Free Advice

Here we offer some free advice on a range of issues that we think may be of general interest. The advice is based on our experiences gained during the conduct of our practice. Note that what follows is advisory only and you should rely on your own skill and judgement in dealing with any particular matter.

1. Car Turning Templates

Those who use car turning templates from Australian Standard 2890.1-1993 "Parking Facilities" should be aware that the AS contains a mistake. The turning template shown on Figure B1, page 47 is said to represent a 99th percentile vehicle. In fact, this template is a copy of an 85th percentile template from Figure B2 on the next page, with the increased clearance on the outside. Of particular concern is the fact the 99th percentile template should be used at all locations where failure of a vehicle to fit physically into a facility would occasion intolerable congestion and possible hazard. This is exactly what might happen if the 85th percentile template is used instead.

2. Traffic Aspects of a Development Application

Engage a traffic consultant well before the lodgement of a development application. This may save you a lot of time and money. We have seen many cases when a developer lodges an application only to have it refused by a Council on the grounds of unsatisfactory traffic and parking information, or worse, unworkable design of manoeuvring areas. Redesigning may be costly and significant reduction in costs can be achieved if a traffic engineer is involved in the design process from the very beginning. In many cases it will also be a cheaper option if the matter ends up in the Land and Environment Court. The traffic consultant would then have an opportunity to prepare a well substantiated case, which is more difficult to do when clients come to a consultant only a couple of days before documents have to go to court.

Remember that traffic engineering advice is often based on the results of various types of surveys, which may need to be conducted on specific days or periods of the year. Some surveys need to be conducted over a lengthy period of time to collect enough information about possible trends. Your consultant will, therefore, be in a better position to give you a sound advice when given an opportunity to conduct surveys properly.

3. Involved in a motor vehicle accident?

What is the first thing you do when you get involved in a traffic accident and you think you are not the one at fault? We are not talking here about a major accident with injuries or fatality. If you have a comprehensive insurance, you will unlikely need this advice either, unless you are under 25 and paying a $700 excess really hurts.

The first thing you should do is to get out of the car and stop any car travelling behind you. These people will be your very valuable witnesses. There are many cases when this is not done. And you had that very nice person in the car which collided with yours, who agreed on the spot that the fault was his (hers). The trouble is, when you ring that person and ask to pay for damages, the answer is: no witnesses - no money, it's all your fault. Even worse, we have seen situations when such a person would sue you for his (her) damages. So get the witness - fast.

It is also advisable to spend $15 on one of those disposable photocameras which are sold in supermarkets, pharmacies and newsagencies. It is better to obtain a camera with an in-built flash and higher film speed. Keep it in your glovebox. After you have secured your witnesses, it is a good idea to take a few shots of the accident scene. Make sure that you have the following views covered:

• general views of both cars together on the same shot from various directions;
• both cars, preferably on the same shot, with their number plates clearly seen;
• damaged sides of both cars - the car should fit on the shot in full, so that the damages could be assessed in terms of their location on the car and size;
• close-ups of damages on both cars

You have 24 shots in that camera - spend them wisely, but spend them all. Do not let anyone to rush you removing your car to the kerbside before you have finished - it is your right to take whatever reasonable actions are necessary to protect yourself against financial losses.

4. Is the quiet life for you?

Many of the products we use daily produce considerable noise levels. We have all been miffed from time to time by our neighbour’s lawn mowing just when we were about to catch up with the Sunday papers over coffee on our back patio. Within our own homes we can also make quite a din when, for example, vacuuming the carpets or using appliances such as the washing machine.

One of the practical things we can do as consumers is to include noise output as one of the criteria we adopt when choosing a new product. These days many of the household goods we buy are labelled with information such as energy consumption and noise output. This affords us a ready opportunity to include low noise output in the process of comparing different brands and/or types of a particular product.

Generally the noise information is presented in terms of sound pressure levels , measured in A-weighted decibels ( dB(A)). Noise level variations measured in such units vary, for a given noise source, broadly in accord with human auditory response. Remember also that noise decreases with increasing distance from the source, so bear this in mind when comparing the labelled information on different products.

As a guide some typical noise sources and their associated noise levels are tabulated below. These data were extracted from textbooks and the exact source-measurement distances were not provided. Generally the measurements were made in close proximity to the sources, often at an operator position or the like.

We will be updating this section regularly, so visit us again some other time.