Loss of Licence

[sAsLEX]

I wish I had known that while I was driving 10,000+km in the US last year.
The signs kept telling me 65mph (105kph) or at times on the really good bit, 75mph (125kph)!!

this will shock you mate but the world dont revolve around the states! Germany and even Aus have sections of road without speed limits.

And the states found that raising the limit to 75MPH actually reduced accidents and deaths, now if only our narrow minded LTSA could look away from Victorias roading policy for a second....

[gixermike]

ahh, the one benefit of fixed speed cameras in the uk....no police on the roads anymore....just have to remember where the cameras are, and look out for the odd mobile camera van...then crusing at 90mph + on A roads and motorways and it's all good.
Driving in France there isn't really a limit, theres only usually 2 lanes each way....and unlike the uk everyone moves into the left hand lane after passing cars....lane discipline is superb...so it's foot buried all the way to the alps...
Mind you...just too many F£$king people in the uk and too many other stupid laws nowadays...hence I want to move over to you guys.

[scumdog]

this will shock you mate but the world dont revolve around the states! Germany and even Aus have sections of road without speed limits.

And the states found that raising the limit to 75MPH actually reduced accidents and deaths, now if only our narrow minded LTSA could look away from Victorias roading policy for a second....

Thing is dude, people keep quoting the USA and its speed limits/roads etc - they also quote the autobahns which is meaningless as they have about 83 zilllion people who can support a multi-lane highway with centre-dividers which go for miles and miles......
And would YOU enjoy riding on a busy road with gentle sweeping curves that went on like that forever etc.....?

[boomer]

Get a radar detector.. i feel naked without it now; If it doesn't give you enough warning to get off a speeding ticket it will give you time to knock 20+kph off ya speed before ya get taxed

[Aitch]

Kinda sucks really. I will stick my head in the sand (or up my ass) and pretend it didn't happen for the next 28 days and see what number the court comes up with.

I am hoping for 3 months, but I think 6 is more realistic.
Lucky he got me just as I was starting to wind up.
I was expecting him to say a number about 50 higher than that and then offer me a ride to a cell.

Especially when I pulled up and his mate came screaming through from the other way in an unmarked car with the lights blaring.
Maybe they thought I was going to do a runner, or carry on at motorway speeds through a 70 zone.

Needless to say the remainder of the ride to wellsford and back through helensville was a tad slower

Doesn't the speedo on the GS1200ss stop at 180? (Even though the tacho keeps climbing...) At 166 you'd be getting pretty well wound up I'd have thought!

[craigs288]

Yeah, the speedo stops at 180 but the bike and tacho keep on going.

If I had enough road / big nuts / no fear / and a licence, or all the above, I could answer the nagging question of:

If I hold it wide open in 4th for long enough, will it hit the 11,000rpm limiter and sit on 275km/h (25kmh/1000rpm).

Or is it not grunty enough to get there? Quoted power is 100bhp at 8500rpm.

[Qkkid]

you were lucky you got to ride it back

shit yeah they should have thrown the book at ya very lucky

[Felicks]

I'm assuming the piece of paper you were given was white and green - meaing you will receive a summons? What was the actual charge that was written on it? Dangerous Driving Speed / Manner? If so, and assuming the charge isn't watered down to Careless Use or exceeding 100km/h (the later being more likely), then by law the minimum disq the Judge can issue is 6 months - he can't go less I'm afraid.

You could consider arguing special reasons not to be disq at all but you'd need a good lawyer for that and it'd probably be a waste of time I'm guessing.

My advice for what its worth:
i - try your hand at defending it,
ii - try to get the charge reduced to exceeding 100km/h (which can still happen even if you defended the the charge), or
iii - just face the music.

Consider the time, place and other traffic on the road at the time of the offence before you make your choice. I've seen a similar matter reduced to exceeding 100km/h and the guy fined only, after he proved at a defended hearing (and the cop accepted it), that it was late at night and the only other car on the road was the cop car and that there was a wide section of grass between him and the cop travelling the other way on the motoway just north of Chch.

