VicRoads Ringwood, Heatherdale Road, Practical Driving Test #3

The third Practical Driving Test video is now available including audio guided turn by turn instructions for those wishing to complete the practical driving test route.

Kelvin
www.PracticalDrivingTest.com.au

Location of Dan Andrews' wife Catherine Andrews crash with cyclist in 2013.

Today I noticed an article about the crash involving Dan Andrews' wife Catherine Andrews and a 15 year old cyclist that occurred in 2013.

Dan Andrews grilled over 2013 Blairgowrie crash with Ryan Meuleman | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site

I decided to check out the location. You can find the location by copying and pasting the following coordinates or address into Google Maps.

-38.37233221847381, 144.77570100737393
(Melbourne Road and Ridley Street, Blairgowrie)

The accident occurred at 1:10pm on the 7th of January 2013. In 2013 Melbourne Road had a speed limit of 70km/h, which is also the current speed limit. Ridley Street had/has a speed limit of 50km/h.

All I can really say is it must have been gut wrenching for all parties involved. I was once pulling out of a drive very, very slowly where the hedge obscured my view and out of the corner of my eye I noticed something and immediately hit the brakes. It was a small child on a bike who had got ahead of the mother. The bike ended up on it's side and just near or possibly under the wheel of my car (I can't quite recall). No one was hurt, the bike was not damaged, but I was shaken and lived with the memory for some time. There's no winners in this situation.

I don't like checking out accident information as it's often horrible. I do like to understand what may have happened in broad terms so if there's something to learn, I can learn and pass the information on to family and friends.

Using Google Streetview to check out the location you'll see there's no warning to cars that a bike track exists. Nothing. Visibility is very limited. The path is around 17 metres from the main road. There's perhaps 2-3 metres visibility of anyone on the path. A bike travelling at 20km/h would give a driver 0.36-0.72 seconds to respond and hit the brakes. On roads for traffic lights, response time is assumed to be around 1 second. In other words, there may be insufficient time for a driver to respond and apply their brakes irrespective of their speed.

The bike path being 17 metres from the main road is around a house block in from the road. Drivers expect paths to be near roads, not a house block in. But it is a warning when in these areas look out for signs of bike paths and drive appropriately. Cyclists also need to consider they may not be seen. Perhaps some signage or line markings indicating cycling crossing point may be worth considering.

I hope this information may help others in some way. It has certainly taught me to be more alert for bike trails and paths.

Kelvin

TAB nearest to me has now been added to Mapz.

With the Melbourne Cup fast approaching there's one question at this time of the year I hear. It's where is the TAB nearest to me or a variation such as TAB near me. It makes sense. A lot of people place bets on the Melbourne Cup who would normally not place a bet and frankly I would know where the nearest TAB is located.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll keep populating the map on Mapz for TAB Nearest To Me. You can find the map at TAB Nearest To Me, TAB Near Me (mapz.com.au).

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Why you shop around each year for car insurance.

If you're not checking around for car insurance each year, it can cost you quite a bit. Today I checked around for car insurance for a Mazda CX5 (2015) for a person over 80.

Coles: $1,198.16

Woolworths: $2,544.33

Woolworths drive less pay less: $1,701.69

Insured for $20,100

Excess $800

AAMI: $1,108.75

Excess $800

Market value

RACV: $1,747.02

Excess $825

Market value

As you can see the premiums can vary considerably from one car insurer to another by over $1,400. Coles was the cheapest last year but now it's around $90 cheaper than the cheapest car insurance.

Kelvin

Dancing Coca Cola can

 

Interesting condensation effect causes Coca Cola can to start dancing.

Practical Driving Test #2 - VicRoads Ringwood Heatherdale Road test route 1

The second Practical Driving Test video is now available. The video covers a reported test route at VicRoads Ringwood, Heatherdale Road.

Kelvin

www.PracticalDrivingTest.com.au

VicRoads Near Me added to Mapz to enable people to find their nearest VicRoads customer service centre.

I've started to create Practical Driving Test videos and audio guides. Practical Driving Tests start at a VicRoads customer service centre, so I thought I'd provide a map of the VicRoads' customer service centres.

You can find the VicRoads Near Me map at https://www.Mapz.com.au/vicroadsnearme.

I hope you find the map useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
VicRoads Near Me

Two updates speed camera locations in NSW and WA on Speed Camera Locations site.

Two changes today.

Today I was able to find the speed camera located on the Great Northern Highway, Bullsbrook, WA. The location of the camera has now been added to the map. This camera's location has eluded me for some time and was the last camera in WA where the location wasn't known.

NSW have issued a press release for a new red light speed camera in Bankstown NSW at the intersection of Rickard Road and Lady Cutler Avenue. As per new cameras I don't know which part of the intersection is located or the direction of the camera so the middle of the intersection is used until additional information on the location is found.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Making Money On YouTube. It's harder than people think.

