Things to know if you're new to driving in Western Australia

16 May 2024 By: Vanessa Pogorelic

From driving around road trains to how we pump fuel, we unpack some of the things new arrivals to WA may not know about driving in Australia’s biggest state.

If you’re new to WA, whether you’ve arrived from another country or even another state, getting your bearings on the state’s roads and the long distances, will take some time.

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To help you settle in and travel safely, here are some of the road rules and driving scenarios you may find unfamiliar when driving in Perth and around WA.

Parking against the traffic

When using a parking bay on a roadside or any street parking, it is illegal in WA to park in the opposite direction to the traffic flow. When parked, your car must be facing in the same direction as the traffic is travelling on that side of the road.

You must also obey signage in angled bays on the roadside, which may indicate that the front of your car must face the kerb. This doesn’t apply in bays with a 90-degree angle where you can park in either direction.

Making a right-hand turn at traffic lights

Filtered right-hand turns, where there’s no dedicated right-turn arrow, can be difficult to navigate.

Drivers must make several decisions, including whether to enter the intersection (that is, move out past the white stopping line) and whether there is a suitable gap in oncoming traffic to enable a safe turn. When the green light facing you is lit and there are no signs or signals stating that turning right is prohibited, you are allowed to enter the intersection and turn right.

Before you make your turn, though, you must give way to oncoming traffic travelling straight ahead or turning left, and only cross when there is an adequate gap in traffic so you can turn safely. You also need to give way to any pedestrians crossing the road you’re entering.

If you’re waiting to turn after having fully entered the intersection and the light changes to amber or red, you must turn as soon as you can safely do so.

This means you don’t need to rush across in front of traffic to make your turn before the light changes to red. Wait until it’s safe to complete your turn, even if this means you need to finish crossing on a red signal.

When you need to stay in the left-hand lane

On multi-lane roads, where there is more than one lane for vehicles travelling in the same direction, if the speed limit is under 90km/h, you only have to keep left where there is a sign saying, ‘keep left unless overtaking’, otherwise you can drive in any lane.

However, on multi-lane roads where the speed limit is 90km/h or more, you do need to keep left. There are some exceptions though.

If the limit is 90km/h or more and/or there is a ‘keep left unless overtaking sign’, you don’t have to keep left if: you’re turning right or making a U-turn, you’re overtaking, the left lane is a special purpose lane such as a bus lane, the left lane is a turning lane and you’re going straight ahead, you’re required to drive in a particular lane according to signage, or the other lanes are congested with traffic or blocked by an obstacle.

Emergency stopping lanes or bays - when you can and can’t use them

The emergency stopping lanes and bays on WA’s roads and freeways should only be used in legitimate emergency situations.

Pulling over to send a text message, make a call or do anything else in your vehicle that would not be considered an emergency, is not permitted.

Some situations in which you would stop in an emergency stopping lane or bay would be because your car has broken down, there’s an unexpected situation in which the health or safety of the driver or a passenger is at risk, or if you’re avoiding a collision.

If you do need to stop for any of these reasons, don’t stay in the emergency lane or bay for any longer than necessary.

While some emergency stopping bays have roadside help phones, where there isn’t one or where you can’t get out safely to use one, call Main Roads WA on 138 138 for assistance.

If emergency services are needed, call 000. If you’re on the Kwinana Freeway and can’t get to an emergency bay, stay in your vehicle, turn your hazard lights on, keep your seatbelt fastened and wait for the Incident Response team. Perth’s Kwinana Freeway is monitored 24/7, which means that stopped vehicles are detected quickly and an incident response vehicle may be dispatched within minutes.

Understanding Perth’s petrol price cycle

In WA, fuel retailers are bound by the Petroleum Products Pricing Act 1983, which legally obliges them to notify the WA State Government of their fuel prices for the following day by 2pm, and then keep those prices unchanged for 24-hours from 6am.

Those prices are then updated on the State Government's FuelWatch website.

Most fuel retailers in Perth adjust their prices once daily, either up or down over the course of a week in what is known as the ‘petrol price cycle’. This is a marketing strategy used by fuel retailers and is not directly related to the costs of refining or transporting petrol.

Sometimes, at the point in the weekly price cycle where prices are lowest, retailers may even be making a slight loss where pump prices are compared to wholesale prices. There is no doubt that some motorists find the price cycle frustrating and understandably so. However the flipside is that you can also time the days that you fill your tank to be the days when prices are at their lowest point in the cycle.

Consumers can use this to their advantage and shop around, knowing prices are not going to fluctuate throughout a given day. If you do shop around, the savings can be substantial over the course of a year. To find the lowest fuel prices near you, visit fuelwatch.wa.gov.au

Buses have right of way

The rear of all public transport buses in WA display a ‘give way’ sign. These are not just asking drivers to be courteous – they’re actually a reminder of the law because buses have the right of way on WA roads.

