You shouldn't really need to worry about people behind you, there are plenty of ways to get the car started without losing ground. In the case of traffic, it's far better to just let the car roll around in 1st or 2nd and let the gap between you and the next car grow, you don't have to always be nose to bumper. I usually take back roads anyway around peak hour though and as I understand it, traffic in AUS is no where near as bad as a lot of US cities.