I'm a grave menace to society

[Sanx]

I was in the other half's cage - not on the Blade, last night.

Ferks sake, getting your knickers in a twist over a $80 ticket, sheesh! Like it or lump it, the speed limit IS 100kph - and I doubt your speedo is accurate enough to back up you were only doing 105kph. BTW, If you were riding along thinking you were 'only' doing an indicated 110kph imagine what you would really be doing??

The point is that my actions did not pose the slightest bit of harm to anyone. It might have been faster than the ridiculously low legal limit, but it was not too fast for the conditions.

And, should I have been travelling along at an indicated 110, it still would have been absolutely safe.

Seems to me like you're angry with the wrong group. The politicians set the rules, the cops only enforce them. Go and bomb parliament, that'd be way cooler.

Cops have powers of discretion, and the cops choose to, for instance, place speed traps on motorways late at night and ticket people fractionally over the limit. It was unnecessary and counter-productive.

And the $$ pay the Policemen and the Policemen catch bad guys (like the ones that stole Frosty's kids bikes!)

Wrong. The $s go into the government's consolidated fund, along with fuel taxes and the like. This large pool of money is used for all sorts of things, including road upgrades and repair (don't laugh), treaty settlements, funding the America's cup challenge and paying for a full time minder for Trevor Mallard to stop him putting his feet in his mouth. Again.

I wish people would just get off the "it's only revenue gathering" bandwagon.
- Speed is the major factor in the road toll
- Therefore they police speed

Absolute unmitigated garbage. Speed is a minor factor in the road toll, in whatever country you care to look at. Even the LTSA has deliberately muddied the waters by, using two definitions of the word 'speeding', when calculating its statistics. The first, "speed in excess of what's safe for the conditions", is inherently dangerous. The second, "speed in excess of the posted limit", is rarely so. If they were to break down their accident statistics further, I'd hazard a guess that (like many other countries) accidents that had "speed in excess of the posted limit" as the causal factor would feature pretty low on the list.

For reference, in the UK's last major study of accident causes, "speed in excess of the posted limit" was the root cause of just 3% of accidents. other causes that rated higher included tailgating, not paying attention, tiredness, alcohol, drug impairment, failing to observe, failing to give way and driving whilst in a clown suit. OK, maybe not the last one.

There is of course an element of truth in that but your disagreement would fly in the face of all the accident research from here and the rest of the world if it were wholly true.

Care to state any such research?

- Driving performance is generally ok at legal speeds buit any higher, people loose it.
- Someone with marginal skills drinks and then speeds = big mess

So, in the second case, is the causal factor of the accident alcohol or speed? As for the first example; sorry, but you're talking unmitigated nonsense. Legal speed means a speed under the posted limit. As the posted limit changes, it'd disingenuous to suggest that someones ability to control a car changes according to the speed limit.[/quote]

Sanx, you're fookin menace, i hope you have learnt your lesson

Absolutely.

let me know if you want a speed limiter made up for your bike

Sounds good. Can I have it fitted at the same time as my lobotomy?

Kinda like the new Waikato expressway which on opening had cops doing speed checks hiding on the overpasses and at the end of it?

Or, on a recent trip back from Paihia (again, in the cage), the cops sitting at the end of virtually every bloody overtaking lane; the only places you could get past the smoke-belching logging trucks that had been doing 75kph for the past 45 kms.

[MSTRS:Me]

...am glad it wasn't them having to pick you up off the road after a crash. We want you around a lot longer mate.

Agreed in general. But specifically, why would he be risking a crash at 112kph on the NW 3 lane at midnight, almost on an empty road?

[scumdog]

So in summation, how fast do you believe you should be allowed to get to after which you would happily accept a speeding ticket?

[Albino]

So in summation, how fast do you believe you should be allowed to get to after which you would happily accept a speeding ticket?

So in summation do you believe that the current focus on speed will reduce the road toll to acceptable limits?

[MSTRS:Me]

So in summation, how fast do you believe you should be allowed to get to after which you would happily accept a speeding ticket?

Now there's an opening....

[scumdog]

So in summation do you believe that the current focus on speed will reduce the road toll to acceptable limits?

What's this shit of answering a question with another question?

Are you a lawyer or (shudder) a politician or something??

Haven't written out a speeding ticket for two weeks or more now so I'm not sure where 'the current focus' bit comes from - well not down here, that's for sure.

[Toaster]

When the Govt allows licences to be handed out like Toffee-pops (and to those as young as 15) and does not have serious consequences for bad driving we are going to have to put up with the standard of driving we have in NZ.
That and the attitude that people have that having a licence is a 'right' and they 'own' the section of road they happen to be on and the 'me first' attitude is what is the problem.

Agreed, they teach kids to pass the test, but they forget to actually teach them to drive properly and defensively.

