Speeding, ouch..................

[Storm]

Got some real issues with the HP havent you ?

[spudchucka]

On the contrary. I think he let the side down. Not to mention confuse the motoring public with blatant inconsistency. I did 71 in a 50 - absolutely no aggravating circumstances - a wide, almost deserted thoroghfare at 10 pm in perfect visibility and weather conditions - no-one can persuade me that my speed was unsafe in anything other than a statistical sense. She cheerfully did me for 71 ($120 = 35 points).
If there are going to be exceptions made, how about some consistency on the criteria and from officer to officer? Otherwise, as I've pointed out previously, it's just a lottery.

People whine that cops don't use their discretion then others whine when they hear of an example where a cop has used his discretion. You just can't please everyone!

We have a very open and transparent speed enforcement policy, everyone knows the rules and the consequences of getting caught. You sign up to these rules when you apply for a drivers licence so don't whinge about the consequences for breaking the rules! If you don't accept the rules then either don't drive or get used to the fact that you are going to find yourself in increasing levels of poo.

A cops discretion is his own to use as he sees fit. Some are more forgiving than others, some hardly use their discretion at all. Discretion is not something that can be controlled by the organisation as it is always a subjective decision of the officer involved whether to use discretion or not.

The organisation however does try to controll it by having a policy of ticketing anyone caught doing 11+ kph over the posted speed limit, (which is the very thing that most of the whingers whinge about). The motoring public knows this and should drive accordingly if they don't want to receive speeding fines.

If you don't want to accept these rules and enforcement policies then you better just hope that you only get caught by cops who are liberal with the discretion.

If thats a lottery then stiff shit!

[Yokai]

A cops discretion is his own to use as he sees fit.

Hence the term "discretion" ...

Some are more forgiving than others, some hardly use their discretion at all.

from M-W.com:
Discretion
3 a : individual choice or judgment left the decision to his discretion b : power of free decision or latitude of choice within certain legal bounds reached the age of discretion

So basically a cop uses his or her discretion even when adhering strictly to the law. I exercise my discretion in drinking and driving (I don't drink at all if I know I am going to be driving or if there is a good chance that I will be).

I think that all decisions taken by the police in respect of my driving have been sane decisions, whether or not I think that it is a reasonable thing to have to pay 1000 US dollars + traffic school for speeding (70mph in a 35 because I thought I was still in England for some unknown reason) is irrelevant. The cop makes the best decision for their judgment at the time. I don't think that I would ever become a cop because they frankly have a shite job to do, get all of us lot whining and whingeing and still have the chance of some crazed P-head cutting them up with a samurai sword.

The problem is not that the police are using their discretion but more that certain police have personalities that rub us up the wrong way (that might be what they say or it could be how hard they push you down the stairs on the way to the cells, depending on the individual.)

It is very difficult for anyone to legislate for all cases. Frankly the cause of the issue is that there IS discretion being used. If it was a rule that the police fined you 100 dollars for every K over the speed limit, regardless of reason, then there'd be less of a problem with us whining. Except we'd whine about how harsh the law was, not how harsh the police were.

Frankly what you got on your licence? How many demerits etc. You choose to break the law, you pays your money and you takes your chances.

So - is the way to go. We all know the decisions we make when we get on a bike. We all know the decisions we make when we are winding the throttle out.... We know that Spudchucker or Scumdog or someone is gonna get us at some point if we don't stick to the limit... We also know that they run a great risk out there of being seriously hurt or killed by idiots upset with their use of discretion. My hat's off to them.

Less whingeing, more riding!

[ching_ching]

The comment I made earlier was a bit stupid. You're kinda asking for a ticket going at 160.

But I still reckon cops are still out to get money. About a year back, we were towing one of our bikes on our trailer, and the speed limit for a trailer is 80kph, which is hard to do when you have people wanting to go 100 up your ass. Anyway, since we only recently got the trailer at the time, my Dad had forgotten about the 80 rule and was doing about 90 to keep up with the rest of the traffic, cop pulls us over and says he caught us doing 92kph, and gives us a ticket for roughly $400. Isn't that a bit excessive?

You weren't wearing your hooded sweatshirt with the hood over your head and wearing dark sunnies while your old man was beating out those "boy racer" tunes by any chance?? :spudwhat:

[2_SL0]

I tend to agree with Mike L on this, its sad fact that the person who this will most effect is the poor sod who gets pinged for 111kmh and over two yrs manages to accumalate enough points to loose his licence. Was this person a danger on the road. I doupt it. Where as the real problem, (the guy doing 160-200 and overtaking where ever he feels, you know the guy, he is also indestructible) Doesnt worry whether he has or hasnt got a licence. I dont mind the fine for 111kmh (though at the time I do get annoyed) But c'mon giving demerit points out for it, is a bit harsh, Why dont they lift the point at which the demerit points are given out for speeding, anything over 120 and I would gladly accept the fact "You got me" and take the points like a man. In the past 3 yrs I have had 2 tickets one for 111kmh and one for 116kmh. Both in a 100kmh zone. On a clear day. The 111kmh was even funny I was in a stream of traffic, I just happened to be the guy on the end. The officer attempted to give me a leaflet on the dangers of speeding. Im afraid I just laughed and gave it him back. I already had the ticket so no point being polite about it. Jumped into the cage and accelerated back up to 110kmh.

[ajturbo]

A cops discretion is his own to use as he sees fit. Some are more forgiving than others, some hardly use their discretion at all. Discretion is not something that can be controlled by the organisation as it is always a subjective decision of the officer involved whether to use discretion or not.

