Bureaucracy. Is Australia the World's Worst?

[Bushmiller]

Is Australia the most hamstrung bureaucratic nation in the world? I don't ask this question completely idly or in any way facetiously, but let me return to that in a moment.

It has been plastered all over the newspapers in recent weeks the phenomena surrounding the scale of bush fires along the Eastern seaboard of Australia and indeed in WA too. The early onset of the fires, the number of the fires and severity of the fires is almost unprecedented particularly having regard to the first of my statements. In our region there have been fires too. Smoke from Toowoomba, which is 80Km away drift toward us at times, but about ten days ago a fire started about 28Km out of town. It hasn't threatened the township, but it has certainly threatened the inhabitants of the region. Two dwellings were lost and several other structures (barns, sheds etc.).

The fire brigades made their base at the showground here in town. At the height of the fire there were about thirty rural brigades involved. Local people became involved because it is a small community. People help in whatever way they can. The firefighters are eith locals in Millmerran or from surrounding communities and can also be considered "local." A group of women in Millmerran prepared food for these exhausted firefighters and took it up to the Showground where the firefighters were recuperating.

Bureaucracy stepped in, announced that the food was not prepared in a hazmat kitchen and it was all thrown away. While you are digesting that ( :rolleyes: ) I will relate a separate incident.

A friend was working a bulldozer to create a firebreak in case this same fire came closer to town. He is the farm manager for a number of properties and they have one on the outskirts of town between the town proper and the vicinity of the fire. He received another call to help out with a firebreak that was even closer to the fire. The bulldozer was taken to the area and they commenced work on another firebreak until...

WPHS stepped in and said they did not have a hard hat so they had to stop. And stop they did. When my friend's boss, who is one of the quietest people I know, heard about this he was beside himself. Myself, I don't really know what to say other than, if I was working the dozer, I may have considered going over the top of WPHS.

Regards
Paul

[Chesand]

Common sense is not very common nowadays.

My wife, a retired nurse, used to volunteer one afternoon a week at a local old peoples' home until they were being examined for accreditation. She was told by a smart a--e employee that she could not help with afternoon tea as she did not have a food handling certificate. She walked out and has refused to go back despite pleas by the head lady. The employee is no longer there

[China]

While I agree that safety, is paramount, as you say things are becoming ridiculous, a mate who has been a electrician for forty years was told the other week that all of a sudden he needs a certificate so he can climb a ladder over 1.8 metres
and yes he has to go do a course at his expense.

[Chris Parks]

I was a volo in the NSW fire brigade and our primary area was to work in the town's boundaries and a zone into the scrub from the nearest house which was only a matter of a few hundred metres. We were just packing up from responding to a fire and was asked by the local bushies to give them a hand because we could pump way more water on a fire they were trying to deal with outside our boundary. When the local Rural Fire Service kingdom builder heard this over the radio net he rang our control and said we were not needed and to call us off which is what happened. The people in town could not understand why we were not helping protect them and trying to explain emergency services politics is not an easy thing to do.

The politics in the emergency services is almost laughable if it was not so serious.

[BobL]

Common sense is not very common nowadays.

My wife used to volunteer one day a week at a local old peoples' home until they were being examined for accreditation. Shw was told by a smart a--e employee that she could not help with afternoon tea as she did not have a food handling certificate. She walked out and has refused to go back despite pleas by the head lady. The employee is no longer there

I had a similar experience as a volunteer running weekly half hour long woodcraft sessions at an aged care facility.
Before I could start running any sessions I had to undertake a minimum of 3 hours of training on, Elder abuse, Fire Awareness and Hygiene. Followed by a one hour exam covering these courses.

Most of the attendees were in wheelchairs or using a wheeled walkers but I was not allowed to touch or wheel any of the residents until I had done the manual handling course. So when the (qualified) assistant OT was helping one old bloke go to the dunnies (about 20m away) and another resident wanted to go I had to let him wet himself because I had not done the course.

I asked what I was supposed to do if there was a fire and got some blank looks. Eventually I did the Manual handling course and found it was mainly about lifting and carrying boxes, there was only a short section on how to lift people, manage wheel chairs and walkers etc.

I left not long after that.

There's no doubt our bureaucracy leaves a lot to be desired and the examples above are typical of these, but my general experience is that most Australian bureaucracy consists of reasonable checks and balances that annoy people who haven't thought things through, have the patience of a gnat, and wanted it done yesterday.

