Entered The Highway from The Exit but Pulled over upon Notice, Police Arrived Shortly

Lckria on 27/12/2023 - 22:22
Last edited 29/12/2023 - 21:04 by 1 other user

A friend of mine (around 50 yo, not fluent English) who arrived in the country about six months ago, got his licence converted to a full Victorian licence with ease by passing all the required tests. Couple of days ago, he's driving eastward on Heatherton Rd in Doveton and wants to enter the highway.

Somehow he's heard the GPS (maps) 'turn right' before arriving at the entry to the highway. He's turned right into the exit ramp and somewhere on the ramp he's noticed he's on the wrong side and has pulled over. The police has arrived shortly too.

Now he's got a fine of ~$400, 3 demerit points which all makes sense. But he's also received a letter from Vic Police stating that they've 'submitted a request to VicRoads to have his licence reviewed to ensure he's medically fit to drive'.

Anyone has had similar experiences?
What are his options?
Will his licence get suspended or cancelled?

Edit: Thank you everyone for your inputs. Some nasties are always expected lol. I'm sorry I can't answer every comment.

FYI, I have already nagged him enough on behalf of all you albeit being younger than him. He's a gentleman and has come from a very reputable career background. He understands what the consequences could have been and relieved that there wasn't any vehicles there at the time. He's remorseful of the incident.
FYI, he's done all the tests in English and can actually communicate in English but 'not fluent'.
He's done Road knowledge test, including all the modules on Vicroads website, then a Hazard Perception Test, verified his OS DL and done the actual practical driving test.
They drive on the right side of the road overseas.
It's a dangerous mistake and lots to learn from.
For now, I have told him to be more and more alert while on the road and see when Vicroads contacts him.
As a person who drives around 50000km a year, I'm all up for sanctions for dangerous driving. I'm puzzled how this has occurred.

Automotive

Comments

    • ihfree on 29/12/2023 - 08:23
      +6

      Use common sense. Failing that:

      • Road conditions > GPS.
      • GPS will reroute in the event you miss a turn. Your life(or license) is worth more than a potential 5-10 minute detour
      • Check routes especially for longer drives. Google maps once told me my route was closed on a longer drive and wanted me to take a narrow unsealed road which was actually closed due to flooding. The direct route was actually fine.
      • If driving on unfamiliar routes, check which lane you're meant to be in. Any decision made prior to driving is more attention on the road.
      • Best to use audio only and pay attention to the road
      • An occasional glance is useful to know what is coming up
    • franco cozzo on 29/12/2023 - 08:43
      +3

      yes but they are clearly idiots

    • Muzeeb on 29/12/2023 - 08:49
      +5

      Learn what 50m, 100m, 500m etc looks like.

      In 200m turn right into Ozbargain avenue

      Ozbargain avenue is not necessarily the next street on the right.

      That could possibly be an exit ramp to a capital city freeway.

    • WreckTangle on 29/12/2023 - 10:20

      What does 7Yep mean?

      • franco cozzo on 29/12/2023 - 10:23
        +2

        all the kids are saying that these days…
        7yep dis, 7yep dat….7yep yo mama!

      • ihfree on 29/12/2023 - 10:49
        +4

        Short hand for "yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep"

      • AndyC1 on 29/12/2023 - 10:55
        +1

        Seven yep's in row.

      • Food on 29/12/2023 - 11:24
        +2

        Channel 7's new multi channel

    • Protractor on 29/12/2023 - 10:40

      Google clearly hoards lots of useless stuff.

    • try2bhelpful on 29/12/2023 - 10:47

      We were driving down a series of switchbacks in France and the GPS tried to direct us down this goat track rather than take one of the bends. Just ludicrous. We thought it was hilarious.

      We also had an issue when navigating to the airport hotel at Charles De Gaulle. The GPS signal was blocked in a tunnel and when we came out we missed our turn off because it took too long to reacquire it.

      The upshot is stay alert and have a good look at physical maps before driving in places you are unfamiliar with. What the GPS is good at is sorting out how to get to where you are going when you’ve taken a wrong turn or got lost.

    • AndyC1 on 29/12/2023 - 10:55
      -1

      It is illegal to use your phone while driving.

