46,000 speeding tickets in year for central North Island

[Whynot]

46,000 speeding tickets in year for central North Island
12 December 2006
By MICHAEL CUMMINGS

Central District police are the best in country at catching speedsters, and it's costing motorists millions.


Motorists in the region were issued with more speeding tickets than in any other police district during the past financial year, forking out more than $5.6 million in fines.

A total of 46,524 tickets were issued 11,000 more than the second-most ticketed region.

An average of 26,112 tickets were handed out across the country's 12 police districts.

But there is some good news. The number of speeding tickets issued in the Central region and in the rest of New Zealand is falling.

While the Government reaped more than $41 million from people in a hurry during the past financial year, the total number of tickets issued nationally fell 16.3 percent on the previous year.

The latest figures for Central District show a 9.4-percent drop.

National Party justice spokesman and Rangitikei MP Simon Power said the figures raise important questions about road policing.

"What I'd like to know is if our drivers have a propensity to break the law more than drivers in any other region.

"It seems there's a particular emphasis on this issue in our region and I would hope that it's not at the expense of policing other offences, such as burglary and other nuisance crimes."

Road policing in the Central District came under intense public scrutiny in July this year after two internal police memos, leaked to the Manawatu Standard, suggested officers were working to a ticket quota.

One memo urged highway patrol officers "to get our ticket count up to ensure we end up the top group in Central".

The other threatened officers not issuing "the required level" of traffic tickets with action that "may affect their annual pay increments".

The revelations prompted Police Commissioner Howard Broad to issue a directive to all officers clarifying traffic-enforcement policy.

Central District road policing manager Inspector Neil Wynne has welcomed the fall in the number of tickets issued "and long may it last".

Insp Wynne is not surprised more tickets were issued in his district than in any other.

"Central District is predominantly state highway State Highways 1, 2 and 3 run through it and it has the largest highway patrol.

"Other than that, I don't think there's anything untoward about the figure at all."

Mr Power said police should be targeting roads where crashes are likely to occur.

"If you speed, you should expect to get a ticket, but I would hope that the allocation of resources certainly covers all policing issues, not just a heavy emphasis on traffic.

"We need to be assured that the bulk of these tickets have been written at black spots or accident areas, not to get numbers up to look better than other regions because, during 2006, we've seen some police memos suggesting this could be the case."

The Automobile Association said police are targeting dangerous stretches of road and driving habits are improving as a result.

"There has been a decrease in the open-highway speed and that may well be coming through in the drop in the ticket levels," roading affairs general manager Mike Noon said.

"The police are being quite focused in what they're really trying to do, which is reduce the road toll, and we support that."


from here http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3897579a10,00.html

[placidfemme]

46,000 speeding tickets in year for central North Island

90% of which were KBers lol



p/t

[boomer]

Make that 46,524 - 1

I just got a phone call from teh officer who ticketed me on Saturday to say ripp it up.. i'll let you off :Punk:

[McJim]

Make that 46,524 - 1

I just got a phone call from teh officer who ticketed me on Saturday to say ripp it up.. i'll let you off :Punk:

Is your missus aware of the forfeit you had to pay to get the nice lady officer to drop the charge? :rofl:

[boomer]

Is your missus aware of the forfeit you had to pay to get the nice lady officer to drop the charge? :rofl:

hey .. not me.. i'm no man stallion.. ALL THE CREDIT and cudos goes to Speedie; I just hope he has 'one' of 'those' relationships with 'his' mrs

'twas funny tho, i did hear Glen say at the time that he'd clip her ticket for her and it did go quiet for a while :whistle:

[Switch]

Crickey thats alot of tickets. Wonder where all that money went... :shifty:

[LilSel]

I've contributed already this year...(a few times) :doh:

[SPman]

I contributed, with my heinous 117kph in the middle of nowhere, on an otherwise empty piece of road.
And a sanctimonious lecture about the evils of speeding thrown in for free!

