During our recent trip, towing our van near the posted speed limit, we lost count of the number of times we were overtaken near corners with double white lines, sometimes in speed controlled zones.
The drivers were often young women with "P" plates on their small sedans, driving many kilometres over the limit. We had a couple of close calls when on-coming traffic appeared. On one occasion, a driver pulled around to pass when we slowed for animals on the road.
Even at road works, you are not immune from being overtaken on the dirt on the side of the new roadway, in spite of the “no overtaking” signs at all road works.
Recently, a 4WD towing a trailer (carrying two apparently unrestrained pizza ovens) roared past the vehicle he was following, creating a huge plume of red dust for those following.
We have noticed that sometimes long stretches of “road work” seem to have very low limits (eg. 40-60kph) for no apparent reason; certainly with no evidence of work actually being done at that time and with the road surface appearing fine.
This does create frustration on long trips, particularly when there are multiple similar stretches one after another. On one such long section near Bundaberg in Queensland last year, there were two police cars cruising along booking people doing over the 40kph limit: not hard to incur a large fine or loss of licence in these circumstances.
Another aspect is that some RVers do not keep up with the flow of the traffic. They allow a long line of vehicles to build up behind, without pulling over to allow them to pass. This lack of consideration for those following can result in frustrated attempts to overtake in unsuitable places. Truck drivers must find it particularly galling when they have schedules to keep.
Despite an improvement in the number of uncovered loads this year, we did see several instances of items flying off vehicles, leaving those behind to avoid the debris.
What do other caravanners think?