Safe Driving Tips for Rural Roads in Western Australia

Ginos
May 4
5 min read

Safe driving has been a big focus of the Western Australian Government in recent years, with new initiatives and harsher penalties to improve road safety.

Despite the larger population, metropolitan areas of WA experience far fewer fatal accidents than regional roads. 2021 saw a reported total of 166 fatalities on WA roads, with 99 from regional towns and rural roads. Up until the 10th of November 2022, WA has already reported 93 regional fatalities, which is almost double the metropolitan fatalities (48). These stats beg the question: What can we do for rural driving?

For starters, every driver should ensure they’re prepared for regional roads by familiarising themselves with safe driving practices. In this article, we’ve listed eight simple, safe driving tips to use for your next road trip.

Check the Travel Route Before Embarking on Your Journey

If you’re planning a road trip on unfamiliar roads, make sure to check your best route and avoid gravel roads if possible. Should loose surfaces be unavoidable, adjust your travel time accordingly to allow for a slower driving speed.

It’s also worth checking that the planned route isn’t closed due to bushfires or floods. Not only will this save you the inconvenience of having to turn back, but it won’t risk you unknowingly driving into an unsafe scenario.

Ensure You’re Well Rested and Free of Distractions

Fatigue is one of the leading causes of road accidents and road fatalities, especially on country roads in WA. Ensure you have sufficient rest the night before taking to the road and limit your driving time to no more than eight hours a day.

It’s also recommended to rest every couple of hours to grab a coffee or stretch your legs. WA is blessed with over 900 designated parking bays on major country traffic routes, and most have other amenities such as toilets and tables. If you’re driving with others, it’s also a great idea to rotate drivers to ensure the driver stays focused.

The other enemy of safe driving is drivers who get distracted easily. When driving on rural roads at a high speed, it’s vital to keep your eye on the road. Rural roads are subject to many unexpected tight turns, wildlife, and slow-moving vehicles that may require a fast reaction. If you’ve got a car full of people, make sure they’re not taking your attention away from the road. Likewise, if you have a mobile device within reach, refrain from using it.

Safe Driving Techniques

If you’re used to driving in the city, you’ll need to adapt your driving style to regional roads. Safe driving on rural roads means leaving a greater distance between the car in front of you, as they may need to stop suddenly to turn or avoid an anomaly on the road. If you’re driving on a loose surface such as gravel, you should slow down and leave even more space between the car in front.

Rural roads often maintain a high speed around corners, too, so it’s often required to reduce your speed further. This is especially critical if the road is wet.

When driving at night, dusk, dawn, or even on an overcast day, make sure to have your headlights on and use your high beams if there’s no street lighting. However, make sure to dim the high beams if you’re within 200 metres of another car in any direction. This is a legal requirement and is necessary for safe driving at night.

Adapt to Unexpected Conditions

Unexpected road and weather conditions may jeopardise safe driving, so it’s important to adapt accordingly. If it’s raining or the roads are wet, ensure you slow down and use your headlights for better visibility and so others can spot you. The same applies to fog and smoke from bushfires or burn-offs.

As mentioned earlier, driving on gravel causes dust to block visibility, so slow down and avoid these roads where possible. Unsealed roads like gravel are sometimes closed after heavy rainfall as the dust turns to mud; this is something else to be wary of.

Another common sight is road works on rural roads. These areas require more caution and, of course, a lower speed as the road may have a loose surface or unwanted debris.

Wildlife Awareness

We’ve all seen them on the side of the road. Animals, kangaroos in particular, are a huge risk to safe driving in WA. Drivers need to pay great attention to the sides of the roads ahead in case an animal decides it wants to cross. Some tips for dealing with kangaroos on rural roads:

Prominent at dusk and dawn, so avoid driving at these times or be extra careful.
Immediately slow down if you see a kangaroo anywhere near the road, as they can be unpredictable.
If they jump out unexpectedly, do not swerve! Rather, brake hard and maintain your trajectory before turning at a lower speed.
If the animal is slow to react or doesn’t get out of the way, use your horn.

When driving around farm areas, it’s common to see livestock crossing either in a herd or on their own. Cattle are slow to move, so be patient and approach slowly.

Caution When Passing

If you’re driving on a dual passageway and the speed limit is 90km/h or greater, make sure you stay in the left lane, unless you need to pass.

Annoyingly, many country roads are just a single lane, so overtaking is necessary every now and again. If the road has a continuous line to your right, then you cannot overtake. Even if the lineage is broken, you should exercise great caution before pulling out. You must ensure the road is relatively straight and check that there are no oncoming vehicles. Even if there’s a car far in the distance ahead, avoid pulling out as you don’t know how fast it’s travelling and how long it’ll take you to pass the car ahead.

You also need to be wary of bulky and slow-moving vehicles such as road trains, construction machinery, tractors, and other farm equipment. If you’re hoping to pass a road train, remember they are very long! The time required to pass them is far greater, so only pass where you can see a great length of clear road up ahead.

Aside from being very slow, tractors, farm equipment, and bulky construction machinery cause even more issues when passing. Sometimes they take the initiative and pull over slightly to let you pass, otherwise, you may need to wait for an overtaking lane or until they turn off.

In some cases, large construction machines may block part of the lane in the opposite direction, which requires them to have a safety vehicle in front and behind. If you see something like this approaching ahead, pull over to the side of the road and let them pass.

Watch for Hidden Driveways

Many rural roads are littered with long driveways, many of which are hard to see with natural greenery on either side. Always be on the lookout for cars pulling out of these driveways, as they will take some time to get up to speed. These driveways are particularly hard to see if located on a bend or a hill, so expect the unexpected.

Get a Comprehensive Car Service

A well-maintained car is crucial for safe driving and to avoid inconvenience. You can check the engine oil, tyre pressure, and fuel yourself, but there’s so much more that may play up at any time. Booking a comprehensive car service is the perfect place to start, and it covers all the smaller tasks that you may forget.