The Hume Highway is a safe road. Crashes still occur.
Here are some tips to minimise your risk.
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Highway speeds are safe if traffic is well separated and not unnecessarily disrupted. You can help this happen by allowing space, and by not getting in the way of anything. Enter the highway at highway speed. It is impossible to smoothly merge if highway traffic is faster than you are. Unfortunately, L and P drivers are not legally permitted to do this. When entering from a side road without an entry lane, remember that the traffic is fast. Wait for a large gap and accelerate positively.
I have seen several blood-curdling near misses, with drivers dawdling onto the highway in front of trucks. Similarly, when leaving the highway, do your slowing in the exit lane; this is its purpose. Approaching Wagga from either Sydney or Melbourne, the exit lanes accommodate this well. Braking is not necessary. When cruising past an entry lane, use a safely available right lane to avoid conflict. This is vital if the entering traffic is slow. Although you legally have priority, entering traffic has nowhere to go if you block it. Be prepared to accommodate it.
When catching up to something slow, an important observation is behind you. Often there will be faster traffic gaining on you as you gain on the slow vehicle. An early decision needs to be made to slow slightly and wait or to accelerate slightly and pass well before the faster car. If the faster car needs to slow to accommodate you, you're an unnecessary disruption. Awareness of this common situation is remarkably lacking. Pulling out to pass as the faster car approaches is common, so is braking to avoid hitting the slow vehicle. Both are indicative of either absent or very slow observation and decision-making - a lack of situational awareness.
"Keep Left Unless Overtaking" does not mean you have an automatic right to occupy the right lane if you want to overtake. Pulling into the right lane too early is also common. If you have a 5km/h faster speed than something 500m in front, it will take you six minutes to catch it. Spending this time in the right-hand lane at a speed slower than those approaching behind will cause avoidable frustration and disruption. Interpret the "Keep Left" sign as meaning "Vacate Right Lane for Faster Traffic". Avoid traffic flow disruption. If you consider a faster car to be dangerous, it is safer to let it through and let the highway patrol do its job than it is to obstruct it.
Prioritise a smooth traffic flow on the Hume. Space is your friend.
BRUCE HARPER
