Are T plates a good idea?

I think the answer is simple really.. If more time was spent policing bad driving, poor judgement, bad merging, sitting in the outside lane, basic test for foreigners before being let on the road etc etc etc.... instead of the current obsession that is speeding then there would be a lot less incidents/accidents. Simply put there is a huge percentage of drivers who really do have no idea, and think that sitting in the outside lane at just under the speed limit whilst driving with that petrified look, or stopping on slip lanes instead of getting on with it... is acceptable! Its not. Don't get me wrong, neither is 60kmh in a 50 zone, but at least spend some more time policing the muppets rather than constantly revenue raising with the rest of the drivers.. Age old adage, penalise the good to impact the bad because its easier!

Maybe need to check what proportion of tourist drivers involved in road accidents come from countries where they drive on the other side of the road . Seems to me that practising first somewhere in light traffic conditions would be essential. Would need to concentrate to sometimes avoid doing something instinctively maybe the opposite of what is correct. My experience of this is limited to driving left hand drive wide machines on left side of road. Sometimes looking straight ahead at edge of bitumen while right side wheels are near centreline of road. Those not used to it tend to wander to the right. There is also a similar problem sometimes truck drivers have to be wary of when driving different trucks. In cab overs. usually the driver is seated close to the side of the vehicle while with bonneted truck cabs, especially narrow ones like a Kenworth SAR, they are closer to the centreline of the vehicle. With right hand drive vehicles, a regular driver of one of these sometimes needs reminding to get out of the gutter after changing to a cab over. Conversely, a regular driver of cab overs sometimes needs reminding to get off the centre of the road.

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Originally Posted by flagg

The roads over here are pretty different to in Australia, and there are many more tourists (as a % of other road users). I was warned when I came here but didn't really understand until I rode a motorbike around the South Island for a month.

The combination of crazy roads, unfamiliar cars and lots to see (can be seriously distracting) is really deadly. Two weeks ago a whole family was killed because the driver pulled out in front of a truck - why? my guess is they just looked the wrong way.

Not sure how a T plate will help though.. but its a hard problem. There is too much money in tourism to do anything that will stop people from overseas driving here, even if it is just a driving test.

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But you're in Canberra... The South Island would be Tassie then?

:twisted: (Sorry)

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Originally Posted by sam_d

I'm confused by this:

"Last year there were 13.6 fatalities involving overseas drivers; 14 people that could have survived if overseas drivers were more informed," he said.

How can you have 13.6 fatalities? You're either dead or you're not.

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One of the people killed had no legs or arms...