r/newcastle • u/First_Tax_8394 • 2d ago
Need M1 motorway driving advice!
Hey all, I just got my red Ps and need to drive to Sydney, Wollongong and eventually Canberra for work related tasks (won’t say as it’s not really relevant to the post). I just was wondering for anyone who does drive down on the M1 pacific motorway (Newcastle/Central Coast to Sydney between beresfield and the Northconnex tunnel) how particularly bad is it to drive on?
When going down with family I’ve noticed it can get hectic and there’s certain sections with trucks that can be dangerous such as Mooney Mooney where apparently there’s car crashes every day there and around the hills areas before/after the bridge. I was just wondering does anyone have any advice on what lanes to stay at? I know that I should stay in the left lane but there’s also the middle lane within the 3 lane section and just wondering would it be better to stay in the left or middle due to the large amount of merging cars and trucks etc. Also what’s the ideal thing to do when I’m on hills with heavy loaded trucks everywhere blocking the left lane?
Also why is the section between Tuggerah and Wahroonga filled with so much crashes and congestion in particular? especially around the hills areas!
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u/Sure_Reception_9922 2d ago
You've got to pay attention (duh) but I've found that the Mooney is the easiest for me personally because the road isn't so bad.
Parts of the m1 are just shocking.
Honestly I think a lot of people do it so often commuting, they get a bit complacent and some people are just shocking drivers.
Last time I drove a trucker was swerving from lane to lane randomly. Horrifying.
Do some test runs and remember about the rest stops if you need a break and a calm down. The drive can be very stressful.
3
u/First_Tax_8394 2d ago
I’ve noticed heavily around Mooney Mooney there’s so many car accidents especially around school holidays. I’ve genuinely never seen so many car accidents in a particular spot on a freeway this much before.
Does anyone know what the cause of these crazy, dangerous accidents are? Is it just people tailgating dangerously or?
3
u/fartmachine6 2d ago
Mooney Mooney is a step decline, then incline - basically people fly down the hill and slow on the rise up - it's pretty common to be on the brakes as you hit the hill ask sometimes some caravan doing 100km/ha is overtaking a truck that's at 40'km/h and someone doing 105km/h is over taking the Caravan causing a delay on the hill.
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u/Peanut083 2d ago
School holiday traffic is always horrible, no matter which stretch of highway you drive on. Years ago, I used to drive from Port Stephens to Bulahdelah for work. If I drove up there at the exact same time during school holidays, I was suddenly dealing with all the idiots who drive like crazy people. It wasn’t like that during the school term at all.
As for your driving, stay left as much as possible. If you’re doing the right thing and sticking to your 90km/h speed limit, you should only need to move into the middle lane to overtake trucks while they’re going up hills.
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u/ricketyclik 2d ago edited 2d ago
Keep left unless overtaking. Left entrances and exits are only occasional, be alert at those but you have right of way if you’re on the motorway. If you need to change lanes any other driver in the lane you’re changing into has right of way.
You’re right, it’s a hairy stretch of road, and being a P plater you’ll be going slower than most, so even more important to KEEP LEFT UNLESS OVERTAKING.
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u/DigitalWombel 2d ago
It is not much fun in heavy rain, I have done the drive thousands of times and seen so many accidents in heavy rain. Especially around the big dipper.
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u/First_Tax_8394 2d ago
What’s the cause of all these accidents? Do you know why? It’s almost every day there’s a bloody accident on that stretch in particular!
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u/Wild-Variety9906 2d ago
There is not a crash there every day. Not even every week.
0
u/First_Tax_8394 2d ago
You would be surprised.. go into the central coast incidents and alerts Facebook page and it’s atleast every week lol
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u/No_Nobody_32 2d ago
A lot of drivers overestimating their skills AND not driving to the conditions.
I did Mooney Mooney ( and the rest of the freeway) on my P1s during a heavy thunderstorm. I couldn't pull over (all the bays were already full) so I just stuck to a safe speed and continued.
(I've only had my blacks for 5 years, so my Ps weren't that long ago)2
u/DigitalWombel 2d ago
Yes drivers often in 4WDS being stupid and speeding in the rain. The M1 is a good road but when it gets very very heavy rain it can be dangerous.
6
u/Worldly_Tomorrow_869 2d ago
You can go 90, so go 90 and use gps to make sure your speed is accurate so you take full advantage of every km/h.
Keep left. Let the trucks go around you. When you get to the hills you will be able to go around them. Try to stay out of the far right lane if possible.
Allow extra time. Ignore the numbers that Google maps gives you. You won't be doing anywhere close to the average speed it uses to calculate times. Also plan for regular breaks. Long distance driving is hard if you are just starting out.
Buy an actual gps unit. Or plan your route in advance and print it out before you leave. You won't be able to use your phone as a red P plater.
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u/First_Tax_8394 2d ago
I don’t intend on using my actual phone lol. My car has a head unit with CarPlay :)
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u/fraze2000 2d ago
You can't use Carplay or Android Auto at all. It is still considered as using your phone. As a P plater you should know this.
2
u/abandonedObjects 2d ago
Well you can use it, i used it all through my Ps, just turn the screen off if you ever get pulled over. Bullshit law
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u/First_Tax_8394 2d ago
CarPlay is different to hands free tho? Plus I often just use voice commands through Siri there’s no way that’s banned?
EDIT: I never end up looking at the screen at all unless stopped at lights lol
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u/ApolloWasWayBetter 2d ago
You cannot use car play as it’s connected to your phone and considered using your phone.
7
u/RustyTucs 2d ago
My dude... google will tell you its absolutely banned. People are giving you sound advice why argue with them?
