A unique road rule in Wagga is confusing drivers to the point where some fear a person will be injured.
The median strip on Station Place, where the taxi rank is located, has a “Keep Right” sign on it as you travel north-bound from the Wagga Railway Station.
Wagga taxi drivers say they have had a number of close calls in recent weeks, and are hoping to get the message out to Wagga drivers that they are not supposed to be driving through the designated rank area.
Ken Chappelow has been a Wagga resident for 54 years and has been driving taxis for six years.
The 79-year-old said he was out of his car talking to a work colleague, when a car came through the taxi rank area.
“Just (on Thursday), a woman came through here at 30 to 40km/h,” Mr Chappelow said.
“I was standing at my open door talking to another driver when this car drove through where it shouldn’t be.”
Another taxi driver, Gary Mann, said he had experienced a number of different responses from drivers when you pointed the error out to them.
“They’ll hurtle abuse at you, or completely ignore you,” Mr Mann said.
“I’ve had one person try to spit on me.”
Mr Mann said the dangerous act wasn’t an isolated incident.
“Half a dozen cars would fly through here on any given shift,” he said.
“A kid could run out of the rank and get hit.”
He said when he or his workmates opened their doors to try to prevent other road users from driving in the area, the cars have blocked taxis from getting out of the rank.
“And if the road is clear, they just fly through.”
Taxi drivers are always on full alert when the CountryLink trains arrive.
Mr Chappelow suggested placing bollards near the entry to the taxi rank to make the area more noticeable.
“The “Keep Right” sign could be bigger,” he said.
Mr Chappelow suggested police could use the CCTV recently installed on Station Place to keep an eye on how bad the situation is.
Disobeying a “keep right” sign carries a $248 fine and two demerit points off you licence, according to the Roads and Maritime Service.