Recently some friends of ours move here from Germany and they were astonished as to how quickly they could rent a house. They said in Germany it would have taken months to get through all the paper work and reference checks. Some of this is because German tenancy laws strongly favour tenants, and landlords don't want to get caught with a dud tenant.

My experience in Italy is that their bureaucracy is way worse than here, unless a few hundreds of euros are thrown around and then suddenly things happen very quickly. The same applies to many other countries.

I dunno, is "bureaucracy" better or worse than "corruption"?

[elanjacobs]

It all comes down to legal liability and the fact that no one wants to accept any of it should something happen.

One of my TAFE teachers is a qualified maintenance fitter; he's not allowed to fix anything in the workshop because he's a teacher, not maintenance staff.

[poundy]

did someone give him a hardhat?

I personally am (currently) safe in Sydney, but there were fires around where my treechange house is located, in Northern NSW. I hadn't heard of any food being rejected because it wasn't prepared in commercial premises/conditions. I can understand how there's a concern about that, not wanting to have the firies get sick.

[woodPixel]

465699

[Bernmc]

I'm a professional immigrant - this is my third country of residence, and no-one does bureaucracy like Australia. You can't even wipe your 4rse without a permit in this country.

I made this little sign:

465702

[KBs PensNmore]

I feel the same that Bureacracy has gone over the top. A lot of it is because of litigation, no one wants to be held accountable for anything. So to cover their backsides, they bring in Bureacracy.
I volunteer at the local Day Centre, which is for aged and disabled persons, I have to do the manual handling, a course on using woodworking machinery (on line), food handling, road rules exam (on line), also have to have police clearance checks for both the vulnerable people and children. These courses are done yearly and bi annual.
I work mainly in Tilly's Shed which is similar to a Men's Shed but for the Clients of the Day Centre, making various articles for the clients to assemble or sand so that the clients inside can decorate them
I used to do the Training and Assessing of the Volunteers to use the woodworking machinery, as I had Certificate 4 in Workplace training and Assessing, this role has been taken away from me and given to Maintenance as they are better Qualified!!!!! They come from various fields, a plumber, airconditioning, Fire Fighter and a carpenter. When some wood need to be cut, they come and see me to do it???
As they say bureacracy has gone mad!!!!
Kryn

[apple8]

Several years ago I had to do an assessor’s course to continue to do competency assessments which I had been doing for 20years prior. The course included an exercise as an example. I demonstrated and was assessed in that exercise and I’m now have the qualifications and competency to make........
a sandwich!

[Chesand]

Several years ago, our now daughter-in-law applied for a casual job in sandwich place and was told that she needed 2 years experience in making sandwiches. :D

[forrestmount]

I think everyone is being a little hard on the sandwich maker qualification.
30 years ago my high school home economics text book featured a “recipe” for vegemite on toast.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[Boringgeoff]

I've been retired for 12 years but long before that bureaucracy was going mad. In the case of Pauls dozer driving mate times previously the WPHS guy could have thought "I'll ignore he's not wearing a hardie because what he's doing is more important" but today if he was injured there is so much fear of litigation that WPHS guy can't afford to take the risk.
Have a look at all the finger pointing currently with the White Island disaster.
Bernmc, I too am a migrant, coming to Aus was the best thing I ever did and all I can say to you is "if you don't like it go somewhere else".
Cheers,
Geoff.

[Fekit]

Oh the irony.


all I can say to you is "if you don't like it go somewhere else".

That's the reason why things are how they are. Tow the line, or else. Freedom has been strangulated because peoples freedom of expression has been stifled by #wits.

[woodPixel]

30 years ago my high school home economics text book featured a “recipe” for vegemite on toast.

THAT is almost something that could severe tensions, even a decent pub fight.

-- Thick spread
-- Thin spread
-- Margerine, thick or thin, or
-- Butter.... mmm

My PREFERENCES are for medium spread with lots of margarine.

Then there is the toast! .... white, brown, wholemeal... lightly toasted or dark... my preference is wholemeal "until is jjuuuussst starts to pop the seeds".

And those feckin barbarians who leave traces of marg in the vegi. Jesus Holy Christmas does that get my goat.

This is no light thing!

Serious. Pub fight serious :)

[Fuzzie]

It all makes me wonder what would happen if all the clubs doing Bunnies BBQ's started to get checked for food handling certification.

[damian]

THAT is almost something that could severe tensions, even a decent pub fight.

