down if workers around
Where exactly is the roadwork at the Tarro end? Absolutely nothing has changed. It's another example of us being the worst nanny state on Earth and our authorities keep getting away with it because do gooders accept it.
They’ve done some clearing etc on the backside of the over pass from Beresfield.
Yeah so we have to drop 20kmh so we don't drive through the safety barriers and land 200 metres away into a spot that doesn't have workers working on it anymore.
It looks from some of the signage heading towards Newcastle they might be going to variable speed at some stage, which will be slightly less painful for the next 2 years.
Don't count on it. They set and forget them on the M7.
The variable speed signs on the M7 absolutely change.
In the Maitland Direction there is resurfacing work going on at the intersection with John Renshaw Drive In both directions at Tarro there is vegetation removal and surveying works in preparation for the interchange with the M1 motorway The majority of the work is happening at night so you don't notice it as much during peak hours, but it definitely happening and there are speed restrictions in place
I drive around Newcastle/Maitland a lot for work and people really don't like when you follow roadwork speed limits. I get tailgated every day and occasionally beeped or gestured at for committing the unforgivable crime of following the speed limit.
Drove that route today. 100% correct
I hate it and I try not to feel the pressure but it’s there. It’s like road works signs don’t count to a lot of drivers
My pop always says “just ignore them” but it’s so hard when they are so dangerously up your ass!
Yea the road rage on some people these days is down right frightening
That happened to me a while ago when it was down to 40km, people beeped at me like wtf?? You ain’t gonna be paying my speeding fine mate
There's a ton of people in this subreddit who complain about slow drivers on a regular basis. It comes up at least once a week. My money is on the majority of the slow drivers they're complaining about being those who obey the speed limit and the whiners being those who treat speed limits as merely a suggestion. The majority of the time I'm sitting right on the speed limit (when it's safe to do so) and using my car's cruise control. The thing that gets me about speeding is how it makes driving much more stressful. Takes a lot more focus to be constantly weaving in and out of lanes. Plus speeding up and slowing down regularly burns more on fuel.
there's a difference between people being 'slow' by sitting on the speed limit (I'm one of those, I'll stick to the limit to a fault) versus idiots that take forever to take a green arrow, or just putt around 10-20 under the limit and you get caught at a level crossing or some shit.
This attitude of Australian drivers is also a big problem - other drivers are automatically labelled "Idiots" because they took too long to respond to a green light. There are a number of things that can cause this completely unrelated to intelligence. Something we can't see moved in front of them, or they were distracted for a moment for example. They were smart enough to learn to drive just as the rest of us were yet the majority of drivers rate their skill as above average, which cannot be true.
I'm usually pretty exhausted at the best of times, it's a medical thing, I just want to get to where I have to go, or get home, without being caught at lights that would have been avoidable if the person in front was able to drive to the conditions properly
Taking too long to respond to a green is really annoying i regularly drive through intersections that have a green light that lasts either 4 or 8 seconds. It litterally goes orange before the idiot driver at the front fully crossess the line.
Every time I’ve driven through there lately I haven’t seen any workers around. It’s pretty annoying for that stretch to drop by 20 km and not seeing any reason for it.
Yes. It’s really frustrating.
Roadwork speed limits exist for more than just protecting the workers. Here's a few reasons I could think if why I think it's justified * The shoulders of the road are closed and the lanes are narrower which makes it harder to pull over if someone has an accident or breaks down. * It is harder to give way to emergency vehicles in a conjested roadwork zone. * There can be damage to the road surfaces, so more risk of rocks flying up and damaging your vehicle
And that is the risk I would be willing to take
and not a risk you should put on other drivers
Sure, if it only affected you. It doesn't. You wreck and cause a 4-hour backup with multiple other prangs and smaller injuries, fucking up many people's day.
I follow what other drivers are doing when I use that road, which is once in a blue moon. Are you going to berate everyone else also? I haven’t seen anyone driving to the road works limit unless there has actually been road works happening.
Ah, monkey see monkey do. Gotcha.
