First time going interstate - is it safe?

[KHIEM]

Hi everyone,

I and my friends plan to drive to Melbourne (we r in Adelaide atm) for this holiday. The total trip is abourt 720 kms one way. The problem is: this is my frist time ever to drive that far. So I m a bit worried about it.

I m on my P1, so just experience driving for only 1 year. Is the highway from Adelaide to Melbourne safe, so that a 1-year-drvier will feel comfy and drive there? We have about 4 people (3 can drive among them) so i think we will change driver every 150-200 kms to avoid fatigue. I heard that will be mostly 2-landed road, but not really sure, cant find any photos of the highway.

We used to drive to Victor Habour, which is 100kms from Adelaide, and drive back to Adelaide in the same day. That was so enjoyable.

So my question is: with a Corolla 05 and 3 young drivers, will there be any warning or danger if we wanna drive to Melbounre? Is there any usefull tip?

Thanks a lot everyone

Cheers

TK

[ASG14]

Personally, I will say it is not safe having 4 young people in a car, all brand new drivers, for any amount of driving, let alone a very long trip.

BUT, the question is, how is YOUR driving, and are YOU comfortable?

And keep in mind you'll be having 3 other inexperienced drivers, driving YOUR car. I would not, in any way, feel comfortable knowing that. Then again, I don't feel comfortable with even many experienced drivers driving my car.

Thats just my opinion from personal experience. My parents forbid me to have more then 1 young person in my car for the 1st year of driving.

[KHIEM]

Thank you for that :).

Yea i think its a bit risky to drive that much. Among 3 of us, 1 is 27 and holding a Full, other 2 (including me) are holidng a P1 and 20 years old.

Well when i drove to Victor Habour last year (i was a 6-month-P1 driver at that time) with 4 friends in my car (so 5 in total), i found that really enjoyable and fun. They did not make any presure on me so i drove comfortably.

What do you think the biggest danger in my situation if I drive interstate like that? Are there a lot of hazard on the way there?

Thanks mate

[SuperDave]

ASG14 sums it up perfectly. Do you feel you are up to it? It's not a dare but a serious question you need to ask not only yourself, but the other drivers.

[KHIEM]

i have a feeling that i can do and have the "power" the trip, yea, just a feeling. However, i dont have any idea about how the road/highway will be, is it a really dangerous highway, or mountain pass, etc.

Since i havent been to Melbourne before, so i think this is a good trip. Moreover, driving saves a bit of money too.

wat do u think?

[Blind Kid Seeks]

its a very easy road to drive. just follow the signs.

[ASG14]

Yea i think its a bit risky to drive that much. Among 3 of us, 1 is 27 and holding a Full, other 2 (including me) are holidng a P1 and 20 years old.

That changes things a little bit then. I was thinking you were all teenagers. You have 1 good experienced driver with you. I'm 26 right now, and do 7 hour drives every few months. I did a weekend trip from my uni to Canada to visit a friend for a weekend 3 years ago, 8 hours each way, by myself. I'd say, if you can, just have you and the 27 year old drive it. Your comfortable in your car, and the 27 yo has experience. Then all should be fine. Main thing to remember, if your tired, let someone know. It;s not worth taking a chance on an accident, have someone else drive. :)

[dorifto]

hey KHIEM,

We did a trip from Melbourne to Mt Gambier and that was around 550k's each way. All four of us were still on our P Plates and were divided with 2 in each car. The idea was to swap drivers after each pit stop, so around every 2hrs of driving or so. Worked out fine and didn't run into many issues at all. Just obey the signs like BKS said and plan your trip; where/when your breaks will be held ect

And if this is of any reassurance: i did this in my Corolla which had 270,000km's and a slight engine problem which saw it consume some oil.

[1rocky]

Take it easy . Like the others say.have plenty of breaks. One of first long drives i took was the Pacific Highway from Sydney to grafton. A dangerous road then and still is. With the experienced driver there as well that will be good for you. . Have the car checked before you go. and enjoy. Have a great trip.

