Police killing us again!

[Headbanger]

How many motorcyclists have been killed or injured over recent years because of something stupid that a cop did??

How many motorcyclists have been killed or injured over recent years because they ride like idiots and treat the roads as race tracks??

Which is the bigger problem and therefore deserves more time and energy being expended on it ??

2 separate issues that both are worthy of further investigation and action, Trading them off against each other is slightly stupid and achieves nothing.

Though if we were to waste time on a pointless exercise then the police actions harming the populace is a far more severe problem then the private individual hurting themselves doing something they choose to do.

[scumdog]

Deano - its not that they are stalling the car. Anyone who's driven a Holden Commodore can talk about the traction control systems and what they do when you try and U-turn quickly.

The only way to properly do a wheel spinning u-turn in a Holden Commodore is to turn off the traction control. Otherwise it will KILL your drive and look like the car is stalled.

And herein lies a major rub. I'm not sure on Police procedure and I can't comment on whether the Police are allowed to disengage traction control systems. Or it could be that in the heat of the moment (red mist?) the officer simply forgot to disengage the system.

.

Anybody who has driven a late-model Commodore will tell you that despite how quickly you move the shifter you can't instantly go from Drive to Reverse (and back again), there's always a lag of a second or so between gears built in by the factory. (To save the transmission from being wecked I guess)

And to turn off the traction control mid turn is kinda akward to say the least - and having done so, if you then bin the car there's a shit-load of 'please explains' going to arrive in your lap.

[Katman]

The whole "a higher standard should be expected of the police" is just a smokescreen.

The reality is that they should be treated just as any other road hazard that we have to contend with.

[Kickaha]

Anybody who has driven a late-model Commodore will tell you that despite how quickly you move the shifter you can't instantly go from Drive to Reverse (and back again), there's always a lag of a second or so between gears built in by the factory. (To save the transmission from being wecked I guess)

Do they give you guys autos because you're not competent to drive with a manual gearbox?

[Katman]

Though if we were to waste time on a pointless exercise then the police actions harming the populace is a far more severe problem then the private individual hurting themselves doing something they choose to do.

Sorry HB, even the 'biker kills other biker' far out-weights the 'copper kills biker' ledger.

[scumdog]

Do they give you guys autos because you're not competent to drive with a manual gearbox?

No, it's because you need one knee free to hold the steering wheel as you drive around with both hands holding onto do-nut you're eating.

That and because they've not invented a 'cop-proof' manual trans..

[Jack Miller]

"Calculations show any speed above 101 km/h may have been too fast for Mr Brown to stop his vehicle within the distance between first viewpoint and impact area." IPCA Report

Police admit it is reasonable to expect people to be travelling at up to 104kph on the open road due to speedo error and this is reflected in their enforcement policy. Therefore it is reasonable that a "Long standing HP Officer" would limit all his road-blocking maneuvers to situations where it would be safe if someone was approaching at 104. In this case it wasn't. Bad call resulting in death.

[terbang]

How many metres from the brow was the car when it turned? Or was it right on the brow?

Regardless of the metres and all of the other tiny technical aspects of this and my accident. The root of the problem was that some car drivers (for whatever reason) chose to do uey's on the brow of hills. Jees, if I'd been doing 75k's instead of 80, I'd have missed her.
And the big question is, did those car drivers really have to turn in those positions at such short notice?

The results speak for themselves.
-Me, a 27cm scar up my back and a deformed shoulder as a permanent reminder.
-Waikato Rider, permanent death.

[MSTRS:Me]

The whole "a higher standard should be expected of the police" is just a smokescreen.

The reality is that they should be treated just as any other road hazard that we have to contend with.

Can't agree with that.
Cops have certain 'rights' (to do the job) that us mere plebs can only wish we had. Along with those extra rights go extra responsibilities. Like not doing stupid shit that any reasonable and prudent driver would not.

[Jack Miller]

The whole "a higher standard should be expected of the police" is just a smokescreen.

Even so, in the reality of today's world the Police are actually held to a LOWER standard:

Stupid myopic woman who did a Uey in front of me (and nearly killed me) on the brow of a hill just lost her licence for six months and picked up a $2500 fine for her efforts.
Stupid adrenalin filled rozzer who did a Uey in front of motorcyclist (and KILLED him) on the brow of a hill keeps his licence and picks up a $250 for his efforts.
Equal justice for all, yeah right.

The reality is that they should be treated just as any other road hazard that we have to contend with.

I agree 100%. As long as adrenaline filled, convicted careless drivers are retained by the Highway Patrol the AA would do well do develop a new hazard warning sign for us. It would depict a red-eyed Rozzer pulling a 3 pointer with white reversing lights facing us from the wrong side of the road.

[FJRider]

Can't agree with that.
Cops have certain 'rights' (to do the job) that us mere plebs can only wish we had. Along with those extra rights go extra responsibilities. Like not doing stupid shit that any reasonable and prudent driver would not.

Ignoring the responsibilities you have on the roads ... we ALL have on the roads ... is the primary cause of "accidents" ...

But the ... my rights are more important than your rights thinking ... seem to overule those responsibilities ...

[nadroj]

Even so, in the reality of today's world the Police are actually held to a LOWER standard:



I agree 100%. As long as adrenaline filled, convicted careless drivers are retained by the Highway Patrol the AA would do well do develop a new hazard warning sign for us. It would depict a red-eyed Rozzer pulling a 3 pointer with white reversing lights facing us from the wrong side of the road.

Maybe a cutout should be mounted at the site as a protest with a $250 sign then advise the press.

[blueblade]

2 separate issues that both are worthy of further investigation and action, Trading them off against each other is slightly stupid and achieves nothing.

Though if we were to waste time on a pointless exercise then the police actions harming the populace is a far more severe problem then the private individual hurting themselves doing something they choose to do.

You might say they are separate issues, but you dont usually get one without the other. A generalisation I know, but I have my own reasons for believing that is likely to be the case in this particular instance.

Also, this is not "police actions" - it was one individual Police Officer. I would not attempt to defend him and I think he deserved a much harsher penalty, but dont tar them all with the same brush. Too many times I have seen them cleaning up the mess we motorcyclists leave on the road.

You talk about private individuals "hurting themselves doing something they choose to do" but how many other private individuals do they potentially put at risk while they are having their fun??

[Jack Miller]

Ignoring the responsibilities you have on the roads ... we ALL have on the roads ... is the primary cause of "accidents" ...

Too right. Ignoring the responsibility to ride at a speed that would allow one to stop short of any obstruction can cause an accident. AND backing towards oncoming traffic during a 3-point-turn can cause an accident. Actually, now that I put it like that the first responsibility doesn't require one to anticipate vehicles reversing towards you on your side of the road, just stationary obstacles. The second failure was the more serious.

But the ... my rights are more important than your rights thinking ... seem to overule those responsibilities ...

Too right again, Red eyed rozzers think their rights are more important than everyone else's and it causes too many fatalities. This kind of thinking has to stop.

[Kickaha]

Red eyed rozzers think their rights are more important than everyone else's and it causes too many fatalities. This kind of thinking has to stop.

So as a comparison how many fatals have the "red eyed rozzers" caused compared to single motorcycle fatals or multiple vehicle accidents where the motorcycle was at fault?