Law makers/breakers

[sAsLEX]

Seeing aunty helen's motorcade breaking the law on the news this morning reminded me of another instance down south when an MPs cars overtook us when we were travelling above the posted speed limit.

Now what repurcusions sp? will come of this? Shouldn't this sort of person be setting the example to NZ. What am I now to think, if I am running late for the airport it is ok to speed, even through built up areas?

[James Deuce]

Seeing aunty helen's motorcade breaking the law on the news this morning reminded me of another instance down south when an MPs cars overtook us when we were travelling above the posted speed limit.

Now what repurcusions sp? will come of this? Shouldn't this sort of person be setting the example to NZ. What am I now to think, if I am running late for the airport it is ok to speed, even through built up areas?

I believe that it will be an issue for the drivers of the vehicles. As a passenger she couldn't be held responsible for speeding.

[sAsLEX]

yes i know this is true, but I am certain she would have noticed the lights and speed they are alleged to have been doing, unless she was sleeping?, and being in a position such as hers she should have informed her drivers that in this country it is suicidial to break the posted speed limits! and that her government views speed as the one true evil that will bring this country to its knees.

Sure the police get good driver training about driving at high speed, except in the wet!, and that it was probally safe as houses the speed they were doing I just dont think it is a very good example to the NZ public.

[Cajun]

i mean 198kms in 2 hours, i have done that sorta distance in close to half that time, and i wasn't speeding overall that much, if you sit at 100km/h whole way you be there in time, okay so you slow down for some towns so you sit at a slighty higher speed of 110,

those people on homes, oh i heard the car engine screaming, before i heard the police siregn, bollocks.

just some people annoyed that someone more important passed them and decided to get them in to trouble

[750Y]

the driver was possibly assuming he'd be afforded a ceratin amount of 'discretion'.

[k14]

Well apparantly it was a police escort. It said in the paper that there was a cop car in the front and the back with the PM's limo in between.

Cajun, how on earth could you do 198kms in around about 1 hour without "speeding overall that much", yeah right, you do realise that to do 200 or so kms in around 1 hour the average speed would be 200km/hr.

[Jackrat]

Well aunty helen has said it publicly before" She doesn't care what other people think" So get over it.There is a law for us and a law for her.

[merv]

Now what repurcusions sp? will come of this? Shouldn't this sort of person be setting the example to NZ. What am I now to think, if I am running late for the airport it is ok to speed, even through built up areas?

Now if you could organise that Police escort it would probably work for you too.

I think the whole thing is a storm in a teacup - officials motorcades or whatever speed under supervision when they need to all over the world and on this forum I thought we all thought policing of the speed laws is oppressive and hopefully this will hint that it aint so dangerous at all to cover that distance that quickly. Problem is as usual the minority of do-gooders come out of the woodwork and get their fame on Holmes.

[Firefight]

Now if you could organise that Police escort it would probably work for you too.

I think the whole thing is a storm in a teacup - officials motorcades or whatever speed under supervision when they need to all over the world and on this forum I thought we all thought policing of the speed laws is oppressive and hopefully this will hint that it aint so dangerous at all to cover that distance that quickly. Problem is as usual the minority of do-gooders come out of the woodwork and get their fame on Holmes.

well done Merv, couldn,t agree more.

F/F

[Cajun]

i have done many trips between auckland and tauranga which is about 200kms

i have done it in everything from 1 hour 15 (bike) to 1 hour 30min (car).

Damn straight merv

[k14]

i have done many trips between auckland and tauranga which is about 200kms

i have done it in everything from 1 hour 15 (bike) to 1 hour 30min (car).

Damn straight merv

Well in that case it is impossible for you to have done that without speeding excessivly.

Anyway, back to the topic, if it was maybe for something important then I could understand. But to catch a plane to get to the rugby, pffft. I suppose it was a bit of a storm in a teacup but it does seem a little hypocritical that she can do it even though the rest of us can't. Just remember that ad, her driver and the cops driving the cars in the escort are "willing to kill."

[Cajun]

Well in that case it is impossible for you to have done that without speeding excessivly.

Anyway, back to the topic, if it was maybe for something important then I could understand. But to catch a plane to get to the rugby, pffft. I suppose it was a bit of a storm in a teacup but it does seem a little hypocritical that she can do it even though the rest of us can't. Just remember that ad, her driver and the cops driving the cars in the escort are "willing to kill."

the 1 hour 30 in a car wasn't speeding that much we sat at 120km/h all the

okay it was night and no traffic on the road.

[spudchucka]

Well apparantly it was a police escort. It said in the paper that there was a cop car in the front and the back with the PM's limo in between.

Cajun, how on earth could you do 198kms in around about 1 hour without "speeding overall that much", yeah right, you do realise that to do 200 or so kms in around 1 hour the average speed would be 200km/hr.

1 hour?? I see the birth of another urban legend. Check the report I think you will see a time slightly longer than that.

The three-vehicle convoy covered the 209 kilometres from Waimate to Christchurch in two hours on Saturday afternoon after a mechanical problem caused the cancellation of her flight from Timaru to Wellington.

Waimate Mayor David Owen reckons the trip normally takes 2½ hours, though he used to do it in two before traffic increased and speed cameras lurked over every hill.

From http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2977944a11,00.html

Funny how it doesn't take long for things to get blown out of all proportion.

[Mr Skid]

"I was looking around and I heard this screaming of an engine, knew it was travelling at a very high speed but didn't hear the siren till it was right on top of us," Mitchell told the Holmes show.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national...56?format=html

A screaming engine?? I find it hard to believe that Clark's minders would have been bouncing their engines off the rev limiter..

While I'd dearly love to see Helen in grief over this one due to her government's prescriptive approach to road safety, I have strong doubts in the veracity of these bystanders claims.. They're probably angry Winston First voters out to topple the government..

Anyone prepared to offer a prediction/guess as to the outcome of the investigation?
If I were a betting man, my money would be on the PCA blaming the speeding on 'misunderstanding of operational procedures' and my old favorite 'communications breakdowns', with the drivers getting the proverbial slap on the wrist with a wet bus ticket etc.

[riffer]

They will probably be investigated by the same people who believed Mark Lundy didn't use excessive speed between Wellington and Palmy...

But seriously, in the execution of public duty the PM's car is allowed to travel as fast as it wants to go.

Storm in a teacup really, unless they crash into someone.

Ultimately, its up to the driver to prove they were safe and Helen Clark's spin doctors to find a sufficiently believable reason other than the possibility of missing the rugby.