[Sanx]

So in summation, how fast do you believe you should be allowed to get to after which you would happily accept a speeding ticket?

A speed unsuitable for the conditions. If that's 10kph under the limit (doing 90kph in fog, for instance), then so be it. Road policing should be about road safety; not about blindly enforcing arbitrary limits.

So in summation do you believe that the current focus on speed will reduce the road toll to acceptable limits?

Exactly. It won't. In fact, there's evidence to suggest that the accident (not fatality) injury rate has increased, year on year, since 1997 - a total rise of over 20%. The LTSA's figures dispute this, but ACC's give a different picture.

In fact, the current focus on speed may well be counterproductive for a number of reasons, but chief amongst them is driver attitude. For far too long, there's been an concerted effort to convince the public that any speed above the posted limit is dangerous. This of course leads to the impression that any speed under the posted limit is safe; something so far from the truth it's not funny.

The Police did come up with their "It's not a target. Drive to the conditions." scheme, but failed to follow it through to its logical conclusion; showing some leeway to drivers exceeding the limit where safe to do so. Trying to convince people that there's a blanket cut off of safe speed at whatever arbitrary limit has been imposed has failed, and with good reason - it's absolute bollocks.

[scumdog]

A speed unsuitable for the conditions. If that's 10kph under the limit (doing 90kph in fog, for instance), then so be it. Road policing should be about road safety; not about blindly enforcing arbitrary limits.

Hah!
Tried that.
Got the reply "But I wasn't breaking the speed limit, what's your problem?"


BTW Also got a guy doing 80kph in thick fog.

As he drove through the centre of town - his 'excuse'? - "It is that foggy I never noticed I was in the 50kph area or in town".

THAT is the kind of people we 'allow' on the roads in NZ.

[idb]

Hah!
Tried that.
Got the reply "But I wasn't breaking the speed limit, what's your problem?"


BTW Also got a guy doing 80kph in thick fog.

As he drove through the centre of town - his 'excuse'? - "It is that foggy I never noticed I was in the 50kph area or in town".

THAT is the kind of people we 'allow' on the roads in NZ.

The breathalyser machine that can be attached to a car's ignition might be supplemented with a moronalyser that asks some simple questions to assess the driver's suitability to be on the road...........

[Sanx]

Hah!
Tried that.
Got the reply "But I wasn't breaking the speed limit, what's your problem?"

And therein lies the problem. Spend long enough telling everyone that doing 101kph makes you a dangerous criminal and people begin to assume that 'cos they're under the limit, they're driving safely.

BTW Also got a guy doing 80kph in thick fog.

As he drove through the centre of town - his 'excuse'? - "It is that foggy I never noticed I was in the 50kph area or in town".

THAT is the kind of people we 'allow' on the roads in NZ.

Good excuse. Remind me to try it some time...

I've always thought an IQ test and a handling test should be part of the licensing scheme. Questions like:

You're on a motorway with a 100 kph speed limit. You run into fog limiting your visibility. What speed should you slow down to:

1. 90kph.
2. 80kph.
3. 70kph.
4. 60kph.
5. 50kph.
6. 40kph.
7. Whatever speed is appropriate for the visibility.
8. Stop completely.

Any answer other than number 7 is an instant fail, with an automatic ban on resitting the licence within six months. And the handling test? Easy. Here's a (for instance) BDA Escort. Here's a racetrack. Now get round in under 1m05s.

[Edbear]

And the handling test? Easy. Here's a (for instance) BDA Escort. Here's a racetrack. Now get round in under 1m05s.

Now there's the best idea I've heard! May I please have a go..?

[scumdog]

And therein lies the problem. Spend long enough telling everyone that doing 101kph makes you a dangerous criminal and people begin to assume that 'cos they're under the limit, they're driving safely.

And the handling test? Easy. Here's a (for instance) BDA Escort. Here's a racetrack. Now get round in under 1m05s.

The top quotation shows the level of mentality we have to contend with in NZ.

The second one? WHO is going to teach the handling? and where are all the suitable racetracks? more importantly who the hell has a spare 10 or 20 BDA Escorts in NZ??????????

(And a quick lap time does not necessarily a good driver make.)

[MSTRS:Me]

Hah!
Tried that.
Got the reply "But I wasn't breaking the speed limit, what's your problem?"


BTW Also got a guy doing 80kph in thick fog.

As he drove through the centre of town - his 'excuse'? - "It is that foggy I never noticed I was in the 50kph area or in town".

THAT is the kind of people we 'allow' on the roads in NZ.

So what did you do him for? Excessive reading on the moronometer?

[idb]

The top quotation shows the level of mentality we have to contend with in NZ.

The second one? WHO is going to teach the handling? and where are all the suitable racetracks? more importantly who the hell has a spare 10 or 20 BDA Escorts in NZ??????????

(And a quick lap time does not necessarily a good driver make.)

Use the moronalyser!!!!