Ticket culkture / safety culture?

[candor]

The latest Police road safety progress report has a chart that makes me go hmmm and raises my hackles somewhat.

It shows Police highway patrol hours rose from 200 000 in 2003 to over 350 000 this year .... but the total cost to society from injury and deaths on highways dropped ?under 1% from 1.61Billion to 1.6Billion.

Whats the deal with this high saturation level deployment to cruising. Does it keep them from attending burgs and 111 calls like media portrays.

If road safety is benefiting little whats the motive here then?
What value is the tax payer getting from doubled HP hours - or rather what value is the Govt getting? Hmmmm.

Wonder what the vote here is on whether its about road safety or something else - or an unsatisfactory blend of both. Could we be over policed maybe?

[Ixion]

Probably indicative of a fault in the basic model.

Deaths and injuries dropped earlier for reasons unconnected with a concurrent enforcement emphasis on speed/drink/seatbelts. The real causes of the reduction in social cost were safer vehicles (air bags etc), safer roads, and such things as helicopter ambulences.

But the police took the credit and ascribed it to enforcement. And then claimed that they could reduce trauma cost still further by yet more enforcement. But it's not happening (because most of the factors that drove the original drop were one offs). So they (the police) are throwing more and more resource into it, to try to meet the commitments they made.


And the more it doesn't work, the more they try the same thing.

[scumdog]

If Traffic Policing was wiped so would about 1/2 of Police positions as they wouldn't be justified.

So those burgs etc wouldn't be getting attended any quicker.

Can't seem to get that through to people.

[Motu]

Someone still pulled out in front of a train today - clearly even our professional drivers are lacking in some basic life preserving skills.If the Cops are out there nit picking and pulling people over for bad haircuts and dress standards....if the general public are complaining and moaning and living a life in fear of our own Police force,at least they may become aware of what they are actually doing.Driving a car,motorcycle or truck on public roads.....you need to make a success of this part of your life.We need to earn our right to drive.

[scumdog]

I agree Motu - except the third to last word in your post should be 'privelege'.

[candor]

You just need to find a way to ticket burglars.

NZ First got a report done not long ago about seperating road police from the rest. Idea got fobbed.

Now if that happened wouldn't they just have to fund Police direct from income tax and then the onus would surely be on Govt to provide funds on an as required basis - how it used to be. Or is that a Utopian dream.

Big problem really is that the paranoia created by a cop behind every cabbage tree is that it loses respect for the force.

A mate is married to cop - better work stories, when what amt of time is on writing? Once they wanted to follow my work place staff round to document how many minutes we spent on each task. Our union parried that idea.

Be interesting tho to see a breakdown on Police - like time spent ticketing small infringements versus on "real" crime in a day.

[candor]

.....you need to make a success of this part of your life.We need to earn our right to drive.

Yep but then we have Duynhoven making speeches that insistently talk about the "right" to drive.

[scumdog]

Be interesting tho to see a breakdown on Police - like time spent ticketing small infringements versus on "real" crime in a day.

See post #3.

[Grahameeboy]

See post #3.

They forget a crime is a crime whether it Burglary Speeding.

At end of day I guess that the Police need funding...difficult to wait outside a house to catch a burglar, wait in the woods waiting for a murder or rape...but if revenue from road policing helps to catch more burglars, murderers, rapists then I don't have a problem.

I mean we pay ACC levies so that drunk drivers can be covered with too much complaint...

Anyone doing the Bays tomorrow?

[bobsmith]

I agree Motu - except the third to last word in your post should be 'privelege'.

Probably shouldn't be starting a heated discussion on whether driving is a privilege or a right when one cannot spell privilege properly....

[Grahameeboy]

Probably shouldn't be starting a heated discussion on whether driving is a privilege or a right when one cannot spell privilege properly....

Sounds the same...driving ability far more important than spelling ability

[scumdog]

Probably shouldn't be starting a heated discussion on whether driving is a privilege or a right when one cannot spell privilege properly....

Oooh, like THAT'S going to affect the outcome of the debate!!!



Musta had a bit of a tank-slapper thing going with the keyboard...

[bobsmith]

Oooh, like THAT'S going to affect the outcome of the debate!!!

Yeah, should have tried the spelling nazi thing the last time there was a debate on this....

[toebug]

The coppers are just revenue collecting! Its got nothing to do with road safety at all...

[scumdog]

The coppers are just revenue collecting! Its got nothing to do with road safety at all...

And so helped by those so willing to donate...