-- Thick spread
-- Thin spread
-- Margerine, thick or thin, or
-- Butter.... mmm

My PREFERENCES are for medium spread with lots of margarine.

Then there is the toast! .... white, brown, wholemeal... lightly toasted or dark... my preference is wholemeal "until is jjuuuussst starts to pop the seeds".

And those feckin barbarians who leave traces of marg in the vegi. Jesus Holy Christmas does that get my goat.

This is no light thing!

Serious. Pub fight serious :)

Margarine ?!!? Burn him! Burn him at the stake....

On 09 we were in Picton NZ. I was out early looking for breakfast. I stopped looked around realised I was in the middle of a building site. They were digging up the road. Meanwhile in Ipswich some people took it upon themselves to do some work on a gutter. They got stopped by some official because they needed a barrier and an army of traffic controllers...

I doubt very much we are the worst but it's frustrating at times. I saw a comedian on telly once point out that OH&S is to stop you doing things and political correctness is to stop you saying things. Much truth.

The pendulum swings. The left's whinging has been becoming more shrill these last 10 years and now society is swinging hard right. It is hilarious watching the mostly left media dazed and confused when Trump, Morrison and now Johnson have landslide wins. Unfortunately the swing is already ugly and getting worse. I would not like to be a woman, muslim or homosexual over the coming decades...

[AlexS]

...the mostly left media...
I guess that would be the Daily Telegraph, the Australian, the Courier Mail, the Herald Sun, the Mercury), the Advertiser, the NT News, more than 100 local and regional newspapers and so many magazines and other media outlets that I couldn't be bothered to count them, owned by News Corp. I guess if you think they're left wing, you're flying somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun.

(That's not a critique of the rest of your post, most of which I agree with.)

[Handyjack]

There is a Government department that I do casual work for. Five hours every four to six weeks. (Very casual.) I have been doing the same job (Technical Officer) for 28 years.
It is only in the last couple of years that they have started compulsory compliance on line training. I would rather spend my five hours with Joe Public than the office computer that I never touch. Courses that I have had to do include Manual handling and anti-discrimination. Another one was Human Rights.
For some reason there has been no First Aid or Emergency Procedure training, even though at times I could be the only staff member in the area.
If they insist I do further training I would not regret (since they have so many staff to fill my position NOT) resigning.

[Handyjack]

I have been a member and volunteer of a society for over 35 years. Over this time the average age of volunteers has increased.
In the last 18 months the number of policies and new requirements has been increased. I have heard that new volunteers and returning volunteers need to not only do a (free) medical, but also supply a letter of reference and do a two day induction. This is only to become a volunteer, before doing specific training for the area they have chosen. Any wonder there is a shortage.
This year alone I would have done at least three days (compulsory) training, two in the evening and the other during the day instead of the volunteer shift I was rostered on. Another nights training was cancelled.

There are a number of volunteers who have been suspended, or quit due to misdeeds including having a difference of opinion to management.

[Pagie]

Polies dont have to prove they are competent to run the country.

[Bushmiller]

Polies dont have to prove they are competent to run the country.

There would be a dearth of candidates if they required competency!!

Regards
Paul

[elanjacobs]

Polies dont have to prove they are competent to run the country.
To be fair, voters don't have to prove they are competent to elect them either

[A Duke]

[QUOTE=elanjacobs;2166170]To be fair, voters don't have to prove they are competent to elect them either[/QUOTE.

One man one vote, then some one let woman have a go too
Regards

[Beardy]

To be fair, voters don't have to prove they are competent to elect them either

That is a fair point, we have seen in the past pollies elected because they were in a Rock band or liked a beer or their sporting merits.
You wouldn’t select your accountant or lawyer on that criteria but to run the country..............:?

[damian]

I guess that would be the Daily Telegraph, the Australian, the Courier Mail, the Herald Sun, the Mercury), the Advertiser, the NT News, more than 100 local and regional newspapers and so many magazines and other media outlets that I couldn't be bothered to count them, owned by News Corp. I guess if you think they're left wing, you're flying somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun.

(That's not a critique of the rest of your post, most of which I agree with.)

No Murdock's papers are not particularly left wing, but the lefties are convinced they are right wing. Perception is a fascinating thing. Labor have told people they are the friends of the working class and defenders of the vulnerable so many times that their supporters believe it. Conversely the coalition spruke economic management and being business friendly. If you look at what they do instead of what they say there isn't daylight between them.