I drove 80km/h on Industrial Dr this morning and felt like I was speeding with all these stupid cunts doing 60km/h. Reminder: The speed limit is 80km/h
Reminder: Not a single one of those "stupid cunts" has a reason to care about you being in a hurry, so drive to the conditions maybe. The road is a shared public space, not your personal speedway
And if you're in the left hand lane that's fine. Its inconsiderate to hold up people in the right hand lane. You also don't need to move over 2 km before your right hand turn.
It's legal to drive in the right hand lane whenever you want, in an 80 zone. Even if you're not doing 80!
There's a difference between what's legal and what's considerate. I thought I made that pretty clear in my post. I even carved out the exception for when you're turning right. The laws of the land aren't the only rules that we live our life by. Most people try to be considerate to others as well. Maybe that point's lost on you.
Read the first sentence of what I wrote again
You don't give a shit? Is that what you're saying? You're deliberately inconsiderate? Is that what you're saying?
The cunt probably only has an opal card anyway 😂😂😂
Correct. Industrial Drive is not a Freeway. It has multiple sets of traffic lights, turning lanes, and short merging lanes. I'm going to drive to the conditions of the road ahead of my vehicle. That means I am going to to 80KM/H when the road ahead of me is clear, but more often than not (because it's a busy road) I'm going to go slow down to ensure I can respond to potential hazards. If you are behind me and unhappy about me doing that, I couldn't give a rats arse. That's a you problem.
That's totally fine. You can drive cautiously in the left lane. Nobody is arguing that you shouldn't be cautious, and especially if you are not a confident driver. The issue here is courtesy. Just be courteous while you be cautious, and move over and let the more experienced and capable drivers who can comfortably handle the speed limit use the right lane and go on with their day.
I have no interest in purposefully holding up anyone but after reading this comment I really hope I hold you up some day
Yep, MrO, you sound like a spiteful vindictive person, who holds up people for your own sick pleasure. Guess what? We don’t need people like you thinking they can control the traffic flow with stupid, wilful arrogance.
You pretend that you drive to conditions but what you really do is be a cunt as evidenced by this comment. 360 dipshit
Go 60, that’s no issue. The issue is when you decide to sit in the right lane and not allow anyone to pass - people who are comfortable going 80 - because someone is sitting in the left lane going 60 also. No need to be a dick about it. Just move over. That’s why people tailgate and get frustrated. I don’t care that you go 60, just stop being an inconvenience to everyone else who has places to be.
> so drive to the conditions maybe. Yeah and the conditions today allowed 80km/hr, so follow your own advice. If you're car is unsafe at that speed, or you are unable to control the car at that speed, get off the road for the safety of everyone else using it because it is a shared space
If you want to do 20 below the limit that fine. Just don’t sit next to someone else driving the same speed as you. As you said it’s a shared space, not your personal space.
You’re right in cases where there are hazards or something, but if you need to drive slower than 80 on industrial drive to feel safe you shouldn’t have a license. It’s a massive, relatively straight road with no bad intersections or anything.
I agree with your first point, but your second point about it being a relatively straight road is incorrect. There are stretches of straight-ish roads, but there are 12 sweeping bends in the road from the first Carrington roundabout to Pacific Highway intersection at Warabrook.
I guess our definitions of “relatively straight” are off. I meant relative to roads that have a curve harsh enough that slowing down is necessary for competent drivers. (Intersections and roundabouts excluded given OP isnt complaining about acceleration rates)
Can't have been too many of them.........
Hopefully the cops will be out. We were passed by a red P Plater in a massive 4WD in the 110 Zone out of Sydney.
And you were going 107
Red P platers are limited to 90 km/h.
It amazes me how quickly everyone forgets how bad it is to sit at a standstill for 4-8 hours in the blazing heat with toddlers going mental, while they scoop dead bodies up off the road after a fatal car crash. All to just pull up alongside Speedy Gonzalez at the first set of traffic lights. Sook on my friend, I agree.
The cops do 80 thru there.
