Normal lang na makikita mo sa mga daan ang mga battery powered- scooter na ito lalong lalo na sa umaga at hapon sa panahon ng peak time dito sa malalaking syudad sa Australia. Pero ang di alam ng marami ang electric scooters ay bawal sa ibang lugar sa Australia.
Ayon kay Peter Kartsidimas, na isang senior manager transport , planning and infrastructure sa Royal Automotive Club of Victoria, maraming tao ang gumagastos ng ilang libong dolyar para bumili nito. Huwag maging kampanti dahil seguradong huhulihin ka ng pulis kapag nakita ang electric scooter ay ginamit sa labas ng iyong bahay , o mga pampublikong lugar, gaya ng sa daan.
“Those scooters are not allowed to be legally used on our roads unless they can have a maximum speed of 10 kilometres per hour and 200 Watts in power, you can’t actually use them anywhere on a network as we’ve been seeing people use them, and it’s a fine of over 800 dollars if you are caught riding one of these devices.”
Samantala para naman sa di sanay magmaneho sa mismong sentro ng Melbourne , ang tinawag na hook turn ay seguradong nakakatakot at para sa iba nakakalito.
Ang hook turn ay nariyan para maging mabilis ang takbo para sa mga trams , at para sa mga nagmamaneho ng sasakyan ang hook turn ay ibig sabihin ang driver ay kailangang nasa left lane para mag-turn right.
“If you are in the Melbourne city area, and see the sign that says turn right from the left, or undertake a hook turn, you simply pull over to the far left on the inside of the intersection, wait for the lights of the traffic you are entering to turn green, so once those lights go green, you just simply go forward or turn right, and you’ve completed your hook turn. It’s not as hard as you may think and no need to stress, kwento ni Kartsidimas.
Ang Top Gear Australia presenter at isang advanced driving instructor na si Steve Pizzati ang estado ng New South Whales ang may pinaka-kakaibang road rules sa buong Australia.
Dahil di mo pwedeng putulin ang prosisyon ng mga sasakyan na libing pati din ang gulatin para paalisin ang mga kabayong tumatawid sa daan.
Magmumulta ka din kung habang nagmamaneho ka ng sasakyan at nang dumaan sa isang bus stop ay nasabuyan mo ng putik ang mga tao dun.
“It’s actually specific to mud and specific to a bus stop, so if it’s water at a bus stop no problems, or if it’s mud but it’s not a bus stop that’s ok. But it’s specifically, it’s really weird, specifically mud at a bus stop is illegal and I think you would be pretty hard done by, if you got that fine," sabi ni Pizzati.
Isa pa sa kakaibang palisiya sa NSW na nakita ni Pizzati ay may kinalaman ang mga tumatawid na tao sa pedestrian lane.
“The other one that I like in New South Wales, which isn’t actually a driving rule, but it relates to pedestrians, and that is if you don’t cross the road quickly enough, there is a fine. That’s a 66-dollar fine. If you had an injury with your foot, and I don’t know, you are walking very slowly, potentially you could get fined for being a bit of a nuisance.”
Dagdag pa nito kung nagbabalak kang mamgmaneho sa Tasmania siguraduhing gumamit ng satellite navigation device at huwag ung GPS App mo sa mobile phone dahil illegal yan at seguradong may nakakabit na multa.
“That is one that comes up quite regularly whether it is legal or not to use, for example, Google maps. In every state it is legal, perfectly legal, as long as the phone is in a cradle unless you are in Tasmania. And someone potentially coming from the mainland would go to Tasmania, go on a tour, use Google maps and then they are up for a quite a hefty fine, sabi ni Pizzati.
Sa Canberra naman, kapag nasa roundabout at planong dumiretso, kailangan mong mag-signal ng pakaliwa para mag exit sa roundabout para maka-iwas sa multa.
“There are some funny rules about the roundabouts. And the one that stands out for me is that in most states you don’t need to indicate if you are going straight but, in the ACT, so if you are in Canberra, you must indicate even if you are going straight. So, you must indicate, in other words, to exit the roundabout.”
Pwede ka ding magmulta kung sobrang bagal kang magmaneho sa mga daang may high-speed limit sa buong Australia. May babala din si Pizzati para sa mga bike riders sa daan.
“There is some misconception that bike riders have to use a separate bike path if it is available to them, but they can ride on a road, so when people are unlawfully tooting using their horn to beep bike riders riding two abreast, keep in mind they can actually do that. And in fact, bike riders can actually do hook turns in Victoria at any intersection actually.”
Dapat ding malaman ng mga drivers na habang nag mamaneho ang pagwawagayway sa iyong kamay o paglabas ng iyong braso sa bintana ng sasakyan at ang biglaang malakas na pagbusina at pag-flashing sa headlights ay ipinagbabawal sa buong estado at teritoryo ng Australia .
“It’s a funny one, the horn is only meant to be used to signal where you are or if you are, maybe, you are shooing away some wild life or this sort of thing, so yeah if you are just saying hello to someone that’s technically illegal, and as is flashing lights. Funnily enough, the only time you are allowed to use your high beams like that is if you are overtaking, which actually brings me to another point. Most states have got a provision that if you speed up when someone is trying to overtake you, that is illegal as well.”
Dahil sa pagiging race driver sa Porsche Australia palagi syang nasa ibang bansa, ayon kay Pizzati naging pamilyar sya kung anong klase at kung paano nagmamaneho ang mga driver sa buong mundo.
Kaya abiso nya sa mga nakakuha ng drivers licence mula sa ibang bansa, na kailangang sumailalim sa drivers training at education program dito sa Australia, dahil mas madali itong kunin kaysa lisensyang magmaneho sa Europa.
“Please be aware that the driver’s system in Australia is rather poor; the testing procedure is very, very simple; practical side is very, very basic. So, yeah, be a little bit careful because the average Aussie doesn’t get a huge amount of training unfortunately to get their licence so yeah, drive defensively I would say,"
Para sa karagdagang impormasyon ukol sa road rules sa bawat estado at teritoryo ng Australia bisitahin ang National Transport Commission website.
BASAHIN DIN
