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Sydney Traffic

Australians drive on the left-hand side of the road so if you are a pedestrian it is important to remember to look to the right before stepping off the kerb.

If you want to drive and you don’t want to switch on the windscreen-wiper at every turn and look for the gear-stick in the door then take my advice that will get you on the spot. Grab the gear-stick and hold on to it on the first day. If you do so, you always know where the gearbox is and your other hand will handle the indicator switch automatically. It gets trickier if you drive a Euro edition car because the switch is on the opposite side.

The Australians drive very calmly and politely. If you want to change lane or to get into a lane you just signal with the indicator on you will be let in straight away. Don’t bring your driving habit with you; try to accept the slower but polite style. Example, driving in Italy is like Formula 1 race, dynamic and you have to watch out or driving in Turkey is challenging as not many people seems to care about rules but pushing the horn.

The general speed limit is 60 kilometres-per-hour in the city and suburbs, although there are 40kph and 50kph areas in many suburban streets - especially near schools. The speed limit outside the metropolitan area is 100kph on normal country roads and 110kph on freeways.

If you wait in a bus stop you have to signal to the bus driver that you want a ride. It is like hitchhiking in the middle of the city. If you don’t do that and there is no passenger wanting to get off the bus, you will be left behind.


If there is a pedestrian at the crossing all vehicles have to give way, so don’t start meditating at any pedestrian crossing as you can paralyse the whole street.


If you are a visitor or student and you hold a driving licence from overseas then you can use it as a full licence but you have to have it English translated. You have to get your own Australian Driving Licence only if you become a permanent resident.

If you are going to drink any alcohol the best advice is to plan not to drive at all. Guides are available for drinking very moderate quantities of alcohol over time and remaining below the 0.05 legal BAC level (for fully licensed car drivers) but because everybody's metabolism differs the effects of alcohol will not be the same in every case.

You might find many cars with signs on them:
L (Learner) sing means that the driver passed the traffic rules and signs test but it also can mean that the driver has no driving experience whatsoever! Taking official driving course with instructor is not compulsory in Australia although you shouldn’t see single driver with L sign as it is illegal. The driver must be accompanied with unrestricted licence holder. Be cautious around these drivers and don’t push them as they may become less confident.

P1 Provisional means that the driver successfully completed a practical driving test and they have some restrictions. This is the most dangerous category as they are the least experienced but some young blokes feel being the most confident.


P2 Provisional means that the driver is more experienced, they have less restrictions.