[jaderd]

yeah should be fine especially travelling with heaps of mates you will all be chatting etc and mind stimulated....if feel tired at all stop....you will prob be stopping many times anyway as im sure 3-4 young guys will want food every 1-2 hours :)

[KHIEM]

Thanks for your advices everyone,

yea i think i can have as many pit stop as possible cos that would maintain the alertness, and like jaderd said, we may need food very oftern hehe :-). couples of months ago, i drove my parents around the Adlaide Hills, Handolf region, where theres a lot of mountain pass, dangerous road i think. But it all went ok and I really enjoy those challenges.

Do i need to prepare anythin for my car? I have changed the oil and the filter last week.

[KHIEM]

Thanks for your advices everyone,

yea i think i can have as many pit stop as possible cos that would maintain the alertness, and like jaderd said, we may need food very oftern hehe :-). couples of months ago, i drove my parents around the Adlaide Hills, Handolf region, where theres a lot of mountain pass, dangerous road i think. But it all went ok and I really enjoy those challenges.

Do i need to prepare anythin for my car? I have changed the oil and the filter last week.

[ASG14]

Check the tire air pressure (has a massive effect on gas mileage, and check spare tire), and check the air filter. Other then that, if your car runs good, nothing to worry about

[DJKOR]

I just usually take a quick once over of the car before any long trips. Make sure all the levels are fine, air pressures like ASG14 has said, and as well as a quick inspection of the tires to make sure I didn't pick up any nails recently (though that's cause of where my car usually travels). Last thing I want is a nail in my tire and finding out once it's too late and then have no spare tire to fall back on if anything happens. Apart from that, if there is nothing abnormal in your day to day driving, your car should be fine.

[Leroy]

One of your biggest problems will be boredom... around Bordertown and onwards is pretty damn bleak. If you are going the coast road, once you hit Port Fairy/Portland area you have hit normal roads again.

I also concur: just be wary of ALL road signs. I imagine you are not familiar with the roads, let alone the road rules across the border.

Oh yeah, and on the long stretches you are almost guaranteed of getting overtaken by bikies. Best veer left a little and let them all fly past. ;)

[Blind Kid Seeks]

Oh yeah, and on the long stretches you are almost guaranteed of getting overtaken by bikies. Best veer left a little and let them all fly past. ;)

thats great advice in the current climate...

[Leroy]

Oh yeah, and on the long stretches you are almost guaranteed of getting overtaken by bikies. Best veer left a little and let them all fly past. ;)

thats great advice in the current climate...

I'm not quite sure if you're being serious or not...

I'm not trying to stir things up at all, but no matter how old you are or how many times you've done the drive - a group of 50 or so bikies in your rear view is always intimidating.

At the end of the day they just want to get where they are going, just like you... but its just wise to let them have right of way for a couple of seconds, especially if you are feeling nervous behind the wheel.

[Blind Kid Seeks]

Oh yeah, and on the long stretches you are almost guaranteed of getting overtaken by bikies. Best veer left a little and let them all fly past. ;)

thats great advice in the current climate...

I'm not quite sure if you're being serious or not...

I'm not trying to stir things up at all, but no matter how old you are or how many times you've done the drive - a group of 50 or so bikies in your rear view is always intimidating.

At the end of the day they just want to get where they are going, just like you... but its just wise to let them have right of way for a couple of seconds, especially if you are feeling nervous behind the wheel.

nah being deadly serious... !!!! these guys are ruthless and are copping a fair bit of ego inflating press at the moment... i'd be staying well clear of any such bikie gang activity at all costs.

[Hiro]

I'd be more worried about coming up behind a slow-moving gang of bikies. It's a lot easier for a lot of bikes to overtake one car than it is for one car to overtake a lot of bikes. If you get up their ***** and start getting impatient because you can't overtake, thats when I'd be rolling up the windows and reaching for the tyre iron, just in case.

