All charges dropped

[rastuscat]

You're welcome, stop in and I'll shout you a doughnut

Mmmmmmmmmm, donuts ..............

[marty]

Now this is a challenge I must take seriously. While this anecdote does not appear to be supported by the National statistics it is a stone not to be left unturned. Can you point me in the direction of empirical data covering this situation? I would relish the opportunity to study it closely.

The data would be there but I have no intention of finding it. It was a personal observation on my behalf as a highway cop working in the killing fields of the north and south Waikato through the 90's and 2000's.

My record was 19 deaths due to crashes in 30 days. That was just when I was rostered on - there were others in that time.

[chasio]

however, upon the introduction of the Higway Patrol in the Waikato in 2000, instead of attending multiple deaths every week, and ambulance and fire being called out daily for serious, mostly speed related crashes, the amount of emergency work required by the 3 ERTs dropped dramatically. in the early days of HP, and prior to it, from a daily capture rate of 5 to 10 people over 160km/h, the capture rate not only dropped dramatically, it became unusual to get such high speeds, and captures in the 140-150k range became the norm instead.

Any chance the incidence of radar detector use went up over a corresponding period? Everyone I know who I'd consider a high speed road user (riding or driving at say 150 plus on anything more than an occasional basis) has a radar detector.

If most vehicles travelling at the higher end of the speed range were increasingly thus equipped, we might expect to see the rate at which they are caught falling.

Empirical data would be nice but opinion may be all we can get.

[awayatc]

Interesting theory. Drive around all day and do nothing. Cool. I'll do that.

Hope you don't see yourself as just a ticket issuing automaton.........

[DrunkenMistake]

English translation for the average KB'er.
[English in Red.]

I fell foul of one of New Zealand's patched-up gangs a few months ago.
Like all gangs the Police has its share of good and bad members and a couple of the bad ones ticketed me at the end of a passing lane then demanded money with menace.

All gangs have their own ethics and this was in contravention of the highway robbery gang's policy that "vehicles should not be targeted within 250 metres of the finish of any passing lane"[1]

Furthermore, they deployed their RADAR in a devious way that did not give the full 3 second reading required for accuracy[2].

Finally, demonstrating the widely criticised arrogant refusal of front line members to accept any view contrary to theirs, be it from Gang HQ (which they call Bullshit Castle) or any other source,
and following the rising trend, especially amongst highway members, to ignore individual circumstances[3]
the members refused to listen to my explanation that if I had sped, which I doubted, it was because the vehicle I was passing had accelerated dangerously along with those closely following it
meaning I had not breached the Road User Rule[4]

With help from the District Court I was able to make the gang see reason and all charges have been dropped.

I considered asking the Court for a non-molestation order against the Police but decided against it. As a five year resident of Wanganui I have become used to encountering gang members in their variety of uniforms, patches, badges and other insignia. This is the first occasion on which insignia has been used menacingly, and ultimately it proved harmless.

[1] http://www.police.govt.nz/resources/...ide/index.html

[2] Police RADAR Operator’s Manual

[3] "My Individual Circumstances Were Taken Into Account... a significant decline ... most notable among those who have had roadside contact." Gravitas 2009-10 Citizen Satisfaction Survey

[4] “A person is not in breach of this rule if the act took place in response to a situation on the road not of the person’s own making ...” S1.8.1 Land Transport Road User Rule 2004

I have no affiliation to any gang.
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa
I got caught.

Your bridges were burned, and now it's your turn
To cry, cry me a river
Cry me a river-er
Cry me a river
Cry me a river-er, yea yea -Justn Timberlake - cry me a river.

[marty]

Any chance the incidence of radar detector use went up over a corresponding period? Everyone I know who I'd consider a high speed road user (riding or driving at say 150 plus on anything more than an occasional basis) has a radar detector.

If most vehicles travelling at the higher end of the speed range were increasingly thus equipped, we might expect to see the rate at which they are caught falling.

Empirical data would be nice but opinion may be all we can get.

probably. of interest in 13 years of tickets i cannot recall ever writing one to a sales rep.

but the advent of the stalker radar and its instant-on capability and accuracy sees many many radar detector-equipped cars being snapped anyway.

idiots that speed cause they think it's cool, and young dumb and full of cum still make up a very high percentage or speeding motorists. as do alcoholics, mums, grandmas and ski bunnies. these facts haven't changed.

i don't claim to know anything, but i do know what i know.

[awayatc]

Drunken mistake............

your IQ test came back negative did it?

[DrunkenMistake]

Drunken mistake............

your IQ test came back negative did it?

Nah, I figured I would crawl out from under my bridge just to Troll.

[scumdog]

Nah, I figured I would crawl out from under my bridge just to Troll.

To properly troll you need to be subtle - like me!

[DrunkenMistake]

To properly troll you need to be subtle - like me!

Yeah in hindsight it was pretty blunt..

Ill try again later?

[Jack Miller]

The data would be there but I have no intention of finding it.

I agree, if it proves a correlation between ticketing and speeding then someone, somewhere will be collating it for presentation it to the current NZ Land Transport Safety Strategy Review. As far as I am aware, no-one has yet presented anything that challenges the AA's research or it's findings. But I will certainly keep hunting for it.

[pete376403]

Accident stats rising in Waikato despite speeds dropping?

Does Leo Tooman know this? (that smoko room chatter says speeds are dropping)

http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=68349

[Berries]

Yeah in hindsight it was pretty blunt..

Ill try again later?

Please do. I had wine coming out the nostrils with that one.

[Jack Miller]

English translation for the average KB'er.
Wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa
I got caught.

Caught? doing what? Nothing illegal, the charges were dropped.

[TimeOut]

Furthermore, they deployed their RADAR in a devious way that did not give the full 3 second reading required for accuracy[2].

but the advent of the stalker radar and its instant-on capability and accuracy sees many many radar detector-equipped cars being snapped anyway.

So I'm assuming that when using instant-on there would be a 3 second delay from when the Stalker is turned on till the cop can lock the speed