Traffic Cops

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

I know my neighbor when we did the Great Ocean Rd kept on speeding when we were down in Melbourne between the point to point camera's, I told him they are going to ping him because he kept on slowing down as he went passed them thinking they would get him as he went past had to explain to him they measure the time it takes between the two cameras etc etc. I told him he will get done. Nothing stupid but like 5k over the limit (yes still speeding I know). Anyway within 2 weeks of been back home here in NSW he copped three fines obviously all for speeding. He paid them all but never lost a point. But when I got done in QLD (camera) I lost points as I have a national license, If I had lied and said the wife was driving she would have just paid the fine but lost no points..........Cheers Steve

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

They say u loose the points.
They do make changes & upgrade their systems.
It's still not very good at the points thing.
they re not 10o% at finding you if you don't pay a fine either.
Cat & mouse, play the game if you want.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

No point playing around, if you know your in the wrong send a letter in try your luck to get off (silly if you don't at least try nothing to lose) and if at the end of the day you have to pay you cop it on the chin. If you think you didn't do anything wrong then that's a different story but proving it could be difficult hence why I have the in car camera to check back on and can be used in court if need be but can go against you too if your doing some thing stupid. Works both ways........ Cheers Steve

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Jasen you sure about that?

As sure as he is about the benefits of a smartbar.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

As sure as he is about the benefits of a smartbar.

I think the systems are better connected than you guys (other than NTP) think. Years ago we had a job in WA and one of our guys was done for speeding as he was leaving the building. Didn't know and didn't get the letter since the mail didn't get forwarded. Returned to WA 6 or 7 years later for another project and went to get his WA licence and sure enough it was still there. Some fast talking and a quick payment and he wasn't locked up. Also when I came back I was advised by the Dept against Transport here that I had some carry over damage from WA on my newly minted Qld licence (slight misunderstaning between the radar and detector).

Happy for someone else to do the practical exam though. Please post the results of the test...

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

100% is good.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Jasen, do you hold a semi license ??.......Cheers Steve

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Maybe my neighbour was extremely lucky for some reason not to lose any points what so ever, for memory I think he paid over $600 in fines. He only holds a car license. Anyway Im not about to try it and see lol.......My prado cruise control gets used daily to try and keep it on the limit, I don't trust any of those friggin camera's. I actually trust the ones the cops have on their cars or the radar guns they use and common sense as well. As far as I'm concerned the mobile ones in ford territorys are just cash cows..........Cheers Steve

[KIMBOPRADO Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close KIMBOPRADO]

Here in WA we have $278m in unpaid fines and infringements last month - so plenty ain't paying

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...-to-pay-fines/

I've had 2 minor speeding fines over 25 years - just copped them on the chin and paid

Says in the article fines paid off at $250 a day in custody - there's an option

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

Just today i watched a truck do a U turn at a NO U Turn intersection and to make matters worse he had to back up and try again to get around... And i caught the whole thing on my Blackvue dashcam, .

The driver actually caused a bank up of traffic....in my opinion..Never a cop around when you want one.

Pass on the footage to your local police. I'm certain they'll happily use it if the truck is identifiable.

Never around? Remember Sir Robert Peel's famous saying, "The police are the people and the people the police".

[ntp Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close ntp]

This is a classic tale NTP, of the traffic branch and state governments, dividing the community. Thus making other areas of policing harder, as say in the case of people coming forward when a criminal act has occurred.
There will always be accidents. Matter of fact, as the population grows, one would expect for the stats to increase in line with the population.

I'm not completely sure I understand what you are trying to say.

As for increased accidents as the population increases, I get what you say and there is some truth to this. However, it isn't actually as simple as that. The issue here is ratio of incidents to population rather than simply the number of incidents. The ratio should be decreasing, despite any increases to overall population.

I don't agree with your comments about police officers 'dividing the community'. They are simply law enforcers sworn to 'uphold the law' of the land, which is set by government (not police officers). Police officers are also members of the community, with families and friends, who also receive fines for speeding, parking, etc. While they do have some discretion, it is very limited for a range of factors.

I tend to agree with your comments questioning so called road safety strategies. IMHO improved road design, improved vehicle design, better driver education, stricter licensing controls, better speed controls (ie not changing speed limits half a dozen times over a small stretch of roadway), improved traffic flows, and more targeted activities against high risk drivers (rather than day-to-day commuters) is the way to go. In high risk crash/incident areas, rather than increase the enforcement, look to improve the design. If fine revenues were to be fully invested back into these things, then the perception of it being simply revenue raising rather than road safety would be negated.

