Thread: Truck Driver Tailgating?,...in the "Nanny State"..Yeah right.

Originally Posted by trout1105

I think that WA would have paid all that back in Spades by now

Maybe caught up - until recently as I think they are going backwards again...

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Actually WA was propped up by the other states until the late 90s.

Maybe in the 70's but certainly not in the mid 80's 90's 00"s and now. So much money has flowed out of WA from mining in the last 30 odd years I have worked in it.

This post has gone mad... A few days doing paperwork and I come back to read about WA being supported by the East...

Originally Posted by CraigE

Sorry mate your section relating to speed limiters is not quite true. First they have to be fitted and working. They will allow short periods much more than 103kmph if fitted and working. Very easy to disconnect and fool and seems to be a lot of that. I have been passed by plenty of trucks doing well in excess of 100kmph and often well in excess of 110kmph. Also not using the left lane is rarely enforced here in WA, see it day in and day out on the Freeways. Frequently have to pull into the left lane to undertake a car doing 80 in the right lane.

Firstly, all trucks with computerized engines has a speed limiter as part of the computer... You can even alter it to suit different tyre sizes, adjust the amount of throttle cut back when you reach certain revs, adjust the injectors, etc etc... Also the cruise control be set to operate from 0 k min to a maximum speed...

The law stated that a truck is to be geared to no more than 105kph, or a speed limiter fitted to be set at that speed...

Yes you can disable the electronic ones, but get caught your in the manure... On some trucks you can get a few extra k's by playing with the cruise control buttons and it confuses the speed limiter... ie 105 max, play with button you can get 108...

When a vehicle overtakes, they only need to be going 10kph more to safely overtake, that includes roadtrains... How do I know?, I apprenticed as a truck operator with operators that averaged 60+ year old, back in the late 80's... Sadly for me, a lot of them knew my family so I got my back side kicked if I did anything wrong... Couldn't even sneek off to a pub for a night without being found out... And about WA, where do you think I am from, I was born here, raised here, and probably die here...
I got to drive the Fitzroy to Halls creek road when it was dirt, before I drove trucks... I also ran across the Nullabor in 89 and then again in 91, before speedlimiters....


I have owned a truck that could do well over 160 kph... I have driven at that speed for more than 9 hours straight and another 10 hours on the speed limit, for a total of 19 hrs non stop, then 4 hrs sleep and do it all again.. No drugs, no roadhouse stops, just work for 6 days a week and a day at home... I have travelled on your highways in the East, roads where ok(better than the gravel tracks we have here) but your truck drivers are mad, even at a maximum of 100 kph there dangerous...

It dont matter what speed a truck is doing, if the driver has the skill and respects others, he is no more dangerous than a car driver, but if a moped rider has no respect for others then he can cause the death of others...

Ultimately it all comes down to respect for others and sharing with others, irrelevent of any laws or statute!!!

Originally Posted by CraigE

Well technically 2, but it is one stretch of road that runs North / South. Mitchell Fwy to the North, Kwinana Fwy to the South that turns into the Forrest Hwy near Mandurah. The rest in the state are Highways.

Actually your wrong, last time I went up that way I some how got onto the Kwinana parking lot and when I some how came through from Joondalup, I ended up on the Mitchell parking lot...

So I have decided that using bunnings carpark is faster...

Mitchell parkway and Kwinana Parkway, only good if your getting paid hourly!

Actually I did benefit from carting out of CSBP Kwinana, my truck was not allowed on the Kwinana Freeway npothbound, thus I had to use Thomas rd and Tonkin highway... Damn that was a quick run compared to the parking lot...

Originally Posted by Wraithe

Actually your wrong, last time I went up that way I some how got onto the Kwinana parking lot and when I some how came through from Joondalup, I ended up on the Mitchell parking lot...

So I have decided that using bunnings carpark is faster...

Mitchell parkway and Kwinana Parkway, only good if your getting paid hourly!

Actually I did benefit from carting out of CSBP Kwinana, my truck was not allowed on the Kwinana Freeway npothbound, thus I had to use Thomas rd and Tonkin highway... Damn that was a quick run compared to the parking lot...

What am I wrong about? A bit confused by that comment. We have 2 freeways that join and run north and south.
Depends on the time of day, the Tonkin can get quite congested and slow as well due to all the traffic lights now as well. Peak hour can take around the same. The Kwinana is just ridiculous now from Thomas to Roe. Used to be just at peak hours but is pretty much all day now from about 0530-1900.
Re you comments about speed limiters, I agree with you on how they are supposed to work and are supposed to be fitted. Commonly not the case however. When you are sitting bang on 100kmph (gps & speedo correction) or even heaven forbid doing 102kmph and a truck blows by you something obviously is not working. Not a day this does not happen on the freeways / forrest hwy. Also go's for 110kmph zones, have had plenty of truck blow by, even doubles, some easily doing in excess of 120-130.

I think that common courtsy should prevail on the roads - unfortantly its not all that common. Car driver was fine to sit in the middle lane, however it would be nice to other road users to be using the left hand lane if possible.

A few years ago I was driving home on a Sunday morning after a nightshift going up Greenmount hill. Bugger all cars on the road and Im doing 60km/h (the speed limit) in the LH lane. A truck (who is speeding) catches up to me and procceds to tailgate extremely closly. Truck driver is clearly putting the hammer down to get up the steeper section of the hill, but even thou the RH lane is completely void of all traffic he dosent overtake (trucks perfectly fine to use the RH lane here). Complete tool in my eyes and of course Im not intimidated by the move and I continue to sit at the posted speed limit. Later on when telling the story to some mates one of them gets in a rant and thinks I was in the wrong and I should have moved to the RH lane to let the truck overtake