I'm a political moderate and find the whole thing terribly amusing. Because I'm not at all invested in any ideology it is constantly hilarious to watch people disappear down the rabbit hole. The first thing they forget is without a majority they can't do anything, and without the moderates there is no majority.

[rustynail]

Spent 50 years in the trade. Would never work for a politician or a lawyer.

[crowie]

Spent 50 years in the trade. Would never work for a politician or a lawyer.

How about we have a tradie revolution; kick out the PM's & bureaucrats and put the self employed hard working tradies into Parliament House....:roll:

We'd have working plumbing, electricity that works, buildings that are solid & well maintained; they'd start early and only leave when the job was completed....

Much better value for money especially without all the bureaucracy....:rolleyes:

[rustynail]

They could take their ladders and lean them up against that stupid ladder rack on the top of parliament house.

[Fuzzie]

We'd have working plumbing, electricity that works, buildings that are solid & well maintained; they'd start early and only leave when the job was completed....
:rolleyes:

Which world are you living in? I can't even get them to turn up to do a quote let alone get them to arrive on time to actually do any work.

[AlexS]

Which world are you living in? I can't even get them to turn up to do a quote let alone get them to arrive on time to actually do any work.
Get another, then. I had some plumbing & electrical problems recently. Both arrived the day I rang them. Plumber completed the job the next day, sparky the same day.

Mind you, they don't come cheap.

[Fuzzie]

Since the trade ads in the local paper have been in terminal decline I've transitioned to the gig economy using places like hipages to advertise jobs. Supposedly they have a vetted list of registered trades they send out quote requests to. You get notified of the companies contacted and I have been lucky if one out of three has even followed through to find out more details, let alone want to come out to actually inspect and quote. Maybe things are a bit more competitative in Sydney.

[damian]

How about we have a tradie revolution; kick out the PM's & bureaucrats and put the self employed hard working tradies into Parliament House....:roll:

We'd have working plumbing, electricity that works, buildings that are solid & well maintained; they'd start early and only leave when the job was completed....

Much better value for money especially without all the bureaucracy....:rolleyes:

You'd get a similar result electing engineers. The trouble is most people who run for election are lawyers, "business people" or political "science" grads. "Good" people don't run often and when they do they run poor campaigns or get shafted by the underhanded tricks.

My locality is a good example. There are some properly evil back room officials in the LNP. Newman was whiteanted from the minute he won the election and many of the policies that lost them the next election came from the back room. Then they rolled Bruce Flegg our state member to put in one of their mates who is a total AH. Now they have tried to roll our councilor with BS corruption allegations so they can replace her. They behave this way toward their own, you can imagine what they do to anyone who dares stand against them.

Politics is a sewer so anyone decent and smart stays well clear.

Regarding trades: When I moved to brisbane from sydney one of the things that astounded me was how many people up here don't work, or don't work much. Even when you do work the standard expected is so much lower. In sydney people are desperate for money to pay the mortgage, the place has always been high pressure. You MUST work just to survive. The rest of Australia isn't like that. People have a much more relaxed relationship with work. An optimist would call it a better lifestyle. I call it laziness and stupidity. Both local pizza shops open 4 hours a day, and even then they shut shop early sometimes. Any excuse to close the doors. Most businesses suffer the affliction and the few well run businesses up here are run off their feet with customers.

[Beardy]

Calling it laziness is one way to look at it
The other is quality of life is much better than the rat race style existence in Sydney etc

[damian]

Calling it laziness is one way to look at it
The other is quality of life is much better than the rat race style existence in Sydney etc

I've heard that excuse a lot, right before they start complaining their business went broke or that there are no jobs in town.

I'd never go back to live in sydney, beautiful city to visit but all cities are hell to live in, but if I want something done I don't waste my time on people who don't want to work for my money. I expect to work to get paid.

[crowie]

Back on track with the ridiculousness of the bureaucracy and how they want everyone and every thing to be certified & documented...

Out of Hand Stupidity for sure.

Has the country got that bad that we have to "COTTON WOOL" everyone from cradle to grave along with the ability to always POINT THE FINGER of BLAME at someone.

Whatever happened to the old saying "SH*T HAPPENS" and sometimes people do stupid things, yet survive having learnt a valuable lesson.

Some of the madness folk have described here from Paul's first outrageous happenings,
makes one wonder if today's oxymoron of COMMON SENSE is at best last century experience by older baby boomers.