In this video I share my analytics and plug the values into the Making Money On YouTube web app I created which lets me know how long it will be until I get monetised and a share in the advertising revenue.

Kelvin

Driving Melbourne, Templestowe to Heidelberg Repat COVID testing and Pro...

Driving Melbourne at night, Dandenong South to Templestowe

Driving NSW, New South Wales, Victoria, Yarrawonga Mulwala to Templestowe

Mobile Phone and Seat Belt cameras, Coffs Harbour, Newcastle, Sydney

On a recent driving holiday I had the opportunity to see the new mobile phone and seat belt detection cameras. As people may not have seen these cameras as well, I thought it would be good to share what they looked like.

Kelvin

Play radio in background of YouTube videos using freeRadio (free radio).

The freeRadio web app was created as part of an evolving process. I create videos for YouTube which are driving videos, however I don't include sound, just the visual component. Why? Generally because of privacy of others in the car. 

I also don't add music to the videos for a couple of reasons. If I add music before uploading YouTube often marks the music as a copyright strike even though I've used Microsoft's provided music. I also find I don't like the music choice of others so I'm sure others may not like my choice, but more importantly it is very time consuming and if I had to spend that time I couldn't justify making the videos. The return simply isn't there.

My original thought was it was easy for people to put on their favourite music as they watched my videos.

Over time however I found with websites I was developing I could include YouTube videos in my own web pages for my own sites such as www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au. As my knowledge evolved I worked out I could zoom in on YouTube videos which isn't a feature provided by YouTube and sometimes that was important to me. Next I worked out I could add streaming radio to my web pages. I now had all the techniques I needed and created the freeRadio site www.freeRadio.com.au so people could play radio streams as they watched my videos or videos from others. I then added the option to freeRadio so people can enter the YouTube video's unique identifier to provide zooming and radio streaming in the background all within the one web page.

If you'd like to play a radio stream in the background of a YouTube video then give freeRadio a try.

www.freeRadio.com.au

Kelvin

freeRadio web app now live. Free Radio, Internet Radio, Online Radio

I create videos of my drives and upload them to YouTube. I produce the videos without sound to ensure I don't breach copyright and respect the privacy of passengers in the car. My aim was for people to play their own radio or music in the background whilst watching the videos.

Here's a link to my YouTube channel.
Ride, Drive, Walk by Kelvin - YouTube

Feel free to subscribe using the following link.
https://www.youtube.com/user/kelvineldridge?sub_confirmation=1

I could add music to my videos whilst creating them but unfortunately I never know if YouTube are going to mark the music copyright, which they have in the past, even though the music is supposedly copyright free. I could also add free music to the video using the YouTube editor but frankly it's hard to go through all the music to find something I like, let alone what other people will like. Frankly I can't stand the music many people add to their videos on YouTube.

I decided perhaps a good way around this problem was to create my own freeRadio web app. On a desktop computer if freeRadio is opened in one tab and YouTube in another freeRadio will keep playing. Whilst this is possible on Apple iPads, it's too clumsy and on Apple iPhone the YouTube app cuts off the freeRadio sound. That's OK because most people have an older phone they can connect to their network or hotspot and use that phone as a radio.

I've put in a selection of internet radio streams for people to choose from. If you want nothing more than to listen to radio whilst travelling on the train, bus, or even at home or work, freeRadio can be used for that too.

You can find freeRadio at www.freeRadio.com.au.

Kelvin

Noticed VicRoads Ringwood closed when taking Practical Driving Test - Audio Guide.

On YouTube a number of people uploaded their actual driving test showing the route they took and you're able to hear the instructions they were given by the tester. This is great information for someone about to take their practical driving test. Whilst you may get another route and examiner, at least you can still see what the general process is and that's a great help in calming the nerves.

When watching the videos I thought one things was missing. I really couldn't tell where the person drove. I decided to create a map of the route taken and also link the map back to the video. Now people could easily see the route and also check out particular parts of the route very easily. You can find Practical Driving Test at https://www.PracticalDrivingTest.com.au.

Then I thought if you want to do the actual route yourself for practise, you really need to hear the instructions as the person did as they drove. I decided to add an Audio Guide to Practical Driving Test.

To see and hear the Audio Guide for Practical Driving Test in action I've created the following video which is available on YouTube. In the video I drove the same route taken by a person taking their Practical Driving Test at VicRoads Ringwood. VicRoads Ringwood has now closed but following the audio guide is still excellent practise.

I hope others find the maps and audio guide interesting and useful.

Kelvin

Foote Street, Templestowe closed at Williamsons Road in both directions.

Foote Street in Templestowe at Williamsons Road is closed in both directions due to roadworks from the 26th of June until the 7th of August.