[Whynot]

I contributed, with my heinous 117kph in the middle of nowhere, on an otherwise empty piece of road.
And a sanctimonious lecture about the evils of speeding thrown in for free!

you bad, bad man .... think of the children :gob:

[Blackbird]

The Karapiro and Tokoroa-Taupo stretches of SH 1 are well known hotspots but the cops who are supposed to be on the Desert Road to shut it in case of the predicted lahar are especially attentive to motorists. Helps to relieve the boredom I suppose :bye:

[LilSel]

How many tickets are issued each year throughout the whole of the country?? or just the NI??

[Whynot]

How many tickets are issued each year throughout the whole of the country?? or just the NI??

"An average of 26,112 tickets were handed out across the country's 12 police districts"

I'm sure you can work it out from that .... :innocent:

[LilSel]

"An average of 26,112 tickets were handed out across the country's 12 police districts"

I'm sure you can work it out from that .... :innocent:

LOL.... thanks for that, I should really pay more attention :mellow:

[TLDV8]

While the Government reaped more than $41 million

I wonder what they do with that money plus the zillions made off petrol tax ?..not roading......or the over 1 billion made off ciggies and booze.

Poly's retirement fund or a bach in the Sounds :laugh:

Reality check..If the government was truely interested in driver safety..It would be harder to get a license and this money would be used for driver education.

[Crazy Steve]

Two weeks ago I was stopped for doin 112kph in a 100kph area..

Fined $80 for doin 12kph over...Fined $55 for not having my licence on me...

Then arrested for not allowing the Police Officer to take a photo of me with his Digital Camera on the side of the road..(Because I didn't have any ID)

Taken back to the station...Thumb printed!!!!

Then released and made to walk back to my Car which took 3hours..

Crazy Steve..

Ticket arrived in the Mail two days later...:angry:

[boomer]

Two weeks ago I was stopped for doin 112kph in a 100kph area..

Fined $80 for doin 12kph over...Fined $55 for not having my licence on me...

Then arrested for not allowing the Police Officer to take a photo of me with his Digital Camera on the side of the road..(Because I didn't have any ID)

Taken back to the station...Thumb printed!!!!

Then released and made to walk back to my Car which took 3hours..

Crazy Steve..

Ticket arrived in the Mail two days later...:angry:

i bet your feelin the love! sorry mate:gob:

[TLDV8]

Two weeks ago I was stopped for doin 112kph in a 100kph area..

Fined $80 for doin 12kph over...Fined $55 for not having my licence on me...

Then arrested for not allowing the Police Officer to take a photo of me with his Digital Camera on the side of the road..(Because I didn't have any ID)

Taken back to the station...Thumb printed!!!!

Then released and made to walk back to my Car which took 3hours..

Crazy Steve..

Ticket arrived in the Mail two days later...:angry:

The worst part is there was nothing you could do to avoid it..Bloody Police,it was a set up for sure :angry:

[bell]

All those tickets eh? One wonders if central Nth Islanders are impatient or just plain stupid.

[kiwifruit]

keep up the good work :mellow:

[marty]

Two weeks ago I was stopped for doin 112kph in a 100kph area..

Fined $80 for doin 12kph over...Fined $55 for not having my licence on me...

Then arrested for not allowing the Police Officer to take a photo of me with his Digital Camera on the side of the road..(Because I didn't have any ID)

Taken back to the station...Thumb printed!!!!

Then released and made to walk back to my Car which took 3hours..

Crazy Steve..

Ticket arrived in the Mail two days later...:angry:

arrested? for what? did you agree to accompany him (in which case it was consensual) or did he say 'you're under arrest'?

[Crazy Steve]

arrested? for what? did you agree to accompany him (in which case it was consensual) or did he say 'you're under arrest'?

Quote..."Your under my Fckin Arrest"

Crazy Steve

[MattRSK]

No speeding tickets for me this year. Must be getting good at avoiding cops.

[Ixion]

I am not aware of any law that empowers a police officer to demand to take your photograph, unless you have been arrested. And obviously, the arrest can't be for not having your photo taken.

And when arrested the arresting officer must say why. (I think. I'm not absolutely certain of that. But certainly somewhere along the process you must be told why you are under arrest)

[Bloody Mad Woman (BMW)]

I haven't had one ticket this year!! guess it helps not having a bike for 4 months now!!

