It keeps getting worse

[red750]

At least in Victoria, you used to be able to go onto the Vicroads website, select registration, enter your rego number, and it would tell you when your rego is due to expire. Now you have to sign up for a monthly bill to have this info sent to your email address. Another government ripoff.

[octave]

 

1 hour ago, red750 said:

At least in Victoria, you used to be able to go onto the Vicroads website, select registration, enter your rego number, and it would tell you when your rego is due to expire. Now you have to sign up for a monthly bill to have this info sent to your email address. Another government ripoff.

Are you sure about that? I can check my rego online.

 

 

 

Edited July 12 by octave

[red750]

[octave]

3 minutes ago, red750 said:

Go to 

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/buy-sell-or-transfer-a-vehicle/check-vehicle-registration/vehicle-registration-enquiry

 

Type in your rego (or any other) and it will give you  all the details such as colour vin number, and expiry date. You can do this for any registered car, even if you don't own it.  

 

Apart from that I do get emails but I do have an online account and it is free.  Try the link it does work.  

 

[red750]

Thanks.

 

I've been using that for years, but could not get that to come up this time.

[facthunter]

They send me at least 2 reminders on each vehicle (inluding trailers) and I haven't signed up for anything. Nev

[red750]

Yes, they send reminders up to two months in advance, but when I pay using bPay, I like to check a couple of days later that the expiry date has been updated.

[octave]

We register our car quarterly, and I find that they send the reminder email absurdly early.   

[red750]

I register quarterly as well. At my  age and health, who knows how much longer I can drive.

 

After this week's accident in Wantirna South (just down the road), where a 91 year old lady ran off the road hitting a pair of grandparents walking their grandchild, The grandmother was killed at the site, the grandfather has since died, and the grandchild is in hospital critically injured. Seniors driving is being looked at critically in Victoria, where there is no age related retesting.

[nomadpete]

12 minutes ago, red750 said:

Victoria, where there is no age related retesting.

That is age discrimination. The stats show that per capita in each age group, the younger drivers are involved in a higher percentage of road fatalities, than the older ones.

 

If they wish to reduce road injurie/fatalities, they would increase the real driver training and add biennial reviews.

I guess lives don't really matter enough to properly address the problem.

[facthunter]

One event and we all go into Hysterics (as usual) There May have been a fault with the car or the driver  affected by Medications.  Stolen cars are a bigger Menace and high speed chases . Also some driver training is probably lacking in skid and turning practice and handling skills  To even drive Normally with Melbourne's  Trams, stop go Traffic,E bikes. Roadworks  rude taxi's and sudden death trafffic lights  and Lane changing requires a lot of skill. Nev

[red750]

Yes Nev. You left out underage unlicensed drivers who seem to be coming more prevalent, as well as idiots hyped up on meth and other drugs, as well as booze. But there does seem to be a high number of accidents like cars pulling into an angle park at the kerb, hitting the gas instead of the brake, and ending up in a restaurant or so on, and unfortunately many of these are drivers over 75. I believe other states have biennial testing for seniors.

[old man emu]

I have had two instances of the "hitting the gas instead of the brake" incidents in the past month or so. In both cases it was becasue I was wearing work boots that were wider in the sole than the joggers I normally wear. Very frightening, but now I am extra cautious when I am drivbing with them on. 

[nomadpete]

Simple inexperience/inadequate training is a big part of younger car accidents.

 

Yesterday I turned out to a head-on collision. At the highway at the end of my street. A young P plate driver couldn't explain why she ended up on the wrong side of the road, colliding with a oncoming vehicle. 

 

The other driver, more experienced, saw the situation unfolding, and moved as far as possible to the left, but she still managed to head-on him. 

 

The road was wet. It might have been  a little icy. When the girl's ute lost rear grip, she didn't know what to do.

 

1. She didn't  think to drive slower when conditions dictate.

 

2. Didn't recognise loss of grip.

 

3. Didn't  automatically steer into the skid.

 

Worse still, she still won't know what to do next time it happens.

 

Lack of training.

 

On another occasion in the past, I was present when a young P plater lost it on a wet corner, and rolled a little hatchback. She said it was the second time that had happened. On the same corner. In a different car. Then she blamed the car for it.

 

Ignorance! - due entirely to poor training. Training isn't the all encompassing problem, but it's a significant part of it and most importantly it is a clearly addressable safety issue.

[onetrack]

The age when to cease driving is something that affects all of us eventually. All older drivers generally reduce their driving amounts and conditions they drive in, to only conditions they know they can handle safely. 

