Australia traffic rules and self driving car rental tips

Speed Limit and Traffic Signs

Driving is on the left-hand side of the road. Do not overtake on the left-hand side and do not overtake if there are solid white lines. At roundabouts, you must give way to vehicles already on the roundabout and select your lane early.

Speed Limit

There are speed limits of 100-130 km/h on freeways and 50 km/h in built-up areas.

Traffic Signs

These are some specific signs you may encounter and be unfamiliar with when driving in Australia. Even though most of them are self-explanatory, it is strongly advised to make sure you can understand them before taking the road.

Australian regulatory signs have different shapes.

Give Way

Stop

No U-turn

50 km/h Speed Limit

Speed Derestriction

Warning signs are diamond-shaped and mostly with a yellow background.

Speed Limit Ahead (Used in Western Australia)

Steep Descent

Two-way Traffic Ahead

Pedestrians

Railway Level Crossing on Road Ahead

Railway Level Crossing on Road Ahead (Skewed) (Left)

Railway Level Crossing on Road Ahead (Skewed) (Right)

Information signs are rectangular with red or green backgrounds.

Exit	Reduce Speed Now

For a complete traffic and road signs, you may refer to this Australia road user handbook.

Seatbelt and Child Safety

Seatbelt Laws

All passengers are required to have their seatbelt fastened at all times when the vehicle is moving. Failure to do so can result in a fine of AU$250.

Booster Seat Laws

Babies up to 6 months must be installed on a rear-facing car seat, and children from 6 months to 4 years are allowed on both forward and rear-facing seats.

Please be aware that children up to 4 years old cannot travel on the front seat unless the car is a two-seater.

Finally, a booster seat or forward facing seat must be used for children between 4 and 7 years old. A child of this age is only allowed on the front seat if there is no other seat available for them.

Parking, Fuel and Toll

Parking

· Forbidden Parking

Cars are not allowed to be parked on the following spots as doing so can result in a fine:

- On the footpath or nature strip as these places are for people.

- On a yellow line.

- In a way that blocks other cars from entering or exiting the driveway. In an emergency, the car may be towed away.

- Less than10 metres (approximately 2 large car lengths) from an intersection so that other cars can safely pass without causing danger.

- In a place that has been marked with ‘No Stopping’ or ‘No Standing’. A ‘No Standing’ sign indicates motorist may not park a car unless they remain in the vehicle and for no more than three minutes.

· Parking Signs

Parking signs in Australia may specify multiple times, places, durations, restrictions and vehicle categories in a condensed form on a single sign. Letter P signs are 'permissive' parking signs where parking is permitted for the time specified. A guide to the most common parking signs is below:

- '1/2P', '1P', '3P': Vehicles can be parked here for half an hour, one hour, or three hours.

- '630AM-730 PM Mon-Fri': Vehicles may be parked here only at the specified times - in this case, between 06:30 and 19:30 from Monday to Friday.

- 'P'(no number): Permissive parking zone

- '15 minute', '20 minute', '45 minute': Vehicles may be parked here only for the specified number of minutes

· Paid Parking

There are municipal parking garages and lots, metered parking alongside the road and ticket machine parking in most towns and cities.

Australia Parking Metre (Image from alphaairportparking.com.au)

Fuel Prices

The average value for Australia gasoline price during July to October 2017 is AU$1.26, while diesel is 3 cents higher.

Toll

Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne are the only three cities in Australia featuring toll roads. Toll roads in Australia use free-flowing tolling, with no toll booth along the entire length of the system to optimize traffic flow. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead.

If you plan to use toll roads in Australia, we suggest you rent an e-toll/e-pass device from the car hire company, enabling an automatic payment of the toll fee directly from your credit card. Please note that e-toll/e-pass devices are subject to availability at the rental desk. Australia E-Toll Device (Image from australiahereandnow.com)

If you have any question related to your toll fee billing, feel free to contact EasyRentCars' 24/7 customer service team for assistance.

Traffic Violation

DUI Laws

In all states of Australia, the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for drivers is below 0.05%. Drink driving is treated as a major offence and any person driving a vehicle over the legal limit may face penalties ranging from the suspension, disqualification or cancellation of their licence, fines to imprisonment, depending on the gravity of the offence.

Traffic Fines

Failure to pay the road or parking violation fines can have some long-term consequences, especially for international travellers. Not paying fines could affect your next visit to Australia as infringement notice are inserted into the Police Central Names Index (CNI) and the National Names Index (NNI).

However, paying fines is not a challenge for renters since the car hire company will pass on the offence information to the authorities and a post or email notification will be sent to you if some traffic laws have been breached. Note that the fine usually comes with a service/administration fee as well.

