New drug testing for road users

[jellywrestler]

Thing is, the people who wrote this rule don't generally use drugs. So they aren't too concerned about the pitfalls of the rule.

Maybe it's the same clowns who brough it the 4 km tolerance rule, 4% at 100km/h, and the same government insisted by law your vehicles speedo was checked to within 10% accuracy, how fair was that?
the solution, drop the 10% in the warrants of fitness and now they only have to ensure they function.
So we have a fleet of vehciles out there checked regularly for safety, but no speedo checks except that it operates,
Makes me feel much safer on the road

[BMWST?]

Maybe it's the same clowns who brough it the 4 km tolerance rule, 4% at 100km/h, and the same government insisted by law your vehicles speedo was checked to within 10% accuracy, how fair was that?
the solution, drop the 10% in the warrants of fitness and now they only have to ensure they function.
So we have a fleet of vehciles out there checked regularly for safety, but no speedo checks except that it operates,
Makes me feel much safer on the road

agreed .bad laws are bad for the whole system. People dont care about bad laws. The enforcement of bad laws brings the whole law enforcement and justice system into disrepute.

[F5 Dave]

What are you talking about? Zealots love bad laws so they can officiously enforce them. 'It's the law' so I can strut around with my gang feeling morally superior and punishing Joe Public whilst having a mustache.

Illegal to be a Homo. Lockimup.
Illegal to have a drink after 6pm. Lockimup.
Illegal to be a Prossie. Lockerup.

And so on.- Just the laws involved change.

No don't get me wrong. We need laws and we need enforcement. It's the bad laws (see above for what we now consider obvious but were heinous at the time), that need a sanity check.

Yes I don't want me or my family run over by a stoner impaired by crystal meth.
But are they?
It is not easy.

[pritch]

IIRC there was a case shortly after the introduction of the breathalyser laws. A passenger in a car refused a breath test on the grounds he was not the driver. When it got to court the judge said if you refuse a breath test the law says you go to prison. The law did not specify you had to be the driver so he sent the guy to prison.

Presumably the law was changed. It's also assumed that the guy being Maori may have influenced the judges decision. If it was a Cabinet Minister's son the result would surely have been different.

[Kickaha]

IIRC there was a case shortly after the introduction of the breathalyser laws. A passenger in a car refused a breath test on the grounds he was not the driver. When it got to court the judge said if you refuse a breath test the law says you go to prison. The law did not specify you had to be the driver so he sent the guy to prison..

I was in court when that exact thing happened about 1989, cop had pulled a vehicle up, guys had done a runner but got caught, he wanted to breath test everyone and a guy refused as he said he was a passenger, I think the driver owned up in the end but the passenger was charged and went to court, I cant remember the outcome

[R650R]

Maybe it's the same clowns who brough it the 4 km tolerance rule, 4% at 100km/h, and the same government insisted by law your vehicles speedo was checked to within 10% accuracy, how fair was that?
the solution, drop the 10% in the warrants of fitness and now they only have to ensure they function.
So we have a fleet of vehciles out there checked regularly for safety, but no speedo checks except that it operates,
Makes me feel much safer on the road

Going off topic but that’s a brilliant reminder of mission creep when govt or agencies bring in a new policy or law. Eg Capitsl gains tax is just for rich property investors….

4K started out as a get let’s be a bit more safety focused in holiday periods.

Then it was permenant just for large trucks….

Then it was permanent for everyone.


But 175km for Aunty Helen to get to rugby match was ok…

[pritch]

Going off topic but that’s a brilliant reminder of mission creep when govt or agencies bring in a new policy or law. Eg Capitsl gains tax is just for rich property investors….

4K started out as a get let’s be a bit more safety focused in holiday periods.

Then it was permenant just for large trucks….

Then it was permanent for everyone.


But 175km for Aunty Helen to get to rugby match was ok…

Exactly. When breathalysers came in they said you would only be breath tested if there was evidence you were driving impaired. Then it turned out that a nail light not working was suitable evidence. They then "discovered" that the law was written in such a way that that they didn't need to bother with even that.

Still, looking on the bright side, what we have here is light years ahead of what they have in the US of A.

[F5 Dave]

I have no problem with random breath testing. Shit we as a country used to go troppo killing ourselves and random strangers driving drunk. I sit here in the sun a few beers in ready to start the Barby with no reason to drive and an understanding that it is actually a dumb idea.

I'd visit a mate in the 80s and a flatmate would arrive home in a falcon500 battering ram. He'd make 3 attempts to get up the stair to the sliding door falling over. Cunt.