City Driving Vehicle positioning.
Many drivers appear to find difficulty in driving through narrow or restricted spaces,
such as between two slow-moving vehicles even though the space may be over a metre
wider than their own vehicles. Frequently they obstruct other vehicles because of
this fear. Practise assessing the amount of space required.
There is a well-known motor-khana event in which the contestant has to judge the
narrowest space through which it is possible to drive his vehicle. From a distance
of, perhaps, 100 to 120 metres, a field steward is directed by the driver to place
two poles only far enough apart to drive between them. Naturally, this event has
much practical value.
As a guideline, it may be assumed that the width of a modern car is approximately
the same as the height of a person. Large cars, for example, the "popular sizes"
are currently almost exactly 1.85 metres in width - about the height of a tall man.
Smaller cars range from 1.5 to 1.75 metres in with. (Large vehicles such as passenger
buses, trucks, and semi-trailers are much wider)
Traffic lanes are seldom less than 3 metres wide and frequently extend to 3.7 metres,
so that even a large vehicle seldom has less than 0.6 metres of clearance on each
side in narrow traffic lanes.
By all means the driver should proceed with care to the extent of never touching
another vehicle, and should have practised knowing accurately the side clearances
of the vehicle as well as those fore and aft. A driver who is attempting to drive
between two standing vehicles must always do so with caution.
If the stationary vehicles have high ground clearance a quick look beneath them
for the feet or legs of any pedestrian is desirable. When another vehicle has halted
at a marked pedestrian crossing or at the beginning of an intersection the driver
is legally obliged to stop.
Some drivers are able to assess accurately the position of the near or left side
wheels of their cars. Many, however, are unable to do so and this inhibits them
from keeping sufficiently to the left side of the road.
On blind right-hand corners this can be dangerous. The following method will be
found useful for locating the track of the left-hand or near-side wheels and it
works well for most conventional passenger cars. If the driver seated normally sights
through the bonnet mascot - or where the centre ridge of the bonnet disappears from
sight, to a point on the ground ahead of the car and just visible above the front
of the bonnet, this point will be found on or very nearly on the line of the near-side
wheel track. Naturally this method is accurate on straight roads only, but it can
be helpful when approaching a corner.
Waiting in queues
With increasing traffic congestion, particularly in larger cities, traffic
queues must become more numerous, especially at peak hours or during holidays. As
mentioned earlier, it seems unnecessary for the driver to engage gear when traffic
is at a standstill, some vehicles stand much too close to the vehicle in front,
and on an upgrade might be struck if that vehicle rolls back. Others leave unnecessary
following distance. An irritating practice is to leave excessive space initially,
e.g. 20 metres or more, then close to 10 metres and continue in a series of short
movements. It is true, another vehicle coming from the rear may not stop quickly
enough to avoid a reared collision, but drivers of manual cars farther back in the
queue will find continual shuffling highly irritating.
A good rule-of-thumb for space is that the driver should be just able to see, over
the top of the bonnet, the wheels of the car in front where they make contact with
the road. Adopt this position and stay there until traffic ahead is moving again.
Hook turns
When making a hook turn in the city of Melbourne, a different right hand
turn is required, it is as follows:
Travelling along the street as close as practicable to the left hand side, at the
approach to the intersection check mirror and engage right indicator, enter the
intersection with the green light, keeping the car parallel to, and as close as
practicable to an imaginary line continued from the left hand side of the street
you are leaving, and stop the car with its nose just short of the street you are
going to enter. Do not turn the wheel to the right.
Wait for the traffic signal to change to green for traffic in the street you are
about to enter, check over your shoulder for traffic moving in the street you are
about to leave, then make a sharp right turn and leave the intersection cleanly.