It is advisable for you to contact EasryRentCars' 24/7 customer service team if you have any question on this matter.

Driving Licence and Age Requirements

Foreigners on short-term visit may rent a car and drive with a valid foreign driving licence for up to 3 months in Australia. Longer than that, you need to get an Australian driving licence from an Australian state. To drive in Australia, the licence should be a full driving licence held for at least 2 years with no major endorsements.

To hire a car in Australia you must be at least 21 years old (age may vary by car category). If you are 21-25, you are likely to have to pay a young driver fee. There is no maximum driving age in Australia.

Guest reviews

1 /

R.Ablett

February 21, 2020

Destination: Cairns

10Easy no fuss no hard sell

Great company, friendly service all good.

r.hall

Destination: Perth

10good rental

Quick shuttle but they are a bit away from the airport and the shuttle is extra cost

Michael

10Easy as usual

Very easy to deal with. Caught the free shuttle bus both for pick up and drop off and both times was prompt

Edward Sutrisno

February 20, 2020

Destination: Melbourne

8.3Got an Isuzu MUX instead of Toyota Kluger, pickup counter hard to reach by phone

We were hoping to get a Toyota Kluger but got an Isuzu MUX instead which has less trunk space. The car was quite new with 5000 km mileage. The off airport pickup counter was a 5 minute drive with the shuttle bus. It took me a long time to reach the branch by phone when i wanted to ask for directions to the shuttle bus pickup point. It took us nearly an hour to get to the pickup counter and get our car. Returning the car in Sydney airport was super fast.

J.CHIA

7Looking forward to a better experience.

Disappointing. The gentleman that served me during pick up was on a earpiece and was processing things at an extremely slow paced (furthermore I arrived late with my family and all were tired). Things were not explained clearly and proceeded to getting me to sign. The gentleman that served me was very friendly but when I asked him very clearly about the petrol issue (because I drove from somewhere relatively far but the tank shows full still), he told me all is good and money will be released. However, I realised after a few days that I was charged an extra for petrol (I would not be so disappointed if the staff told me earlier on after the check).

M.Pascoe

February 19, 2020

10Much better than expected

Both the service from staff and condition of the car exceeded expectation. We will certainly make use of their services in the future.

jwalks

Destination: Sydney

10Easy And great

Great

10Easy and great

Destination: Launceston

10Easy and great!

Great!

Great.

L.Van De Kamp

Destination: Adelaide

10Effortless

Customer Service was excellent and client driven. Staff were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

D.ZAGDANSKIdoris

Destination: Avalon

9.7Overall I'm happy with my rental expereinece.

The wait time in the queue is often a problem.

John Kan

February 18, 2020

6Good experience

Very average

I.Forgie

8.3Efficient process

Boot space in car was less (shallower) than expected - but good to drive a hybrid

M.Sanam

9.7Excellent and easy.

As the Airports are busy place, you need to keep at least 2 people for processing.

9.3Easy, quick rental. Great car and super speedy breakdown recovery.

Friendly staff, no issues

S.Small

Destination: Woolloomooloo

10Good service and great prices

The staff were friendly and the car was perfect. Staff provided me with all the information in the event of an emergency. This was not needed but nice to know they would provide roadside assistance in the event it was required.

M.Robim de Figueiredo Silva

9.3Good value for money.

At the East Coast the attendant tried to sell me another insurance but I already had one with the app EasyRentCars which is better and cheaper. Also, they charged me AU$1000 as a bond, really high bond.

B.Levesque

February 17, 2020

Destination: Hobart

8.3Very happy rental time.

Overall very pleased with transaction

l.Rudolf

10Friendly staff nice clean vehicle

Nice clean car friendly staff

Peter M

February 16, 2020

9.3Quick, efficient, no frills service at a reasonable cost

All as per expectation, very pleasant drop off driver

E.McKeown

9.3Sooo Easy to Rent

All of the staff from pickup at airport, issueing the vehicle, returning the vehicle and finally dropoff at airport were fantastic

K.Adams

February 15, 2020

10Great

Super friendly and quick service

Y.Hao

February 14, 2020

8.3Very Good

double charge

9.3Pleasant. Could've been better

They did not give me a break down of the charges incurred on my trip. Their was a charge for roadside assistance. I need that info to file a claim. Also very hard to get a hold of customer service

February 13, 2020

9.7安いし車体も新しめでオススメ

ケアンズ空港ではhertzのカウンターで受け取りでした。スムーズに対応してくれたので10分ほどで手続きが終わり、車に乗り込めした。返却時もhertz専用の返却駐車場があるのでそちらに停めると係員がすぐ来てくれました。傷チェックをして2.3分で返却処理は終わります。帰りの傷チェックは結構適当で軽ーく車体を見回って終わりだったので少し不安でしたが特に追加チャージはされてないので大丈夫でした。

T.Petermann

7.7Ok

The car was not cleaned. There was quite some rubbish (for example old food) in the middle compartment.

