Driving in Australia

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“Life is always a bumpy road; eventually you just learn how to drive on it.”

Driving on the right side of the road and the right side of the car is the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car to an American. But, when in Australia, do as the Aussies do… well, in this case, you really have no choice. Ha!

What’s it like? Definitely weird. I mean, that’s the best way to describe what it looks like as an outsider, but really an even better way to describe what it feels like while driving; or simply sitting in the passenger seat even!

When David and I arrived in Australia he was the first to get behind the wheel. Talk about “back seat driving” – be prepared, people! It is SO hard to keep your mouth shut as the passenger with an American learning the Aussie way of driving, and a lot of times it’s just dangerous! The reason for this is, as a driver, you have to reorient your body’s perception of how much space you have on both sides of the car. As a passenger, this requires discernment on when to patiently provide feedback to the driver, saying, “You’re pretty close to the curb…” or when to scream, “You’re gonna hit the car!”. I mostly found a mid-way point of nervously stating, “Too close, too close, too close!”, while squeezing my eyes shut and trying to discreetly skootch as much to the middle of the car as possible. >.< (As if that would save me?)

I make it sound bad, but really David is a fine driver. It’s just those first few times as a driver and a passenger that are a little unnerving. The other aspects of driving in Australia that have similar effects would be car parks (American Translation: parking lots) and turning right. Not only does it just feel wrong, it can be down-right scary when every part of you says you’re wrong, but you know it’s right, and then you get confused because you’re just learning, and now you’re second guessing yourself and you can’t remember what’s right or wrong, so what if you actually are wrong?!

It’s okay though, that rush of panic usually leaves you just as fast as it came.

Unless, of course, you are wrong and you cause a horrible accident!

But really, it’s not that bad.

You really do start to get used to the rules of the road. Here are a few things that we found to be different:

The cars you can guarantee will be parked on the side of the road when you drive anywhere (i.e. why it’s necessary to scream, “You’re gonna hit the car (on the side of the road)!” as a passenger sometimes).

The fact that the indicator (American Translation: blinker) is on the right side and every time you go to turn you put your windshield wipers on! (This is honestly the funniest things about the transition to me – man, is it embarrassing!)

The roundabouts at just about every corner. Australians use roundabouts at intersections more than stop signs (in fact stop signs are very unusual to find here) and traffic lights. My experience is that Americans don’t really like roundabouts. I used to be one of those Americans, but I have come to the conclusion that roundabouts are the greatest! The only reason Americans don’t like them is because we’re not used to them, so when we come across one, we freak out because no one knows roundabout etiquette. Thus, our lack of confidence creates fear (rightfully so!), and fear creates dislike. Word to the wise – America needs more roundabouts! Oh, and just in case you do come across one, the rules are simple: apply the right-of-way thinking (driver to your right), indicate your direction (with your blinker), read the other drivers’ indication, and yield as necessary.

The sign placement on the left side of the road. Makes sense, right? No, I said left. Signs are on the left and you eventually learn to adjust. But the other confusing thing, at least in Adelaide, is that there are big green signs indicating the main road at the next intersection. We took a few wrong turns thinking those signs were indicating the name of the road the sign was on; not the road up ahead. I also realized this probably stems from the fact the road signs are white in Australia, whereas in America, ours are green.

The slow lane is the left lane. Thus, when you pass, you pass on the right side.

The speed limits are actual speed limits. Yeah, that’s right; “Awe, I’m safe at 5 miles over.” Isn’t a thing here. And, no, you won’t necessarily get pulled over, as cops aren’t really a big presence here (see below), but those traffic cameras sure will catch you and there’s no disputing a photograph! David and I learned this lesson the hard way when we first got to Australia; within the first two weeks, we were driving down a street that was marked 50km (every other street around that area was 60km), but we didn’t even have that American mindset of not following the speed limit. We weren’t even in a rush to get anywhere, but we drove past a traffic camera at 55km, saw a flash and hoped it was some malfunction. But guess what? About two months later our club got a ticket in the mail for $500! Now, that was because it was a business car, so they bargained to get someone to claim the ticket and in return they’d lower it to $250… We claimed it, and thankfully the club paid for it “because it was our first”, but $250?! We were in disbelief. You won’t ever catch us speeding again! Shortly after, we also found out that passing a red light is an even bigger ticket. Orange does not mean speed up here, people! Thankfully we didn’t learn this from experience; we were just told. I will say though, we have since come to appreciate the safety enforced in Australia, and that leads to my next point…

Australians are not only safe drivers for the most part, but they are relaxed, courteous, more passive drivers (at least in comparison to Americans!). I think that’s really just a reflection on the culture here too. No one really seems to be in such a hurry as we do in America. It’s a very laid-back, “no worries”, kind of country.

The police presence is much different to that of America; there are just not that many police around and especially not just hanging around waiting to pull drivers over for going past the speed limit. The traffic cameras seem to mostly take care of that. I believe this actually forms a much better relationship between officers and citizens. There’s just not that tension we experience in America. The funny thing is, Australians are so lax that they might casually get out the car to speak to an officer if they are pulled over. There have been accounts of Australians visiting America and getting tackled for doing this, not realizing the strict procedures enforced in America. It’s so foreign to them to imagine having to “put your hands on the steering wheel where I can see them”.

The parking signs – I remember the first time we drove into the city for something, we didn’t want to pay for parking (who does right?) so I dropped David off to complete the necessary task and drove around looking for a place to “park”. That’s when I noticed the parking signs were a bit different. For ticketed areas, there is generally a number followed by a P to let you know how many hours the designated area permits parking. It can also look something like this “1/4P” or “1/2P” for 15-minute or half hour parking, respectively. And “No Standing Anytime” is equivalent to “No Stopping Anytime”, which would also be demonstrated as an S inside a circle with a slash through it.

The gas (petrol) prices – Australians love to make fun of Americans for calling what we fill our cars up with “gas”. They call it petrol here. The price of petrol is also measured by cents per litre, so don’t get confused – it’s not that cheap!

Looking right left right – you know when they teach you how to “look” for oncoming traffic in drivers’ school and even when just crossing the street as a kid? Yeah, well, you eventually get used to it when driving, but because you don’t walk across a street as much as you drive, to this day, we still have to remind ourselves which side of the road we have to expect oncoming traffic from as a pedestrian!

Looking to your left for your rear-view mirror. I honestly didn’t use my rear-view mirror probably for the first two months of driving here, it was so hard to get used to!

The driver’s and passenger’s seat location – you do really adjust to most differences here, but something David and I constantly struggle with is walking to the right side of the car. Yeah, sometimes you just gotta play it off and pretend like you were intending on letting the other person drive. If you’re by yourself though, just act cool and hopefully nobody’s watching!

What are your thoughts? Does driving in Australia sound different? It was a fun experience adapting for us, and you can imagine the confusion when visiting America, coming back to Australia, visiting America and coming back to Australia again… But it truly is a perfect metaphor for life. Every season brings something new. Today we’re having to adjust to what seems like our new normal – being quarantined and isolated; possibly jobless for some of us. Don’t be discouraged though. This is just a season. There will always be challenges, new experiences or bumps along life’s road. Just like going back and forth between Australia and America, you don’t learn by being frozen in fear, you learn by continuing to drive. So, here’s my word of advice: Just keep driving.

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Cheers,

Joyful Jot