8 common mistakes to avoid when selling your car
The 8 most common mistakes when selling your car privately in Australia — from overpricing to the Notice of Disposal most sellers forget to lodge.
6 Aussie road rules you probably didn’t know
We tend to hop in the car feeling pretty confident about knowing the rules. But do we? Australia has over 300 model road rules, with each state and territory making their own specific decisions on top of that. It’s entirely possible we’ve all broken a few regulations without knowing. So from the misunderstood to the more obscure road rules, here are some that might actually come as a surprise.
1. Giving way to all vehicles in a roundabout
You’re probably used to giving way to your right as you approach a roundabout, because that simply makes sense with the flow of traffic. It’s also how many of us were taught. But technically speaking, the rule is to give way to all vehicles that are already in the roundabout. “That’s the same thing!”, you might say. Well, most of the time. But if two cars approach a roundabout from opposite sides at the same time, the car that enters the roundabout first has the right of way. Sure – the best approach is still to watch for a space to your right and enter when safe, but it’s handy to know this commonly misunderstood rule all the same.
2. Blocking a fire hydrant or post box
There are two things that you really don’t want to delay in Australia: firefighting water and the postal service (which, granted, is already pretty slow). That’s why there are rules about both on our roads. Rule 199 of the Australian Road Rules forbids parking within 3 metres of an Australia Post letter box, unless you’re dropping off or picking up either passengers or mail. It’s also essential to leave at least 1 metre around a fire hydrant or fire hydrant indicator. Public bus drivers and taxi drivers have exemptions if they drop by within their designated zones, but otherwise getting in the way is a big no-go!
3. Parking against the flow of traffic
When you’re desperately searching for a car park and there’s one on the other side of a two-way road, it might be tempting to zoom across and nab the spot. However, across Australia you could land in trouble if you do. State and territory laws are based on the Australian Road Rules which state that drivers must position vehicles to face the direction of traffic.
It’s also important to do the done thing when it comes to angled parking. So you can’t go rogue and reverse into a 45° forward-facing parking spot, or drive forwards into a reverse angle parking spot (shout out to NSW country towns). To be fair though, you’d probably have to work pretty hard to do either of these things with a bank of traffic behind you.