But illness and deteriorating eyesight, and the development of bad driving habits are the bugbears of older drivers.

 

Here on the left coast, the authorities rely on doctors to report those clients they deem to be unsafe behind the wheel. All drivers undergo a mandatory test drive (PDA - Practical Driving Assessment) at age 80, and every year thereafter, a doctor must sign a medical assessment as regards fitness to drive.

Over 80, the authorities require Main Roads W.A. Accreditation for anyone to hold a Commercial (Truck) Drivers Licence. The Accreditation process is pretty intense and covers physical fitness levels.

 

I once saw a bloke in the U.S. who was an interstate long-haul truck driver - who was 94! He was the oldest commercial truck driver in the U.S. and passed his truck drivers test annually with no problem. He didn't look a day over 70. I suppose he gave it away when he got to 100!

 

An old bloke lives on a semi-rural block next to the brother in the Southern suburb of Armadale. W.A. He's 101, and only just had his licence lifted!

The brother reckons he should've had it lifted 10 years ago! The old bloke built a shed for himself, when he was 97!

[Jerry_Atrick]

I can't remember the name of the fella, but apparently he owned Elstree airport north of London and he was able to fly solo until well into his 90s.. I think about 94... He had to have a medical either quarterly or monthly, which included the ECG. Eventually he had to have a safety pilot with him, but he could still be the commander. He eventually had to hang up his headsets and I think died not too long after. 

 

Bob Hoover was still going strong at 77 doing his aerobatic routine in the Commander, I think it was. He was still OK flying, but apparently couldn't get insurance for his airshows. 

[onetrack]

Jerry, you're thinking of John Houlder, I believed he managed Elstree, he didn't actually own it.

 

Wing Commander Ken Wallis is another memorable bloke, designing dozens of devices, including autogyros that he flew with amazing skill in his 90's. He was still flying at age 94, and he reached 97 before he died in 2013. He flew one of his autogyros in the James Bond movie, "You Only Live Twice".

 

https://www.mi6-hq.com/news/index.php?itemid=8700

[nomadpete]

For once the thread hasn't drifted far from topic.

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE....

Old age, that is.

[Jerry_Atrick]

thanks, @onetrack - I couldn't remember if he owned it or not, but when I was getting my UK PPL at Elstree, he was still flying and quite a legend - although I never met the man. 

 

It was the shittiest aiirfield I had ever flown from by a long mile, and that includes a couple of gravel strips in Vic (Melton and Coldstream).. The CAA closed it as the runway (bitumen) had potholes big enough to rattle a road train. At the eatern end of the runway, there was a row of, as I recall, pine trees, that got the heart racing a bit when taking off, especially when it was hot. And, because I already had an Aussie PPL, I went for the cheapest school on C150s that were so tired, there were days that we decided not to go as the margin for error over those trees was not great.

 

I binned that school in the end and went for a field closer to home. More expensive per hour, but done a lot quicker.

Edited July 13 by Jerry_Atrick

[Jerry_Atrick]

1 hour ago, nomadpete said:

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE....

Old age, that is.

It's better than the alternative..

Edited July 13 by Jerry_Atrick

[ClintonB]

Watching dash cams Australia is a wake up. There are so many f#$kwits on our roads. I don’t know if it’s drugs or dumbness causing wrong side driving on roundabouts, double lines etc. 

when I learnt to drive in the army, the instructors drummed into us drive like everyone else is a d!ckhead trying to kill us.

it has stood well for me so far, besides a few poles and gates I have backed into slowly, I have only had 1 traffic accident. I gave way to a semi, even though I didn’t have to so he could turn into the side road easier, and he run straight over the bonnet of the falcon I borrowed, because my charger would start in the cold morning. It was in Kalgoorlie and I had just finished cleaning the depot where he worked before everyone got in.

 

[nomadpete]

Quite agree, after watching Australian dashcams, I sold my motorbike. Just too many pig ignorant, stupid drivers out there - it frightened me.

[spacesailor]

An old work colleague,  has just let me see his  ' collectors ' motor- bikes. 

All with " dropped handlebars " . & looking like new .

Moto-guzzi .Ducati ,  & two others .

spacesailor

[onetrack]

I'm in Broome at present and spotted this Honda Goldwing trike that someone has ridden from NSW to Broome!

 

It must have been a tiring ride, mixing it with triple road trains on the major highways.

[facthunter]

UNSAFE at ANY speed stuff.. How'd you like to get out of shape on that thing?  Nev