Watch “Share the road”

Basic actions such as letting others merge, leaving safe distances around trucks and cyclists, being aware of blind spots, and watching out for cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians have a big impact on everyone’s safety.

View the video below and the practical tips for reminders of the simple things we can all do to keep everyone safer on the road.

Avoid tailgating

Wherever you’re heading, it’s important to keep a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front. There are a lot of factors that’ll change what’s considered a safe distance including speed, vehicle type, and driving conditions but as a guide, always remember to keep at least a 2-second gap.

If you’re not sure how to measure this distance, try this method:

Animated light pole

Step 1:

Pick a mark on the road or an object close to the left-hand side of the road, such as a power or light pole.

Leave a 2 second gap between you and the vehicle in front

Step 2:

When the rear of the vehicle ahead passes the object, count ‘1 thousand 1, 1 thousand 2’ (this takes about 2 seconds).

Leave a 2 second gap between you and the vehicle in front

Step 3:

If the front of your vehicle passes the object before you finish counting, you are too close, so drop back.

More on sharing the road

Give way

Remembering to give way at a give-way sign might be easy, but there are many other situations where you need to give way.

Even on the shortest of trips, around your suburbs, stay alert and always look out for your fellow driver.
Refresh all of the scenarios you need to give way here, including the animated video.

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Vespa and car ride side by side on urban road

Road rules refresher

Ensure you remember the road rules correctly by taking the road rule refresher quiz and viewing the animated videos and content on the Road rules for everyday driving section of the Transport and Main Roads website.

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