People elect governments. If you don't like something, let your local representatives know about it. I am not being Pollyanna here, but it is only when the silent majority speak up will things change. Otherwise, the squeaky minority continues to lead the way and the status quo will remain. Sadly, too often in these situations, the 'road safety' strategies you have described are much cheaper, simpler and sufficient to create the perception road safety when the real issue is much harder to address.

[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

If fine revenues were to be fully invested back into these things, then the perception of it being simply revenue raising rather than road safety would be negated.

Totally agree. If the revenue was legislated fully back to road building and repairs as I believe is the case in California and other places, instead of into general revenue there would be better public acceptance of these measures.

[Corigator Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Corigator]

When I was much younger I got my license in NZ. (I'm not a Kiwi)

The cops over there would usually just tell you off for a minor offence. It got them more respect and really the driving wasn't that bad. It seems that its all about the stick rather than education these days. I'm not sure that really works.

[Danda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Danda]

This is a classic tale NTP, of the traffic branch and state governments, dividing the community. Thus making other areas of policing harder, as say in the case of people coming forward when a criminal act has occurred.
There will always be accidents. Matter of fact, as the population grows, one would expect for the stats to increase in line with the population. I would also like to point out that if state governments are not doing checks on their privately owned vehicle fleets, as in the form of what they do with say the truck industry and the taxis industry, or in the form of road worthy certificates every 12 months, I would argue that these governments can lay no claim to all this being tired up with road safety in general. They are using technology to collect revenue for the sake of revenue, not in the name of road safety. This very point is very interesting, as say in Queensland here, many vehicles are not of a road worthy standard. Matter of fact, a rather large percentage of the privately owned vehicle fleet here in Queensland, are accidents waiting to happen in the form of mechanical failure.
So for me, it's not about road safety at all, but about milking the people for everything that, well in this case, the Queensland government, can get out of the people and wrapping it up as road safety. It's got that bad here in Brisbane that it now has affected the traffic flow quite adversely, as motorists have become that paranoid about getting a fine. They do 40kph in 60 and 80kph speed zones. This is actually dangerous in itself.
Governments are here for the people, not the other way round. Fixed speed cameras that are now going to be programmed to take photos at 5kmh over the speed limit, unmarked vans, marked vans with the signage hidden, very little patrols of actual police on our streets, and so many real crimes not being solved or left with little punishment when caught, doesn't do much for the reputation of policing in general. I mean, I went through 17 speed traps, because that is what they are, in between Brisbane and the Gold Coast the other day, and that's just one way. Most people see straight through all this stuff for what it is, that being revenue collecting.
Then there's the roads themselves, or the driving quality of those roads. A great example is the Bruce Highway, which after all, is the main connecting road in between Cairns and Brisbane. For many years state governments have been arguing over what should be done, but in most areas of danger, nothing still hasn't been done at all, even where there has been deaths occur.
Look, I blame it on the political class, not the police, but like all people, police do have a choice not to man speed cameras in vans down the bottom of hills, hide signs and situations like that. Or give people warnings when somebody is caught doing the wrong thing (Mr. Meaner) and they have a pretty clean license record.
Common sense and some morals need to be brought into the mix, I think. The use of the words 'road safety' to justify fining the crap out of the people, is just propaganda in my opinion.
The Roo.

And I guess thats why I'm peeved roo, 4 weeks ago our neighbor went on holiday and left thier son in charge who promptly went FERAL we had shouting swearing screaming then burn outs up the strret after 3 nights of this I called the cops first at 11 pm them 12 am then 1 am and NO ONE came they finally rang at FOUR am and said "is it over yet "!!! I was stunned, here we are handing you drunken hoons on a plate and you DONT come but I do a uie and bang I'm cactus .............!!!
yes I am pissed and I think I'm right to be, I allways had respect for the cops but not now thier only interested in an easy nick and theyv'e prooved that to me anyway Roo's right it's all about money...............

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Just today i watched a truck do a U turn at a NO U Turn intersection and to make matters worse he had to back up and try again to get around... And i caught the whole thing on my Blackvue dashcam, .

The driver actually caused a bank up of traffic....in my opinion..Never a cop around when you want one.

Exactly why they make rules like no u turn, it's because of the idiot drivers.
Funny thing is, it's those people that disregard the law.