      If the driver was using the phone then this is probablyy why the driver did not see the "DO NOT ENTER. WRONG WAY. GO BACK" sign and continued the wrong way.

    • elgrande on 29/12/2023 - 10:56

      Include this information in your response to the notice to show cause from Vic Roads.

  • EdenKai on 29/12/2023 - 09:40
    +1

    I understand that the GPS threw him off, but understanding basic road law and awareness would have prevented that. I think the fine and demerit points are fair. The review I think might be a touch harsh, but i dont necessarily have issues with it either. Its a mistake that could have been quite serious. Doubt his license gets revoked though.

  • imurgod on 29/12/2023 - 09:42
    +1

    Think of it this way, he could've easily caused a lot of deaths.

    He is not fit to drive.

  • Homr on 29/12/2023 - 09:46

    Can someone please post a MS paint diagram or link google map so I can see where the OP friend did wrong?

    • Eeples on 29/12/2023 - 09:56
      +2

      https://imgbb.com/1s3Y04P

      He turned right here. Against the circled small no right turn arrow sign which is tacked on to a bigger sign.

      And then stopped just past the 'no entry' signs on the verge (we assume). Before the 'Go Back' signs.

      • Homr on 29/12/2023 - 10:08
        +1

        oh, its not as bad as I first thought. At least OP's mate saw the big red "GO BACK" sign and stopped

        The comments here make it out like he was driving a few Kms on the wrong side of the highway

        • franco cozzo on 29/12/2023 - 10:28
          +2

          you think turning into a freeway offramp going the wrong direction is normal?

          • Homr on 29/12/2023 - 10:33
            +1

            @franco cozzo: No, when did I say it was normal? I said it wasn't as bad as I first thought

            And also OP mate stopped straight after the WRONG WAY GO BACK sign showed that the sign worked as intended

          • CurlCurl on 29/12/2023 - 12:31

            @franco cozzo:

            It must have happened many times for them to put signs up.

            • franco cozzo on 29/12/2023 - 12:36
              +1

              @CurlCurl: no …its so morons dont have an excuse

            • ihfree on 29/12/2023 - 12:45

              @CurlCurl: I doubt it's that frequent. It's more likely to do with the cost of someone doing it. Ie. Head on collision at speed.

            • Homr on 29/12/2023 - 14:57

              @CurlCurl: Yeh thats my thoughts aswell

      • ckria on 29/12/2023 - 21:50

        Thanks mate, couldn't get the chance to do this.

  • prodrome on 29/12/2023 - 14:31
    +1

    I saw a guy in a cowboy hat do a similar thing once.

  • MagicMushroom on 29/12/2023 - 16:40
    +2

    Licences are too easy to get in Australia.

    You only need about 1 hr of study and 10 hrs of driving or even less to pass all the tests.

    Getting a license needs to be 10 times harder.

    • oranglama on 29/12/2023 - 18:04

      Somehow most of my Australian friends couldn't pass the test in one go though, I wonder why

    • kiriakoz on 02/01/2024 - 01:07

      I assumed it had gotten a lot harder. In my day, there was none of that logbook stuff needed.

  • Bammers on 29/12/2023 - 20:42
    -1

    Good. People like this should not be aloud to drive. If they can't use their own common sense, catch the fscking bus!!!!!

    Imagine being the people using the off/exit ramp as intended and seeing this dope coming towards them! This crap is what causes head on accidents!

  • AlienC on 30/12/2023 - 00:58
    +1

    At least it is better than my friend who got targeted by police just because he looked like an immigrant.. yeah we got pulled over for nothing.

    Like literally they pulled us over to tell us why we didn't pull over.

    Was so confused that day.

    It was a 2 lane highway with no where safe to pull over so we pulled over at the next exit off the highway.

    Lost respect for highway patrol that day.

  • Rkshar on 30/12/2023 - 03:11
    +1

    Which country did he move from? Asking for a friend.

  • yokel on 30/12/2023 - 07:53

    Also which map application was it? I need to know the day of the week it happened and the tread depth on the tyres. So many details left out of the post.

  • jugsy on 03/01/2024 - 14:05
    +1

    Anyone who follows their GPS without question should not be on the road, english/age/ability irrelevant.

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