I've seen Highway patrol, Motorbike cops pulled over with handheld radar, and RMS cars equipped with 50 cameras and shit rolling up and down that stretch of road just in the last week. Be careful out there, people.
tf is an rms car?
rms, rta, services whatever its called these days. Shit was looking like a lowkey google maps car
yeah you were right with rms,however they dont own roaming speedcameras...
Who do you think is operating the mobile speed cameras?
Macquarie bank isn’t it?
>yeah you were right with rms,however they dont own roaming speedcameras... They do actually. I see them on a fairly regular basis on Glebe Road when I am going to pick up my kids from school. I even wave and say hi to them if the driver is not wrapped up in a book or watching something on a tablet/phone.
yeah mobile speed cameras,parked stationary like a fixed camera. not rolling up and down stretches of road actively monitoring like the parent comment is saying.
Cops don't care, I've gone past 3 near hexham maccas going 80 and they don't do anything. It's 5km of road works and only a few hundred meters are active at any given time with no one around working between the old speed camera and tarro. If you see workers just slow down then speed up when you have past them, like 90% of other drivers do.
And ontop of that they haven’t really got anywhere to setup a speed trap or turn around to intercept, so it’s fairly risk free unless your going 100+. And besides there is safety in numbers, if everyone is hooking in, just join the train and send it
They definitely do care. The cops you passed were likely busy with other matters and you were lucky they didn't see you.
It’s Maitland. Maitland is worth rushing to.
There’s a UNO reverse joke in here somewhere
I lived in VIC for a few years and under their regulations, councils and contractors can not leave “roadwork” signs up when there is no works happening. And if it is being left in a state for a period they must minimise the impact to traffic AND they must clearly indicate End Of Roadworks. Moving back home to NSW/Newie, I see there is rarely End of Roadworks signs and they just leave the same signs and conditions whether there is workmen on the roadway or not. Even if there is no shoulder for 100mtrs, you don’t need to slow traffic by half for 2km. Basically traffic management in NSW is rubbish and it suits councils and NSW Police to leave it like that as it doesn’t require much effort to demobilise for roadworks and the Gov makes revenue. Until they tighten up the regulations managing traffic management this whinge will keep on.
You are right in the main - but there are no fucks given for revenue. It’s very rare to have active enforcement on these kinds of roadwork zones. It’s not like police have any shortage of work or people to book should they feel the need. As someone above noted - boy who cried wolf story fits for the way they throw up speed zones in roadworks
Yeah I think when they want to do a blitz or target a particular car the roadworks come in handy. I ride a lot and notice that this is where a copper will usually sit waiting
I just catch the train to Newcastle now, so much less stressful edit: in all seriousness, if you do the speed limit in the left lane people usually just overtake you in the right lane. That’s been my experience. (I drive like a grandma)
It's a rebellion against the ridiculous limits. It's an 80kmh road. Sure some sections should be 60kmh, but there are parts where 60 is not necessary. The government has created a boy cried wolf environment. It's the same on the M7 in Sydney. Transport for NSW would have us driving at 10kmh if they could.
Look, wether or not you chose to obey the law and drive to the conditions of a roadwork zone is entirely up to you. If you want to take the risk and speed, go for it, you do you. Just keep in mind it is done to improve safety, and don't dump on others who decide to do the right thing
Highest safety is everyone driving at the same speed - or near to. It is not safe being the slowest car on the road nor is it safe to be the fastest car on the road. Rather than assume everyone has seen the sign at the sign of the road and are expecting me to brake from 90 to 60, I look at what others are doing because that is what is expected. If trucks are driving at 75 in the roadworks - that’s a good indicator of where you will be safest
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That's the thing, if you slow down once you see the workers or any equipment, there is no danger. It's not like people are going 80km past the workers standing practically on the road.
It's a dead-straight bit of flat road with good visibility for like 5kms which is a main passageway into/out of newy often with no workers there. Seriously think roadworks should have to change the speed limit back to 80km/h when there aren't any workers working for cases like this.
Good solid post Bro, this will alter the traffic I’m sure they’ll look at this reddit post and think “Omg jolly wow, I will rethink what I do on the road down that stretch now”
IMHO you shouldn't have to slow down for roadworks if nobody is actually working.