[mstriumph]

I've SEEN Auckland with it's cute roads, abundance of police and forward/rear-facing radar

------- and i really dunno how you can manage WITHOUT getting ticketed left right and centre .........

thank goodness for West Australia - the last frontier...... yes, i do occassionally get ticketed but i have to have been doing something pretty darn silly to get one

[Clivoris]

Do the National Park roads come within the central region? I've always asumed they aren't that heavily policed and enjoy the lovely swooping corners rather than put up with the desert road. Perhaps I will exercise extra caution in the future?

[Da Bird]

And when arrested the arresting officer must say why. (I think. I'm not absolutely certain of that. But certainly somewhere along the process you must be told why you are under arrest)

You're pretty much on the money... should be told of reason for arrest more or less straight away... i.e "you are under arrest for ...."

[Fat Tony]

So has this blitz on speeding had any impact on accident figures in the region or does your government not try to convince you that 'this is all in your own good and nothing to do with generating revenue honestly'?

[vamr]

So has this blitz on speeding had any impact on accident figures in the region or does your government not try to convince you that 'this is all in your own good and nothing to do with generating revenue honestly'?

Obviously the guilty were fined, funds collected... all is well.
Nationally we have short attention spans and all that one generally expects is (+/-)1 to the status quo.

[Brian d marge]

7 years and one speeding ticket, regular as clock work I am always speeding ,,why the other day I was driving on a road not much bigger than your drive way limit 50k ,,doing 70 , as were everyone else ..

My mate uses the motorway , most morning sees him between 150 and 200 km/hr

Canada has increased its speed limit . and its road toll is better or at least on Par with NZ

Still mustnt grumble eh .. still clean and green ,,,,

Stephen

Ranty mode on ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sorry for using a bit of Sarrcasm ,, a bit ofv saarrrcazim

but you lot are being shafted by king kongs Randy half brother ...and from one thing to the next ya just bend over and say ,,, nowt

There is/are more

Pensions ... july next year ...
Speeding ,
Acc ( a few percent increase in acc levies , would make the system self funding ,ie what it WAS like )
telecom
rail
LTSA
oh forgot school arent they suposed to be free???
Education , so the government tells me, you ( the user ~) are only paying a quarter of the total cost of your education ... so in my case 24000 x 4 is 72 000 ,, dude ..thats not bad split between the three tutors I had at school

Old people ...now theres a growth industry ,,wont be long before theyre privatised ,,, no wait they are already ...

Babies , the unborn ,,AHA ,,the one thing I can think of that aint privatised or taxed ,,,( least I think they are not privatised)

before anyone starts there IS another way ,, Just write a simple letter to your mp saying enough is enough ,, the postage is free ,, takes 2 min to write a letter ,,.. ( unfortuantly white honky men arent in the demographics ,,but its a start ,,,,,,,,,~ )

it can/does happen , just needs effort ...MAG in England , the american version of that... etc ,,,

Sorry it just makes my blood boil to see a beautiful country like NZ ．Ruined by apathy...

(some one will say it,,, I know they will )

[spudchucka]

The Karapiro and Tokoroa-Taupo stretches of SH 1 are well known hotspots but the cops who are supposed to be on the Desert Road to shut it in case of the predicted lahar are especially attentive to motorists. Helps to relieve the boredom I suppose :bye:

Its their directive, as long as the mountain isn't doing its thing they are required to be on the highway doing that thing.

[spudchucka]

I am not aware of any law that empowers a police officer to demand to take your photograph, unless you have been arrested. And obviously, the arrest can't be for not having your photo taken.

And when arrested the arresting officer must say why. (I think. I'm not absolutely certain of that. But certainly somewhere along the process you must be told why you are under arrest)

The arrest would most likely have been for providing false details under the LTA.

Mr Crazy didn't have his photo licence on him, (he received a ticket for this offence). The cop wanted his photo as conformation of his identity.

The cop only needs to form good cause to suspect that he has committed an offence in order to arrest him. At the roadside there is no sure way of telling who a person is without photographic ID and if the person is behaving in a manner that leads you to believe that they aren't who they say they are then you are justified in arresting them.