I took the following two videos today so that locals can check out access to local roads affected by the closure.

Foote Street heading west to east

Foote Street/Reynolds Road heading east to west

Kelvin

Darebin Creek Trail behind Alphington Grammar School.

Recently Alphington Grammar School was in the news because people have petitioned for the gates to be left open since Alphington Grammar School has built access over Old Heidelberg Road. I wondering if Alphington Grammar School was closed off from the Darebin Creek Trail and it certainly looks like it is with quite a high fence.

Practical driving test videos with a synchronised map of the route.

I don't know about you, but I was very nervous for my practical driving test many years ago. In hindsight, when the driving instructor was telling me where I was driving was possibly part of the actual practical driving test route, I really had no idea what he meant. With dashcams it's now possible for drivers and instructors to share actual video footage of the practical driving test and I feel, those videos can take away some of the mystery of the practical driving test.

In addition I find many older people like myself don't realise the road rules have evolved over the years and watching people take their practical driving test can often show things we don't know or could do better. For example, I find older people (including myself) think when you turn from one road (say from single lane or slip lane) into a road with multiple lanes we have to stick to the left lane and then move across to the right lane when it's safe to do so. This often means the car behind you cuts you off trying to go around you. Knowing that I can go into either lane makes for safer driving for me and knowing the rules takes some of the stress out of driving. Even for more experienced drivers checking out practical driving test videos can teach them a thing or two.

The practical driving test videos can all be found on YouTube but the problem I've found is to find them. There's a lot of videos and many are just people trying to get you to watch their video. The aim of the Practical Driving Test site is to link directly to real people doing the actual practical driving test. This is good for the creator of the video too as they get all the credit for the video including any potential revenue or subscribers the video may generate.

The one thing I found from watching the videos on YouTube is I wanted to be able to see the actual route taken for the practical driving test. Just driving along turning right and left doesn't really give me the context of where the drive was located or where the person drove. For that reason I've created a map  of each drive which shows the route and the route is synchronised with the video. Using the map it's possible to click on a location on the map and start watching the practical driving test video from that point in the video.

I hope others find watching practical driving test videos as interesting as I do.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PracticalDrivingTest.com.au

How to safely navigate a roundabout VicRoads video.

There is no doubt to me that some roundabouts are poorly placed. To me if the traffic level is appropriate a roundabout can aid the flow of the traffic, but once the traffic level gets too great, you get people racing to get through that take risks, not giving way when they should.

How to safely navigate a roundabout - YouTube

The above VicRoads video I thought was quite reasonable, however there's one thing that's not made clear, or the cars are acting contrary to what they're advising.

The statement is, "Unless you're travelling straight through you should indicate left when you leave the roundabout to let others know what you're doing  - just like you would when you left turn on any road". 

In the video you'll see cars travelling straight through in all directions and some indicate and some don't.

What's also weird is three of the four entry points into the roundabout have arrows, but the left to right entry point has no arrows. Having no arrows is a disaster waiting to happen as the car in left hand lane could turn right and the car in the right hand lane could go straight ahead.

Back to the main point in the video. It isn't explained why some cars going straight ahead are indicating left to exit the roundabout yet we're told "unless you're travelling straight through you should indicate left" which implies if you are travelling straight ahead you don't need to indicate.

According to the following link which I believe is for Victoria's road rules, people should indicate if it's practical, but what one person considers practical another may not.

ROAD SAFETY ROAD RULES 2017 - REG 118 Giving a left change of direction signal when leaving a roundabout (austlii.edu.au)

Reviewing the above video we see the following cars going straight through the intersection.

0:29 Yellow truck, indicates, going left to right

0:32 Yellow motorbike, indicates, going right to left

0:38 Red truck, doesn't indicate, going top to bottom

0:42 Green car, indicates, going left to right, yellow car, doesn't indicate, going right to left

0:49 Green car, indicates, going left to right

0:56 Red car, doesn't indicate, going right to left

0:59 Blue car, doesn't indicate, going bottom to top, green car, indicates going left to right

The only pattern I can see if if the car is entering the roundabout and there's no arrows indicating direction, then the if the car is going straight ahead, the car indicates left to exit. For cars going straight across if there's arrows they may or may not indicate. It's just a pattern. It doesn't mean it's right.

In general I feel I indicate correctly when exiting a roundabout, but trying to indicate left to exist when going straight across is difficult as you can't indicate too early otherwise cars on your left waiting to enter the roundabout may think you're turning left at the first exit. So by the time you reach the cars waiting on the left and then indicate to exit left when going straight ahead you're giving almost no advance warning to anyone. Just perhaps a single cycle of the indicator which could be easy to miss. Having said that, I still attempt to indicate to exit if possible.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.S        peedCameraLocations.com.au