6 Australian road rules you have or probably will break

States and Territories in Australia all have their own specific set of road rules and varying subsequent consequences, but they’re all covered by the Road Traffic Act (1974). We delve into the legislation’s small print and find there are more than a few doozies that could catch you unawares.

1. Use of a phone mount that isn’t commercially manufactured
If you regularly use your phone’s maps app to direct you while riding, the small print of the Australian Road Rules states that unless you’ve got it mounted in a unit that has been commercially designed and manufactured, you might be breaking the rules. “The driver of a vehicle must not use a mobile phone while the vehicle is moving, or is stationary but not parked, unless it is secured in a mounting affixed to the vehicle while being so used. For the purposes of this rule, a mobile phone is secured in a mounting affixed to the vehicle if, and only if the mounting is commercially designed and manufactured for that purpose.”

2. Riding abnormally slow
We’ve all become frustrated with slow drivers, but unless you or the person holding you up ahead is driving ridiculously slowly, there’s actually not a lot we can do about it. Watch out if you are riding abnormally slowly, though. You might cop a fine for unreasonably obstructing drivers or pedestrians. According to the legislation, an example of abnormally slowly is “Driving at a speed of 20km/h on a length of road to which a speed limit of 80km/h applies when there is no reason for the driver to drive at that speed on the length of road.”

3. Speeding up while being overtaken
It’s not often that motorcycles will be overtaken but it happens. And it’s against the law to speed up while you are being overtaken by another vehicle on a two-way road, it seems. According to Regulation 145, “the other driver (or rider) must not increase the speed at which the driver (or rider) is driving (or riding) until the first driver (or rider) has passed the other driver (or rider), has returned to the line of traffic where the other driver (or rider) is driving (or riding) and is a sufficient distance in front of the other driver (or rider).” And yes, it really does use the words driver or driving eight separate times.

4. Thumbing your horn
According to Regulation 224 of the Australian Road Rules (ARR), you are actually breaking the law if you use your horn as a friendly huroo when your riding buddy peels off towards his exit on the freeway after a ride. “A driver (or rider) must not use, or allow to be used, a horn, or similar warning device, fitted to or in the vehicle unless it is necessary to warn other road users or animals of the approach or position of the vehicle; or it is being used as part of an anti-theft device, or an alcohol interlock device, fitted to the vehicle,” the rule reads.

5. Riding too far away from your mate
According to Regulation 151 of the Australian Road Rules you cannot ride alongside more than one rider within your lane, which is fair enough. But in the specific regulations’ fourth sub-rule, it states: “If the rider of a motorbike is riding on a road that is not a multi-lane road alongside another rider, or in a marked lane alongside another rider in the marked lane, the rider must ride not over 1.5 metres from the other rider.” We’d imagine this is designed to ensure a small group of riders aren’t using up more than their fair share of tarmac, but it’s an odd rule and one we’ve probably all broken at some stage in our riding life.

6. Splashing mud on someone using a bus
Okay, so this is a rule you probably haven’t broken and, depending on your demeanour, one you probably won’t, either. It’s specific only to New South Wales road users and it states that “a driver (or rider) must take due care, by slowing down or stopping the vehicle if necessary, not to splash mud on any person in or on a bus, or any person entering or leaving any stationary bus, or any person waiting at any bus stop.” It’s perfectly okay, it seems, to splash someone waiting for a taxi or a tram with mud, just not somebody waiting for a bus…