He should be told what he is being arrested for and given his rights, (although I'm sure Mr Crazy knows them quite well anyway).

I'd pick that he would have been released without charge once his details had been confirmed by fingerprints at the cop shop, (providing his actual details were the same as those given at the roadside).

Providing false details can be dealt with by either an infringement notice for $700 or issuing a traffic offence notice and sending the person off to court.

[scumdog]

Two weeks ago I was stopped for doin 112kph in a 100kph area..

Fined $80 for doin 12kph over...Fined $55 for not having my licence on me...

Then arrested for not allowing the Police Officer to take a photo of me with his Digital Camera on the side of the road..(Because I didn't have any ID)

Taken back to the station...Thumb printed!!!!

Then released and made to walk back to my Car which took 3hours..

Crazy Steve..

Ticket arrived in the Mail two days later...:angry:

Hmmm, one or the other of those parties involved you must have been a bit of an arsehole......:whistle:

[Lou Girardin]

He got un-arrested, I've seen that a few times:innocent:

[Lou Girardin]

Its their directive, as long as the mountain isn't doing its thing they are required to be on the highway doing that thing.

Ya gotta pay your way in this brave new world, eh Spud?

[Edbear]

yes, i do occassionally get ticketed but i have to have been doing something pretty darn silly to get one[/SIZE][/I][/B]




:gob: You mean to tell us you do something pretty darn silly occasionally?

[Skyryder]

Nearly a repost but from a different source. The Stuff link no longer responds.

This from Scoop

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0612/S00268.htm

Skyryder

[ceebie13]

I'm waiting for the first sanctimonious post telling us to stop whingeing and pay the fine if we do the crime. (This isn't it by the way).

Come on....we know you are out there! lol

[RC1]

got off two this last month one for doing 183kph in a 100 zone and just last week for doing 125kph in a 100 zone

[scumdog]

got off two this last month one for doing 183kph in a 100 zone and just last week for doing 125kph in a 100 zone

Typical!

Ya can't trust cops to be cinsistant eh?

One minute ya get a ticket for 112kph and the next they let you off for 180kph.

[spudchucka]

Ya gotta pay your way in this brave new world, eh Spud?

They get plenty of volunteers for it because they pay you about $90.00 extra a day in allowances.

[Timetogo]

If there was an average of 26,000 tickets across 12 regions in ONE year thats 312,000 tickets. Assuming that 3/4 of NZ's population drives that means that at least 10% of the population are breaking that particular law EVERY year, perhaps there's something wrong with the law........... :angry:

[Clivoris]

got off two this last month one for doing 183kph in a 100 zone and just last week for doing 125kph in a 100 zone

You lucky lucky bastard.

[Patrick]

The Karapiro and Tokoroa-Taupo stretches of SH 1 are well known hotspots but the cops who are supposed to be on the Desert Road to shut it in case of the predicted lahar are especially attentive to motorists. Helps to relieve the boredom I suppose :bye:

Yep... well known alright... but still they keep a-comin...

Not too many Lahars occurring at present, so gotta do something to justify the expenses claimed...

[bell]

If there was an average of 26,000 tickets across 12 regions in ONE year thats 312,000 tickets. Assuming that 3/4 of NZ's population drives that means that at least 10% of the population are breaking that particular law EVERY year, perhaps there's something wrong with the law........... :angry:

Hmmm, different sort of logic apparent in that post. Your suggestion/s re changes to the said law? Be keen to hear them. It'll be interesting to hear you justify how speeding can be made "safer" so as to offset the inevitable increase in fuck-ups by the 10% of NZ's driving population who so grossly overestimate their driving abilities every time they put the key into the ignition.

[Toaster]

Make that 46,524 - 1

I just got a phone call from teh officer who ticketed me on Saturday to say ripp it up.. i'll let you off :Punk:

good bastard.

[Toaster]

If there was an average of 26,000 tickets across 12 regions in ONE year thats 312,000 tickets. Assuming that 3/4 of NZ's population drives that means that at least 10% of the population are breaking that particular law EVERY year, perhaps there's something wrong with the law........... :angry:

The Treasury won't see it that way.... CHA CHING BABY.