Ask Ponch

[mickq]

A U turn is NOT permitted at traffic lights UNLESS there is a sign indicating U Turns permitted.

Painful but true.

In Victoria a U-turn is permitted at any traffic light intersection unless there is a sign saying you must NOT do a U-turn in that intersection.

Vicroads has info on the relevant law. But unlike most people think, it is perfectly legal to do a U-turn at any intersection with traffic lights so long as you do not interrupt the traffic flow to do so.

[mickq]

Is it legal to drive barefooted?

l assume its illegal to eat/drink while driving, so why can you smoke and drive

In Victoria: no it is not legal to drive barefooted.

[mickq]

There is a 3-lane road. Car A is in the left lane and car B is in the right lane. Both cars are travelling at the same speed at the same point of the road, ie neither car is in front or behind. Both cars indicate to change into the middle lane at the same time. Which car must give way?

You must give way to any car on your right hand side. in the scenario you mention, the car on the right (Car B) has right of way.

[mickq]

1. Can you drink a beverage while driving (alcoholic and/or non-alcoholic)?

2. Is it an offence to NOT move forward, past the stop line after the traffic lights have turned green, while you are waiting for the oncoming traffic to pass before turning right.

3. Is it legal to have you elbow resting in such a way that part of your arm may be sticking out the window?

In Victoria:

1) You can drink a non-alcoholic beverage. You can not drink an alcoholic beverage > 0.5% alcohol.

2) The law isnt as clear on this as it should be. One law says you should not enter an intersection until you are sure it is clear so you can clear the intersection. Another law says you can move forward into the intersection waiting to turn right, and then may turn right as soon as it is safe to do so.

3) Strictly speaking you may not have parts of your body protruding from your vehicle. There used to be a limit, (2-4 inches?) but I think that was removed.

[mickq]

When someone is tailgating me and I jump on the brake and got rearended. Who's fault is that?

Yours: laws were recently changed to make it an offence to suddenly stop without a proper reason. Before the law was changed, the person who hit you from behind would have been at fault.

[mickq]

There is a 3-lane road. Car A is in the left lane and car B is in the right lane. Both cars are travelling at the same speed at the same point of the road, ie neither car is in front or behind. Both cars indicate to change into the middle lane at the same time. Which car must give way?

A driver on a road with 2 or more lines of traffic travelling in the same direction as the driver, and who is moving from one line of traffic (whether or not the line of traffic is ending) to another line of traffic , must give way to any vehicle travelling in the same direction as the driver in the line of traffic to which the driver is moving.

Sub rule 2 of Rule 148 of Australian Road Rules.

In the scenario you have given , both drivers technically have the right of way when changing from one lane to another. If both drivers indicate and both move into the centre lane at the same time, and are both at the same line/position on the road as each other when they make the manouevre, then both are guilty of Negligent Driving if they collide.

Reason being is that even though they are technically right in moving from the outside lane into the centre lane, when they are in the same position on the road and they indicate, it is negligent on their behalf to have a collision. One driver must give way, or one driver must accelerate/decelerate so that the other is either behind or in front.

During the lane changing manouvre it would HAVE to be apparent to the other driver that they are changing lanes because they can see the indicator flashing.

No, I disagree. In most states in Australia there is an over-all rule about all vehicles having to give way to the right. In this situation it would deinfitely apply.

[mickq]

?

New rules in NSW state that it is illegal to drink an alcoholic beverage whilst driving, even if you are under the prescribed limit for your class of license.

Over in some States in the US, it is illegal to have an opened bottle of liquor in the car!

What you have described is the correct way to make a right turn at lights: I:e wait behind the Stop Line until it is clear to turn right. The reason is that most people drive out into the intersection to Give Way to oncoming cars and the lights go from green to orange/red, and they make the turn and some cranker runs the orange/red light and causes a collision.

In Victoria it is illegal to have an open bottle of alcohol in the car.

The right hand turn info isnt accurate in Victoria. There are conflicting laws about this, and one clearly states you may move forward into the intersection despite the intersection not being clear at the time. (ie you wait until its clear, but wait whilst in the intersection)

[mickq]

Does this apply to roundabouts as well? I was road raged by a guy who was approaching the (2 lane) roundabout from my right with his RH indicator on to turn right (in the right hand lane) and I was going straight through in the left lane. This guy took major offence because I didn't stop for him. I didn't think I had to because we were in different lanes but he had other ideas. I went to the local cops afterwards to enquire as to who was in the right and they reckon I should of given way to him. I'm not sure the cop fully understood (or was interested) in the question I was asking.

I travel through this roundabout several times daily (just up the road from where I live - VG probably drives through it too) and see heaps of people doing the same thing Idid but now I am very concious to stop and giveway, nearly causing a pileup because people think you don't need to give way if approaching traffic is in the other lane.

At a roundabout, you must give way to ANY car in the the right hand segment of the roundabout (from your perspective) OR any car in the roundabout at all that poses a risk of collision.

In the situation you mentioned, you should have waited until he was past you.

If you had collided, the fact that he had an indicator on but did not go the same direction as he was indicating would not mean that he was at fault: you were at fault as you didnt give way to a car on your right.

[mickq]

Not that I'd ever do this, but I hate it when people do:

When parallel parking in a spot with cars both in front and behind the spot, are you allowed to touch-park? eg. keep reversing slowly until you hit the other car softly, before going forwards again

Absolutely not.

You are colliding with the cars.

If the space is so small or your skills are so low that this is the only way you can park in that spot, then you should not be parking in that spot as it is too small for you.

There is no reason you can legally knowingly collide with another vehicle and not be at fault.

(PS I HATE touch parkers. Lazy, inconsiderate rude, poorly skilled losers. You shouldnt be driving if you park like this. Modern cars DONT have bumpers that cope with touch parkers, and can cost hundreds or thousands to fix when idiots touch park).

[mickq]

1. If Mr X was driving along with your brain in neutral and pulled out from a Give way/ Stop sign intersection and someone collides with him. Then no argument MrX is at fault.

1) If Mr X pulls out in such a way as to interrupt the traffic flow, or obstruct the traffic flow, then Mr X is at fault.

A simple way of measuring this, is did the cars on the road Mr X pulled on to (assuming they were at the legal speed) have to touch the brakes to avoid a collision? if they had to slow down even one little bit, then Mr X is at fault and obstructed traffic flow. My grandmother recieved her one and only fine this way.

You must not pull on infront of oncoming traffic unless you can get up to the appriopriate speed without the oncming traffic having to slow down to let you in.