Oh well all we can do as old blokes is continue to tell BAD DAD JOKES, BE POLITICAL INCORRECT and ENJOY EACH NEW DAY....[especially if it's in the shed]


.

[A Duke]

SH*T does not just HAPPEN, it is caused by ARS* HOL*S.

[crowie]

SH*T does not just HAPPEN, it is caused by ARS* HOL*S.


And the rolls of bureaucratic paper wipe it up and flush it :roll: :poop:

[AlexS]

Whatever happened to the old saying "SH*T HAPPENS" and sometimes people do stupid things, yet survive having learnt a valuable lesson.

And sometimes they kill or maim someone else through their stupidity. If no one was stupid or greedy or took short cuts, we wouldn't need OH&S rules. Unfortunately...

[Beardy]

And sometimes they kill or maim someone else through their stupidity. If no one was stupid or greedy or took short cuts, we wouldn't need OH&S rules. Unfortunately...

The flip side of that is that OH&S has made people stupid. When I was an apprentice on a construction site everyone was “street smart” and would be aware of their surroundings and potential dangers nowadays people walk around looking at their phone with a mindset that someone else is looking after them.

People have learnt to be stupid these days

[AlexS]

I don't think OH&S made people stupid. There have always been stupid people, there have always been greedy bosses and there have always been people who would take dangerous short cuts.

[Glider]

Going back the the bush fire brigades, we're all volunteers. They can't make us do anything but they need us. I was greatly amused to hear our brigade captain tell the local command wallahs that our brigade "doesn't go to the National Park" The reason? Around '03 the boys were called out to a fire there on Christmas Eve. They stayed right through Christmas Day with about 2-3 officers of the National Sparks and Wildfire Service in attendance. On Boxing Day, 13 of them turned up to collect their double time. So...

mick

[damian]

The flip side of that is that OH&S has made people stupid. When I was an apprentice on a construction site everyone was “street smart” and would be aware of their surroundings and potential dangers nowadays people walk around looking at their phone with a mindset that someone else is looking after them.

People have learnt to be stupid these days

Absolutely. When I was still working as an engineer the proportion of my time spent trying to stop people killing themselves was ever increasing. The more rules you gave them the more creative the stupidity. Everywhere I look around and I see people with no sense of self preservation. None at all.

Maybe before OH&S they died young and nobody noticed...

[doug3030]

... Everywhere I look around and I see people with no sense of self preservation. None at all.

Maybe before OH&S they died young and nobody noticed...

Then either they were able to breed before they died or stupidity is not hereditary. The stupid still walk among us.

Come to think of it they drive among us too. I just got back from the shopping centre. :oo: :doh: :no:

[Pagie]

That is why we should not have school crossings. If the kids can't get access without getting killed we don't want them to breed.

[DavidG]

Can we keep to reality please and stop pruning the tree. :((

[doug3030]

Can we keep to reality please and stop pruning the tree. :((

Rodney Allebach - So fascinating to see how trees are made. (https://www.facebook.com/rodney.allebach/videos/10218213434461447/)

[rrich]

I am a weird animal. While I'm 77 today, I grew up in post WWII New York city. For the first two years of school, I rode a school bus to and from school. For the third year I had to walk t/f school. From September through Christmas my mother walked with me to and from school. During that time I was taught how to cross streets. (Disclaimer: The method probably works today in New York city but not definitely not elsewhere.)

Go to the center of the block. Step into the space between two parked cars, peer toward the direction that traffic would be coming. If no traffic is coming, rush out and stand on the center line dividing the traffic. Look toward the direction that traffic would be coming. If no traffic is coming, rush to the other side of the street.

The reason that it works is that vehicles rarely reach the speed limit of 25 MPH and typically are going barely 15 MPH. In the Los Angeles metro area, this method would not work as most vehicles are travelling around 10 MPH over the speed limit. Most major streets in the Los Angeles area have speed limits of 45 MPH. I tried the using the method in the Los Angeles metro area and discovered that it is terrifying.

[rrich]

Let me hit on the main topic here.

You have to be sympathetic for the bureaucratic workers. Please understand that they need food for the table, money for the mortgage and car payments. They absolutely hate their jobs and are only doing them for the money.

I have sympathy because I've had jobs that I only did for the money. Believe me when I say that when you are working only for the money, the job is absolutely H***.

[doug3030]

Go to the center of the block. Step into the space between two parked cars, peer toward the direction that traffic would be coming. If no traffic is coming, rush out and stand on the center line dividing the traffic. Look toward the direction that traffic would be coming. If no traffic is coming, rush to the other side of the street.