In built-up areas when traffic is heavy, it can be tempting to try and get ahead of public buses as they move in and out of bus bays, but the rule is you need to give way to the bus and let it go ahead of you.

If the right-hand indicator of a bus is signalling that it’s about to move out of a bus bay or the far left lane into the lane you’re driving in, don’t be tempted to speed up to get in front. As soon as it begins signalling, you need to allow space to let it move right. Trying to get in front of a bus in this situation also risks a collision.

What’s a pelican crossing?

A pelican crossing is a marked pedestrian crossing with signals for both pedestrians and drivers.

Pelican crossings are located away from road intersections but work like normal traffic control signals, except that they have a flashing yellow light facing drivers.

The flashing yellow light signals to drivers that they should approach and proceed through the intersection with caution.

If there is a pedestrian at the crossing while the yellow light is flashing, then the driver must give way to them and not obstruct the pedestrian.

Drivers are also not permitted to overtake another vehicle that is slowing down to stop or has already stopped at a pelican crossing with a flashing yellow light. And, of course, on a red signal the driver must stop.

The Slomo law

WA’s Slow Down Move Over law (also referred to as Slomo) is there to protect emergency services personnel and others who work on busy roadsides.

The law requires motorists to reduce speed to a maximum of 40km/h when they see the flashing lights of stationary emergency vehicles, tow trucks, incident response vehicles, and RAC Roadside Assistance patrols and if possible, move over to another lane as they pass the scene.

Freeways and highways of Perth

Much of Perth’s road network follows a grid layout, making it relatively easy to navigate.

There are three Perth freeways: Kwinana Freeway which runs south of the city, the Mitchell Freeway which runs north, and the Graham Farmer Freeway which connects east to west and includes the Northbridge Tunnel – WA’s only freeway tunnel.

There are five major highways that frame the city: Stirling Highway runs south-west of the city towards the coast to the north of the Swan River, with Canning Highway also running in a south-west direction from the city but on the southern side of the Swan River.

The Reid and Roe highways flow into one another in the eastern suburb of Middle Swan. Reid Highway carries traffic west to east, then from the start of Roe Highway in Middle Swan, the traffic flows north to south then south-west, ending at the suburb of Leeming.

Tonkin Highway runs just north-east of the city and then flows in a northerly direction close to the Perth Hills region.

Driving around trucks with an oversized load

Trucks displaying an ‘oversized load’ sign are a common sight on WA’s roads, often transporting large mining equipment to the north-west of the state. The load is considered oversized if it projects out from the side or rear of the transport vehicle.

Vehicles with oversizeds are often accompanied by Heavy Vehicle Pilot vehicles (with amber flashing lights) or Traffic Escort Warden vehicles (with red and blue flashing lights).

The role of these vehicles is to ensure the safe movement of oversize loads, provide advance warning to motorists, manage traffic around the load and give directions to the driver of the oversize vehicle.

It’s important to remember that these pilots and escorts have the same powers as WA Police to direct you around the vehicle, so ensure you follow their directions.

If these vehicles are coming towards you, slow down and move to the left. Many oversize vehicles need to travel closer to the middle of the road so that any wide loads don’t collide with power lines or other roadside objects, so you may need to pull off the road completely.

Wait until the last pilot or escort vehicle following the oversize load has passed you and the way is clear before indicating to re-enter the road.

If you’re following behind an oversize vehicle, the drivers of the pilot or escort vehicles may direct you when it’s safe to overtake. In some instances, the whole convoy may pull over and signal for you to pass.

Safely passing a road train

Large road trains on regional WA roads can be up to 53m in length - the equivalent of around 12 cars placed bumper-to-bumper.

They are some of the longest road trains in the world and can take more than 1.5km of road to safely overtake.

If you need to overtake without an overtaking lane, only do so when you’re travelling on a long stretch of straight road where you have a clear view of oncoming traffic. You should not overtake when approaching a crest or curved section of road where you can’t see a vehicle approaching from the other side.

As with overtaking any vehicle, it’s safest to overtake only where the road is sealed, in good condition and where on-road visibility is good.

Just like cars, road trains have blind spots. To ensure the driver can see you, make sure you can always see both of the road train’s side-view mirrors when following behind.

This is especially important before you overtake, as road trains can sway from side-to-side, particularly the last trailer.

When it’s safe to pass, indicate, move right and carefully overtake. Remember, you’re not permitted to accelerate past the posted speed limit when overtaking.

Due to their weight, road trains need a much longer stopping distance than a light vehicle, so moving back in front without leaving a safe gap won’t allow enough space for the road train to slow down if you need to brake suddenly.

A general rule of thumb is to only move back into the left-hand lane once you can see both of the road train’s headlights in your rear-view mirror, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to overtake safely.