The organisation however does try to controll it by having a policy of ticketing anyone caught doing 11+ kph over the posted speed limit, (which is the very thing that most of the whingers whinge about). The motoring public knows this and should drive accordingly if they don't want to receive speeding fines.

If you don't want to accept these rules and enforcement policies then you better just hope that you only get caught by cops who are liberal with the discretion.

If thats a lottery then stiff shit!

yea i agree.. i got zapped, i asked if he could be nice to me he said i was going to fast for that here you are ( a ticket) what could i say ..i was in the wrong and i knew it....
i will pay when the reminder gets sent out

[avgas]

Interesting comments from all of you. As far as the double yellows goes, we all know that there are places where you can safely cross them to pass, such as on the exit to a sweeping right hander wich goes onto a long straight away with excellent visibility in light traffic, such as this morning. Most road markings are calibrated to 4 or more wheeled traffic(they needf a lot more space to overtake for instance, so where it's not safe for a car to overtake, it may be safe for a bike to overtake)

Funny i had the same thought a while ago, but say there is a stationary object in the right lane going round the corner, by the time you have seen it, reacted and touched the brake lever you have travelled 4 meters. Also most objects in the right lane arent stationary. I agree that sometimes no passing lanes can look passable, but the only people who get it wrong, and pass at an impropriate time - well theyre dead. But this sound like a situation where they fucked up the road markings, should have been dotted, not solid yellows.

Where did the cop pass the truck?

[PeteThePom]

No this is not true. What about the people you leave behind? What about the people who are in what you hit? What about their family and friends? I was keen on going hard and fast for a long time but I have got old and though I still give the Gixxer a hard run from time to time I have realised the cost of what could happen. Both money and people. For every action there is a reaction. Maybe I should sell the sports bike if I am not going to hit the 220 km/h mark every week but the reality is great pain for others if not for you when you expire. Not to mention the people that have to clean up the physical mess.

So do you live your life for other people? Not for me I'm afraid, as for people who are in what I hit, your assuming I hit another vehicle and the incidence of other road users being hurt when involved in an RTA involving a bike is less than 5%(still not acceptable for others to be hurt due to my risk taking I agree on that) You say that you give your bike a hard run from time to time, well so do I, I was just unlucky enough to get caught, so stop being so bloody hypocritical!

So explain Harley Davidson then. Oh you mean sports bikes. Sorry But there are race tracks for them Harleys are all about thrills, you ever taken one around a corner at 100kmh? Thats a thrill for sure!



This I agree with. But I would be pissed off if I had to take time off work to go to a training day or two. If I am not working here the work is not getting done. Hence my attitude to the hard out speed now days

I'd rather have two days off work than 28 days


You ever worked on the road side and or be at an accident? This is not your place to go hard and endanger others. I know I sound a bit like a reformed smoker but life is short so do not take risks that could shorten other peoples.

Mind you I like the blast from time to time and understand where you are coming from. Just that I look too far ahead at the moment.

Always glad to hear your point of view though !

[PeteThePom]

Quote[ speed and thrills are, after all the whole point of motorbikes and ANYONE who disagree's with that is deluded or delusional, take your pick. ]Quote

Actually I like to ride because I enjoy riding.... I dont go out there to speed on the open roads... I do like to see what is happening out there....
I may zip and zap in the suburbs etc... but open roads no way.
But then I dont have a fast bike either just for that reason.

But then not everyone wants to speed or be a lunatic on their bikes.

So does that me deluded or delusional.... NO F**King way.

So tell me,do you not get a thrill out of your zipping and zapping?...........

Also you seem to imply from your post that you zip/zap on urban roads but not the open road?? Most accidents, not fatalities happen below 50kph, so who's safer? huh?

[PeteThePom]

I tend to agree with Mike L on this, its sad fact that the person who this will most effect is the poor sod who gets pinged for 111kmh and over two yrs manages to accumalate enough points to loose his licence. Was this person a danger on the road. I doupt it. Where as the real problem, (the guy doing 160-200 and overtaking where ever he feels, you know the guy, he is also indestructible) Doesnt worry whether he has or hasnt got a licence.

Me? Indestructible? Not at all, if I thought that I'd have been flat out at 240kph!

[PeteThePom]

Funny i had the same thought a while ago, but say there is a stationary object in the right lane going round the corner, by the time you have seen it, reacted and touched the brake lever you have travelled 4 meters. Also most objects in the right lane arent stationary. I agree that sometimes no passing lanes can look passable, but the only people who get it wrong, and pass at an impropriate time - well theyre dead. But this sound like a situation where they fucked up the road markings, should have been dotted, not solid yellows.

Where did the cop pass the truck?

Really? What part of "such as on the exit to a sweeping right hander wich goes onto a long straight away with excellent visibility in light traffic" don't you understand?

I could see for well over a 100 metres clear road in front of the truck I was passing, so no objects, stationery or otherwise were 'invisible' to me...................so I was not passing at an inappropriate time and I'm not bloody dead!!!

[PeteThePom]

Where did the cop pass the truck?

Not sure as I was concentrating on looking forwards, kinda helps to keep you alive at those speeds

[PeteThePom]

If ya wanna speed, start racing. Far safer as the traffic is all one way, and no cops out there to say slow down.

I have thought of that but riding the same circuit gets kinda boring, more variety on the open road dontcha know? Plus I can't go for a quick blat on the circuit can I???

But then again....................

[Teflon]

Thats just bad luck man. I can't judge you for passing on double yellow lines, i've done it before.

Bike you ride that speed would be so easy to do, think people don't realise that.

[2_SL0]

Me? Indestructible? Not at all, if I thought that I'd have been flat out at 240kph!

Wasnt neccessary meaing you.