In Melbourne you would be hit by a tram or a d!c#head on a bike. :rolleyes::no::roll:

[elanjacobs]

In Melbourne you would be hit by a tram or a d!c#head on a bike. :rolleyes::no::roll:
From the age of about 5 I walked to school with my dad, by age 9 I was making my own way; it was a 20-25 min walk, mostly side streets with a moderately busy 2-lane road to cross as well (without a pedestrian crossing). In year 12 I cycled to and from school, about 8km straight up St Kilda Rd, and for 3 years after that 8km to and from work down Nepean Hwy and South Rd. Not once was I hit by anyone because I was taught how to properly deal with traffic.

Pay attention to what's happening around you and you're quite unlikely to get hit. Simple as that.

[AlexS]

In Melbourne you would be hit by a tram or a d!c#head on a bike.
No, you would be the dickhead for trying to cross like that.

[doug3030]

No, you would be the dickhead for trying to cross like that.

Pretty much the point I was making :rolleyes: :roll:

[Fuzzie]

No, you would be the dickhead for trying to cross like that.


In Rome I was shown the way to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing.

1. Take a deep breath and step out into what appears to be a non stop stream of traffic.
2. Keep walking.
3. The traffic will magically part around you.
4. Do not lose your nerve and falter/stop half way, the traffic will not guess where you are going next and will blast you with at least a horn or you'll get run over by a Vespa.

Local knowledge is valuable. When driving in Queensland do not stop for yellow lights at an intersection (or the first few seconds of red), somebody will run up the back of you. :bike2:

[rrich]

In Rome I was shown the way to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing.

1. Take a deep breath and step out into what appears to be a non stop stream of traffic.
2. Keep walking.
3. The traffic will magically part around you. Being from Brooklyn, NY I understand but it is terrifying.
4. Do not lose your nerve and falter/stop half way, the traffic will not guess where you are going next and will blast you with at least a horn or you'll get run over by a Vespa.

Local knowledge is valuable. When driving in Queensland do not stop for yellow lights at an intersection (or the first few seconds of red), somebody will run up the back of you. :bike2:

There is a quote from "Star Man" Red means stop, Green means go, Yellow means go very, very fast.

[rrich]

In Rome I was shown the way to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing.

1. Take a deep breath and step out into what appears to be a non stop stream of traffic.
2. Keep walking.
3. The traffic will magically part around you. Being from Brooklyn, NY I understand but it is terrifying.
4. Do not lose your nerve and falter/stop half way, the traffic will not guess where you are going next and will blast you with at least a horn or you'll get run over by a Vespa.

Local knowledge is valuable. When driving in Queensland do not stop for yellow lights at an intersection (or the first few seconds of red), somebody will run up the back of you. :bike2:

There is a quote from "Star Man" Red means stop, Green means go, Yellow means go very, very fast.

In Phoenix, Arizona during 'Snow Bird' season, when the light turns green, take a deep breath, swiggle about to scratch your back, count to 5 and then drive into the intersection.

(Seasons are reversed. Snow Birds escape the winter from about mid November until mid April. Driving in Phoenix is H*** during that time.)

[AlexS]

In Phoenix, Arizona during 'Snow Bird' season, when the light turns green, take a deep breath, swiggle about to scratch your back, count to 5 and then drive into the intersection.
Sounds like Adelaide. And when the light goes red, drive through carefully, waving politely to those at the green light, scratching their backs.

Try that in Sydney and either the car behind will push you through the green light, or you'll be T-boned as you go through the red.

[Chief Tiff]

Myself and a couple of buddies hired a trio of Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycles and rode across Tamal Nadu and Kerrala in India. Before we’d got more than a couple of kays it was clearly apparent that all traffic lights, road signs and directions from traffic cops were merely suggestions.

[AlexS]

I have a Sri Lankan friend who is a very good driver. She reckons that when she visits Sri Lanka it takes her three days to start driving like a Sri Lankan, and another three days when she comes back to drive like an Australian again.

[Tonyz]

just returned from Uganda, thankfully I was a passenger in big Landcruiser but we hit Kampala (capital) at 4pm an hour later we were half way across city, then seriously we came (very slowly) to an intersection that had traffic lights that were totally ignored, traffic going across our bows did not stop, if they did they would not get going again. We moved 6 car lengths in 1.25 hours, then police finally arrived....on foot.