Your views: spring 2025

Emergency training

I watch the panicked behaviour of drivers as an emergency vehicle with sirens and flashing lights comes up fast behind them. Many drivers are put in a difficult situation, with no solution to immediately create space for the emergency vehicles. Even worse are the drivers who don’t allow cars that have pulled over to rejoin the flow of traffic. 

I recently asked a new P-plater what advice or literature they had received for dealing with speeding emergency vehicles. The answer? “Nothing.” No wonder we don’t manage it well. 

Lyn Chisholm, Hobart

Safety for cyclists

As road cyclists, we can only wear the clothes the cycling manufacturers make. Hi-vis clothing made for civil work does not work for cyclists for many reasons.  I wear light-colour clothing and have rear lights that can be seen for quite some distance. Why is it when in an 80km/h zone - when signs state that drivers must be 1.5 metres away from cyclists - I have cars tearing past me less than a metre away? A simple step to save cyclists' lives is for car drivers to obey the road rules.

Mark Noonan

Turns me off

I passed my driving test in busy London many decades ago.

One thing that was seared into my brain was that when turning off a main road onto a side road you do not disrupt traffic flow. Mirror, signal, move over to the appropriate side, slow down, turn off. Here in Tasmania, especially in regional and rural areas, the rule seems to be: brake in the middle of the road so that those behind don't know what you're about to do, then signal just as you turn off. Both sexes and all ages are frequent offenders. P-platers should not have had time to lapse into sloppy habits but even they, on occasion, are guilty.

Richard Ashby

Breathing easy

I purchased a breathalyser for my daughter when she was in her early twenties, through the RACT. There was a particular brand they recommended. It was one that required annual recalibration, which I thought was a necessary and safe inclusion. Since then, my daughter has become a senior doctor in accident and emergency.  She has continuously used the breathalyser since. When out with her friends, generally other doctors, they have all make use of it. She has often said to me that it was the best gift ever given to her.

Lisbeth Eastoe, Blackmans Bay

Zip in and zip up

Joanna de Burgh makes a good observation about drivers not using both lanes when a merge is ahead (Journeys, winter 2025). The reason is that drivers toot and gesticulate rather than allow a merge. Transferring into the moving lane too early causes hold-ups as people are let in and blockages at intersections behind the traffic as the queue is longer than necessary. If drivers could just be polite and zip smoothly, they would all save time, fuel and patience.

C. Timbrell