Good luck.

[marty]

and another one joins the fold.......

[craigs288]

Yeah, I got a notice of mandatory suspension of drivers licence first, with a tick in the box next to 'exceeded speed limit by more than 40km/h'.

Also a green and white traffic offence notice. All that says is I exceeded the 100km/h speed limit and at the bottom is the 166km/h.

The policeman reckoned I would probably get $630 + court costs and no licence for 3 or 6 months, depending on how the judge was feeling on that particular day.

[scumdog]

Yeah, I got a notice of mandatory suspension of drivers licence first, with a tick in the box next to 'exceeded speed limit by more than 40km/h'.

Also a green and white traffic offence notice. All that says is I exceeded the 100km/h speed limit and at the bottom is the 166km/h.

The policeman reckoned I would probably get $630 + court costs and no licence for 3 or 6 months, depending on how the judge was feeling on that particular day.

Well $630 is the price of a ticket for doing over 50kph over the speed limit in the first place...

If you're REAL lucky you may not get disqualified though.

[The Stranger:Me]

craigs288 you have my sympathy, they'll dredge up your past from 9 years. A friend of mine was recently in court and the arse-hole involved bought up a single charge of careless use from ~23 years ago, a small sideways skid in a car on a wet road with no harm done, accident etc.

As for speeding scummy shoulda tried a holiday in the UK, most travel at 130-140, I've even followed plod there at 130-140 kph and regularly traveled in groups of cars or bikes at 150-160 kph

Nah, surely not.
All police support supression of past crimes.
They wouldn't drag up the past!!

[Dai]

....
As for speeding scummy shoulda tried a holiday in the UK, most travel at 130-140, I've even followed plod there at 130-140 kph and regularly traveled in groups of cars or bikes at 150-160 kph

I worked as an intercity despatch rider in the UK for 2 years. Lots of motorway riding involved.

The speed limit is 70mph, most people seemed to travel at about 80mph. I had some friends in the traffic department in Wales and they would turn a blind eye at that 10mph difference unless the driver seemed to be a danger to other road users.

Over 80mph you took a risk and if clocked they would book you. Speeds in excess of 24mph over the speed limit and you were looking at an automatic 6 month or more loss of licence (depended upon how the magistrates viewed the case).

I have been in traffic on the motorways over there when the average speed of the traffic flow was 85-90 mph. We were all risking getting a ticket. The UK has a LOT of fixed speed cameras. They generate a lot of revenue for the police. In South Wales they set up a camera on a bridge over the M4 between Cardiff and Bridgend and in a one hour period booked over 2500 cars exceeding the speed limit.

So the reason I post this answer is that whilst yes the speed limit in the UK is higher than here and traffic does tend to travel over that limit quite a lot, you still risk tickets, fines and loss of licence.

After riding here for the last year I would say that on average the toleance to sped is less in this country. The drivers in the UK seem to be more aware of other road users and the police just as active to catch speeders.

For your information. Traffic offences in the UK are dealt with in court. There are fixed penalties for speeding but over a certain limit you go to court. Traffic offences are included in all crime statistics in the UK. If you get done for speeding it is a "criminal offence" and as such must be declared so when applying for jobs and filling in official documents.

Dai

[vifferman]

...now if only our narrow minded LTSA could look away from Victorias roading policy for a second....

Why should they?
Victoria's roads are completely identical in every way to ours, and we are indistinguishable from Victorians, so it makes sense to just look to them for everything they do as far as road laws go.
Pretty soon we'll have people driving at 90km'h on the open road, and 95 around town, like it is in Melbourne. And there'll be spotter planes, cops or civilians hiding with radar units in hedges or crapped out old cars, and they'll have to have coffee stops and campaigns to stop people doozing off while driving on the open road, because they're so straight and boring at 90km/h.