One thing I've noticed about bike riders (of all kinds, sports bikes to cruisers to hogs), is that they WILL find a way to overtake, no matter what. It is impossible to hold up a bike for more than a few seconds if they are a competant rider, just don't do anything unexpected and they'll get around (kinda like giving way to an ambo/firey, sometimes the best tactic is to just keep doing what you are doing and let them thread their way through, no point moving over into a hole they were just about to scoot through)

[KHIEM]

One of your biggest problems will be boredom... around Bordertown and onwards is pretty damn bleak. If you are going the coast road, once you hit Port Fairy/Portland area you have hit normal roads again.

I also concur: just be wary of ALL road signs. I imagine you are not familiar with the roads, let alone the road rules across the border.

Oh yeah, and on the long stretches you are almost guaranteed of getting overtaken by bikies. Best veer left a little and let them all fly past. ;)

Good point. I have never been told about this until now. So they usually in a group of 50 or so? That sounds a bit worried for me then hhehe

nah being deadly serious... !!!! these guys are ruthless and are copping a fair bit of ego inflating press at the moment... i'd be staying well clear of any such bikie gang activity at all costs.

I'd be more worried about coming up behind a slow-moving gang of bikies. It's a lot easier for a lot of bikes to overtake one car than it is for one car to overtake a lot of bikes. If you get up their ***** and start getting impatient because you can't overtake, thats when I'd be rolling up the windows and reaching for the tyre iron, just in case.

One thing I've noticed about bike riders (of all kinds, sports bikes to cruisers to hogs), is that they WILL find a way to overtake, no matter what. It is impossible to hold up a bike for more than a few seconds if they are a competant rider, just don't do anything unexpected and they'll get around (kinda like giving way to an ambo/firey, sometimes the best tactic is to just keep doing what you are doing and let them thread their way through, no point moving over into a hole they were just about to scoot through)

So the best thing to do is just drive normally (slow down a bit and wait until overtaken) and don't try to block their way or do any other silly things with them (including overtaking)?

Have u guys ever heard about anything serious like if they think the car is blocking their way, they may just go and bash the car or do some other bad/rude things like that?

Again, thanks for all these valuable tips, they just seems very new and useful to me. havent been told before.

howabout kangoroos or other kind of 'road-crossing-animal', will i see them very often? I have heard about some serious car accident because of those animal. Is there any tips?

Cheers,

TK

[Leroy]

So the best thing to do is just drive normally (slow down a bit and wait until overtaken) and don't try to block their way or do any other silly things with them (including overtaking)?

Have u guys ever heard about anything serious like if they think the car is blocking their way, they may just go and bash the car or do some other bad/rude things like that?

Again, thanks for all these valuable tips, they just seems very new and useful to me. havent been told before.

howabout kangoroos or other kind of 'road-crossing-animal', will i see them very often? I have heard about some serious car accident because of those animal. Is there any tips?

Cheers,

TK

Yep - like I said, they just want to be on their way. I really wouldn't worry about them - they will leave you alone providing you are driving safely and don't cut one of them off.

If you come across the rare occurrence of them moving too slow (which I really don't think you will find), then drive at their speed. Lol.

Yeah, coming into autumn/winter is prime roadkill season. Watch out - and DO NOT SWERVE if it jumps out at you. A large stretch of this journey is single lane either side, so better to brake straight and risk a decent dent in your car than go off road or in the other lane.

The main thing to remember is that you have to take extra care - because if something does happen, it is going to be 1. a long time before someone finds you, and 2. a long time until the ambulance/police/NRMA can get there.

[Hiro]

Roos and other animals aren't too much of a problem during the day, it's night-time and dawn/dusk when it is the worst, due to both increased movements and lack of light.

[KHIEM]

Thanks everyone.

These are really valuable tips. They gonna help me a lot.

Cheers,

TK

[akuma]

not being cocky, but i drove to canberra (From melbourne) and back in the 1day. left at like 3am, got there at 10am, left at 7pm (no offence canberrians but it was boring) and got back to melb about 3am. for some reason its was faster getting back then arriving at point, and i had 2years of driving experience, i stoped at nearly every servo station just to go toilet, have a drink and a rest. i did have a 5minute powernap, and i was the only driver.