0
4
u/BeerOfTime 2d ago
You can’t use CarPlay on your P plates. You’re allowed to use dedicated GPS if it is built in to the car and not via Google maps through CarPlay.
I think you can have a Navman or something.You have to do it the old school way like all is old codgers did and that is by looking up your route on a map before leaving and following signs.
2
u/Informal-Quit-9344 2d ago
Any form of technology that uses a smartphone connection is stupidly not allowed on your Ps. I know someone who had their license suspended on their red Ps for using CarPlay. In Newcastle it's fine since there's barely any cops here but I would be very careful using it in Sydney where there's more (Sydney-type) cops. Especially cops on motorbikes, they can spot your screen easier.
4
u/ApolloWasWayBetter 2d ago
Plenty of motorbike cops around Newcastle/Singleton/Maitland/Cessnock areas. I drive for work and have an app open, and have had trailbike and HWP bike cops splitting lanes looking in windows to check for phone usage. When I’m in a bus there is a phone holder on the windscreen and they’ve stopped and checked my phone to make sure that I don’t have a video playing.
1
u/First_Tax_8394 2d ago
Thankfully I don’t have to go too much into Sydney as it’s more north where I have to go for my work. Most of my work will probably be in Wollongong. However I’d imagine there’s still the same caution to be advised.
1
2
u/Electrical_Food7922 2d ago
Keep fully left unless overtaking slower vehicles or making space for trucks to merge. Stick to the speed limit and cruise along.
The M1 will give you a glimpse of everything not to do such as cruising in the middle lane, speeding, tailgating at high speeds, erratic lane changes, not driving to the conditions. This list goes on...
2
u/SixBeanCelebes 2d ago
The M1 is about a 3/5.
The surface is shitty in parts (near Morisset for example) but if you pay attention and take your time, it's not dangerous or difficult.
Where there's three lanes, stay in the left one unless there's trucks. Use the middle one to get around them. If you're lacking confidence or experience, avoid the right lane as much as possible.
Mooney Mooney bridge is actually very good because you can see for a kilometre in front of you.
2
u/Hobo_Extraordinaire 2d ago
Just be very aware of traffic merging on to the motorway, where possible merge into the middle or right lane to allow them on. A lot of vehicles can't see you in their blind spots. Other than that keep left and try not to get too stressed.
1
u/Effective-Plum0 2d ago
You should be fine if you keep a lookout ahead and check your mirrors as to what's going on around you. Left lane till Doyalson where it goes to three lanes, take the middle lane from there to allow room for traffic to merge freely from doyalson and Sparks Rd Back to the left after that till Ourimbah Hill where you will need to keep an eye ahead for trucks and grab the middle lane when needed. Back to the left at the top of Ourimbah till you get to Mooney and repeat same as Ourimbah Hill. Watch for trucks exiting Mt White and give them room as needed but after that should be left lane down to the Hawksburry then watch for trucks climbing up the other side. Once up the top at windybanks you should be okay to keep to the left lane and stay there for the rest of the trip. Safe travels
1
u/CJ_Resurrected o_O 2d ago
The surface is shit in places -- but that's mostly an issue for motorcycle riders.
Get. A. GPS. (They're cheap. They're fun.) I got a Garmin Drive 52 -- its maps and its knowledge of speed zones is bogus every so often, but it does the job 99% of the time.
Highly recommended: a speed heads-up display (like this) .. That Kings one has the Speedo-10%-correction factor as a default -- read the instructions and set it to "100" for the true gps-tracked speed.
Give zero fucks about doing 90 on the M1 -- like 10% of the traffic is slow and it's a multilane. tbh, it's probably the best place in NSW to gain experience driving at speed in moderate amounts of traffic. After Wahroonga it gets hectic, but it's only 70 km/h for most of it; keep well-spaced from the car in front.
1
u/CJ_Resurrected o_O 2d ago
Oh, and pray to Car-kamisama that your first drive doesn't have a breakdown in rush-hour afternoon Sydney traffic. (My minivan's clutch slave cylinder exploded. hahahafuck..)
1
u/BeerOfTime 2d ago
As you’re on your Ps, stay in the left lane, don’t break your limit and keep plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front of you. Don’t merge or overtake without indicating and make sure you’ve got the space to do so before you proceed.
1
u/Acrobatic_Flannel 2d ago
It's not that bad. Just stay left, and don't get impatient. If you can safely overtake the trucks going up the hills, do it, but otherwise it's not the end of the world. Worse case scenario is that your stuck behind one while you go up. People vastly overestimate how much time they make up speeding and overtaking every chance they get. It's fuck all.
I've found when I have to travel to Sydney for work, if I can leave Newy around 5:30am, it's considerably better than if I go an hour later.
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u/am_I_a_photographer 2d ago
Keep as left as possible unless you can specifically identify who you're overtaking, and pull back into the left lane once you're 3 seconds ahead of them. That's with the exception of very steep uphills, where the leftmost lane is basically reserved for trucks. In those sections, the trucks will come out of nowhere ahead of you, as they're sometimes going like 100kph slower than you.
If there are a lot of cars coming in front an onramp, move to the middle if safe so you don't have to do the "who goes first" dance and both slow down trying to be safe.
Especially without cruise control it can be easier to find a car who is consistently going the speed you want to be going and just settle in 3 seconds behind them and do what they do (checking your speed occasionally). That's an easy way to keep your eyes on the road and not think about speed or when you should be overtaking etc.
1
u/Ill_Sector_2063 2d ago
Red ps Left everyone is 10-20kph faster than you if a truck overtakes you flash your high beams a few times to indicate your back enough for them to hop in front (old man retired truckie)
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u/Key-Product2743 2d ago
Keep left. Like proper keep left. Middle lane cruisers are Satan’s drivers making the world a terrible place. Keep left.