The other day I was having a few beers with some biker mates that I had not seen for some time. Anyway the conversation got around to speeding and related areas of police enforcement etc. Now one of the guys got done recently for 149 kph and was told that if it had been 150kph he would have had to leave his bike on the side of the road as this would have resulted in an ‘instant loss of licence’ notice There was some general agreement that a police officer does have the power to 'enforce' this. I however took the opposite view: that in fact an officer, can not arbitrarily issue a loss of licence notice unless the driver admits guilt. I postulated the position that if a driver disputed the evidence of the offence and wanted to challenge the evidence in court, as is his/her right to do so, then the fundamental principle of innocent until proven guilty would prevail and the driver could lawfully proceed on their way.
Now it was argued that the police have the power to remove car keys and remove unsafe cars off the road and some saw this as no different from issuing a loss of licence notice. There was no dispute from me as to the powers of the police concerning these two issues but I see no relation between these and the issuing of loss of licence notice on the following grounds.
Both the arbitrarily removal of car keys from drivers and the ordering of vehicles off the road are the result of a condition or (in the case of vehicles) several conditions i.e. the condition of the driver too drive in a safe manner and the condition of the vehicle to comply with WoF standards.
The arbitrary issueing of a loss of licence notice is not the result of a condition but that of an action, that of speeding.
Skyryder
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Sheeesh. John.
Originally Posted by oldrider
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