NZ vs rest of world: Toughness and enforcement of traffic laws

[Macstar]

I diverge a little here (apologies) but would like to deliver one last lecture on causality and statistical relationships for anyone who cares:

A few weeks back on the news there was one of those stupid "latest breakthrough discoveries on health" where it was proclaimed that people who play golf are less likely to suffer from diabeties, heart disease etc. i.e. More golf = less health problems (a statistically provable relationship by some BS study).

Anyone like to take a COMMON SENSE GUESS on why this is full of s%^t?



Demograhically what members of society are most likely to play the sport of golf? Poor folk that eat shit food, don't have access to private healthcare and regular doctor's visits, gyms, health products etc? ANS: NO

Just because there is a relationship between two variables, doesn't necessarily mean one "causes" the other i.e. causality.



Anyway, another mind-twister: I am currently in the recruitment process to become a NZ firefighter - (career change number 3). Firefighters see some pretty messed up stuff (vehicle accidents) - so it will be interesting for me to come back to this thread in a couple of years (if I get in) and see if my views on speeding and traffic infringements have changed.

One thing I am sure that won't change is fines and penalties on "bad behaviour" with no acknowledgement or reward for "good behaviour". It's one-sided negative reinforcement for no other reason than making money.

[Forest]

It's very easy to pull out some "statistics" to persuade any group of people to see it your way. The interesting question, is "why?"

"Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.” --Aaron Levenstein

[Lord Zod]

In Perth they are cracking down on fender eliminators. If you get caught with one you get a "yellow sticker" (defect notice) and I think the fine is $100-$150 and then you have to put the original fender back on and then send it over the "pits" to be inspected and that's another $60 (I think).

[vifferman]

In Perth they are cracking down on fender eliminators.

So, how many deaths and injuries is this radical piece of policing expected to prevent?

[scumdog]

In Perth they are cracking down on fender eliminators. If you get caught with one you get a "yellow sticker" (defect notice) and I think the fine is $100-$150 and then you have to put the original fender back on and then send it over the "pits" to be inspected and that's another $60 (I think).

Obviously waay more cops over there if they have time to look for that kind of shit....

[Lord Zod]

One of the guys here at work made up a fender that looks like the stock one for his ZX10R just so he wouldn't get busted by the cops.

[SPman]

Obviously waay more cops over there if they have time to look for that kind of shit....

Naah - cops over here generally just don't like bikes - any excuse to pull them over...Mind you, it doesn't help that a lot of riders are more like US squids - tricked up bling bikes but their road riding leaves a bit to be desired - bugger all real twisties over here, ya see!
Mind you, they've got some mean track riders.........

Just stay out of town and you're normally OK

[Sanx]

Currently outside the office I'm working in, which also houses some Aussie Federal Police, is a rather shiny ZX-9R. Judging by the business card taped to the seat, it's owned by an AFP Officer. Which would probaby explain why he gets away with having a tail tidy fitted ...

[Lord Zod]

I've heard that Aussie cops wake up in the morning and scream their war cry: "Hotdog! Powertrip time!".

And the writers of Xmen 3 stole a line from the cops too, when you try to run away from the cops they get on the loud speaker and say: "Don't you know how I am? I'm the juggernaut bitch!"

[rphenix]

Funny thing, 5 years in Aussie, I got pulled over and ticketed just once.

Come back to NZ and I get three tickets in 2 weeks.

When I was in Aus the only time I ever saw police was when they had the sirens on and were going somewhere in a hell of a hurry, or when 10 of em were manning a speed trap.


I think the main issue is kiwi's are shitheads.



Sorry

My boss got a ticket for 2km above speedlimit in victoria (camera)... which is crap in my opinion so maybe NZ could be worse!

[CDFloss]

Has anyone else noticed a crack-down on going through orange lights in Wellington city recently? At work there have been 2 guys ticketed, and one guy pulled over and warned for going through an orange, all within the last week or so.

I completely agree with jumping on guys going through reds, but its a bit dodge when the cops themselves can't/won't give a straight answer as to what the magic threshold is after which they warn/ticket you? They can't say that it's X-meters before the line, or X-seconds before the red... anyone know of this mythical value and what it may be??

[Forest]

I diverge a little here (apologies) but would like to deliver one last lecture on causality and statistical relationships for anyone who cares:

A few weeks back on the news there was one of those stupid "latest breakthrough discoveries on health" where it was proclaimed that people who play golf are less likely to suffer from diabeties, heart disease etc. i.e. More golf = less health problems (a statistically provable relationship by some BS study).

Anyone like to take a COMMON SENSE GUESS on why this is full of s%^t?

Provided the study was properly constructed, a competent statistician would be able to remove the effects of underlying bias and hidden correlation.

That's the basis of fields like epidemiology.

[Badjelly]

Provided the study was properly constructed, a competent statistician would be able to remove the effects of underlying bias and hidden correlation.

That's the basis of fields like epidemiology.

Indeed, but all the statistical techniques in the world have trouble determining which is cause and which is effect, eg, is it:

More golf -> better health?
Better health -> more golf?

[CookMySock]

Has anyone else noticed a crack-down on going through orange lights in Wellington city recently?

hold on, doesn't the law say you have to "stop if you are able to safely" for an orange light ? Which means if you are scootin' along at 50k and the light goes orange at the last second it is perfectly legal to skip through it..

My personal rule is, if I catch a trailing flash of red while running an orange, I cut that one too fine.

DB

[smokeyging]

Some of those darned lights change quick too. i suppose if we locked everything up and got stopped in the middle of an intersection we’d get ticketed for obstructing traffic too, laugh a minute is’nt it....