G.Shone

6.7On the whole very good. Vehicle could have been cleaner. Defective tyre should have been identified

Vehicle provided had a defective tyre. Arranged for a replacement vehicle for collection the next day. I would have thought matters like this (safety) would have been undertaken as a routine matter of course.

7Cheap rental but needs to work on customer service

Lack of duty of car - was told to drive through flood waters to return the car. When asked to speak to manager about this occurence not available, and said I would be contacted the following day. Still 5 days later not contacted.

T.Hackett

10Hassle free.

The Budget office is well signposted and easy to find as long as you follow instructions sent with your booking confirmation. There are no desks at terminal.

a.takebayashi

8.7良い車を安く

予想以上に良い車にアップグレードされて大満足です

k.kothari

February 12, 2020

Destination: Gold Coast

10Superb

Got upgraded

T.Koh

Destination: Brisbane

8.3Memorable

Excellent ride letdown by indifference.

DJay747

7.7Nice

Nice service, quick action

T.Ludwig

February 11, 2020

10Amazing Service

Unfortunately, I was held up at work and late to pick up my car. The manager, Jen G of Brisbane Office, on her way to her car, came back to the office to help me. She went above and beyond to serve me in a friendly and personal manner. I am very grateful to her.

K.Kelly

7.7Good

The car we ordered was not the vehicle we ordered. We had our tall son with us who needed head and leg room in the back of the vehicle. We also ordered a vehicle that was not too low to get in and out of. We were disappointed with the car supplied.

cliver12

8good value

friendly staff

February 10, 2020

3.3Do not recommend unless you want to spend the night at the parking facility with no rental car

Do not recommend as we booked and paid for our car for after hour pick up and we ended up having no car, no one to call and the lovely shuttle bus driver who was also incharge of the hotline after hours us to get an Uber home and come back the next day. He was also unable to reach bargain car rental. Vehicle condition is bad, with dents and scratches everywhere and dirty interior, check in staff was rude and refuse to solve any problems, email communications and instructions were not clear on timing which caused a lot of inconvenience and money at the end

10Highly recommend, great value and service

Highly recommend, staff were nice and gave us an upgrade, smooth pick up and drop off, no hassle

S.Chiu

6.3Average

Car was dirty, air conditioning was not working

D.Evans

10Simple process, great value.

Car was ready for us, and was an upgrade to what was booked. Pick up and drop off was very efficient, with minimal wait for the shuttle. Value for money was very good.

W.W

8.3Meet expectations. Thank you

Meet expectations. Thank you

R.Ranjitkar

10Fantastic Melbourne trip. Thank you easyrent car rent budget. I will surely choose it again soon.

There were lots of customer waiting for the rental car in budget. The lady was doing great job by handling all the customer smoothly but to do it better may be other car rental should also be linked to help. Budget had nearly 7 to 8 vustomer waiting and near counter other car rental had 0.

February 9, 2020

10Very convenient location right in our hotel

Counter was right within our hotel - the Pullman - can't get more convenient than that! Counter service was slightly slow but still reasonable.

10Amazing price, good service.

Friendly counter staff but as it was a holiday weekend, it took a bit longer than expected to get the car.

7.3As a regular customer, I was not impressed

I have rented from East Coast before and had a positive experience. But this time not as much. I received confirmation from easyrent with T&C’s from east coast that said my deposit amount was meant to be $249. It was not. They tried to charge me $1000- huge difference. My only option was to pay for extra insurance effectively doubling the cost of my rental. I showed them the t&c’s I was sent but they wouldn’t honour it. He wasn’t rude about it, but was certainly not helpful or understanding and didn’t offer options. Also the pickup address sent to me was incorrect. Also I was given a larger car- which I did not want, I rented a compact hatchback on purpose and got a mid size 4-door sedan. It made my task much harder.

J.Poothakuzhi Jose

February 8, 2020

10Excellent

Excellent service

Rocket

9.3Great service at a good price

Good service & price for a vehicle that was in reasonable condition & met our needs perfectly. Jucy was really easy to deal with.

S.Thomas

9.6Europcar will take us far! First experience but definitely our only future choice.

Exceptional service!l Counter staff at Hobart airport pick up went over and above to assist us in upgrading our vehicle to include inbuilt GPS. When travelling with family earlier we found Network connection intermittent when travelling outside major Tasmanian towns. We just loved our BMW! Our first experience but Europcar always from now on.

Australia Car Rentals

The Complete Australia Driving and Rental Guide