‘Like driving in Bali’: Neil Mitchell takes aim at Melbourne’s road ‘madness’

Melbourne’s road culture has changed for the worse and cab and rideshare drivers, food delivery drivers and electric bikes are leading the change, 3AW’s Neil Mitchell says.

“It is madness,” the 3AW Mornings host said.

“It’s not just the number of cars on the road, it is the culture, it has changed.

“I remember when I would go to big Asian cities and think ‘this is bizarre the way they carry on’. Now it is here.

“It’s like driving in Bali at times.

“The cab drivers: they don’t care, they block the roads, they do illegal turns and the cab ranks, they stop people moving past.

“We are too lazy to walk so the delivery drivers are everywhere and they are dangerous. They don’t care about road rules, they don’t seem to care about their own safety, for heavens sake.

“The electric bikes … some of them assume they own the road. They’ve got no licence, they’ve got no registration, they’re travelling at speeds that seem to be up there.

“They are a menace.”

Neil’s criticism comes as the number of taxi and hire cars on Melbourne roads balloons.

“In 2017, we had around 8000 taxis and hire cars and we’ve now got a bit over 70,000,” Transport Matters MP Rod Barton told Neil Mitchell.

“We’ve got a 700 per cent increase in vehicles hanging around the city now.”

Mr Barton agreed there has been a cultural shift on our roads.

“It’s a nightmare out there and there’s an aggressiveness out there now,” he said.

“Everybody is frustrated, they’re angry.”

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Image (background): Scott Barbour / Stringer