"Every officer to issue, on average, 1500 tickets a year..."

[Conquiztador]

From HB Today 15 November 2010:

A retired Southland police officer has condemned the road policing policy that he says has too much focus on revenue gathering.

Phil Robertson, a senior constable at Te Anau, retired last week after 34 years on the force, to take up a job with St John Ambulance but also because of dissatisfaction with road policing policy, the Southland Times reported.

He said as a highway patrol officer there was too much pre-occupation with ticket numbers, and "easy route" that was not the only way to stop driving offences and road deaths.

"I just don't see monetary fines or a requirement for every officer to issue, on average, 1500 tickets a year as being enough of a deterrent."

That equals to approx 30 tickets per week per highway officer. Not sure how many there are, but apperently there is over 11,000 police officers in NZ. If 25% of those are highway ones then we are talking 82,500 tickets that has to be written out per week...

[scumdog]

Whoops, I'm only 1480 tickets short..

[Laava]

Can you issue me a ticket to the mission concert?

[Max Preload]

Whoops, I'm only 1480 tickets short..

Better go trump some more up! Chop chop!

[pete376403]

After the weekends road toll, Paula Rose should be offering her resignation in view of the failure of the current policy of emphasising speeding enforcement to reduce the number of fatalities.







Yeah right..

[Kickaha]

After the weekends road toll, Paula Rose should be offering her resignation in view of the failure of the current policy of emphasising speeding enforcement to reduce the number of fatalities.

Well they should have kept the 4kmh tolerance in operation as it worked so well labour weekend

[scissorhands]

You always get a spike out of the blue, like with most things.

4-5 tickets a day is hardly working over the public, hell if I was a cop I could sort 5 tickets before 10am monday morning, then I wouldnt need to worry for the rest of the week....

Cops leave the force all the time.... too much stress aint it? You'd think the free drugs/whores would help but maybe they dont

[HQfiend]

well the bike cop with the laser gun sitting at the Basin Reserve end of Kent Terrace this afternoon should have made his quota for the week in an hour or so!

[Conquiztador]

I don't want people dying on our roads and I am sure nobody wants that. But without becoming totally draconian, what can be done?

I had a read of the:

"Safer Journeys –

New Zealand’s Road Safety Strategy 2010 to 2020" http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publicat...zrss-mar10.pdf
But I was not impressed. Motorcycling was considered a "High Concern" but the only thing they had come up with was the change to what a novice can ride and training for novices. When reading more of this Strategy I find that it mainly focuses on dollar figures that ACC has to cover and how to reduce the cost of ACC. In short, I feel let down in what this strategy has to offer. (And nowhere in it have I found anything re stopping bikes and giving out leaflets...) There is the thinking here that the impact of a mistake on the road has to be minimised (we can all make mistakes and should be expected to at some stage make them) so that when we make one the outcome would not be so serious. Something in the way of: If we all were made to drive around in tanks and at max 30k/h the roadtoll and injuries would be dramatically reduced, perhaps even totally solved...

I did read some thinking from a chap that apperently had some new ideas re all this. He suggested razor wire barriers in the middle of all NZ roads...

So it seems that until someone comes up with a better idea we will be the target of more tickets.

[jafar]

Whoops, I'm only 1480 tickets short..

You won't be getting your XMAS bonus then scummy

[LBD]

There is a little more to Phil than meets the average bikers eye...he is a really top bloke, very fair and reasoned in his approach to highway policing, extremely well respected and liked by the community and was, if not still, holds the title of NZ's longest serving Motorcycle policeman who became an officer only to to get paid to ride bikes. For many years he also rode his own sports bikes.

I am always on the look out for Phil in and around Te Anau...not because I don't want a booking but because I always stop and have a chat.

He will be missed, not least of all because he will likely be replaced with someone of a much less friendly community focused disposition....

[PrincessBandit]

I don't see how they'd have much difficulty meeting any quota - plenty of road users are more than happy to oblige (even if they're not happy to pay), even on stretches of road which are known patrolling grounds.

[Blackshear]

That evens out to be around 3 tickets per living soul in NZ per year.

I can thus deduce that our policing force is shit due to the fact I've only had 1 per year so far, WHERE IS MY TAX MONEY GOING HMMM?

Lol.

[Swoop]

Well they should have kept the 4kmh tolerance in operation as it worked so well labour weekend

You forgot the "Tui Advert ending" to that statement.

[Katman]

But I was not impressed. Motorcycling was considered a "High Concern" but the only thing they had come up with was the change to what a novice can ride and training for novices. When reading more of this Strategy I find that it mainly focuses on dollar figures that ACC has to cover and how to reduce the cost of ACC. In short, I feel let down in what this strategy has to offer.

That's because the greatest improvement to our accident stats would be achieved by a widespread improvement in the general attitude of motorcyclists towards Motorcycling.