NZ Police - why do they do it?

[Drew]

It's asking the questions; is police enforcement of minor infringements that are of very little consequence - of any value to reducing the road toll, of any benefit to the community they serve, is it an acceptable use of Police resources

And you are being as blind to the point of others, because you believe yourself to be right.

At what point does the discretion stop? 200 meters you say, so is 250 not ok? If so, is 225?

If only there was a way to do away with such questions, like putting a sign up at the point, where it IS ok to speed up to the new limit.

Do you not think it would be easier to know what the cops would do, if they all worked to the same standard? Like, the law.

I'm out anyway, gotten enough red rep for one thread.

[sinfull]

I got clocked doing 130kph and a $235 fine. All I was doing was overtaking the last car at the end of the passing lane before slowing back down to 109.

It's becoming a Police state!

The seriously dangerous hoons are getting less attention due to the net being too widely spread (getting everyone else).

Ummmm which of the above catagory do you fit in YD ? Haha or should we have a card that says i'm everyone else ?

It's KB - comes with the territory




Again - there is only one logical reason to be pinging people like this; quota

Unless he's just a wanker who gets off on throwing his wait around

You just need to ask your self - if I were a cop; would I have done that?

Maybe maybe not !

Yep - maybe he wouldn't have fined me for the speed if my WOF was current
when I checked my speedo it was about 80 as in 81 or 82 - he said 84, not too far out

But my original point is; why police the speed limit 200 meters from the open road sign? Unless your just trying to get your quota ???

Ya were doing 70 aye all the way aye till JUST prior to seeing the cop aye where you saw the 100 k sign 200 mtrs away and sped up aye to 84 k aye

I agree - The word 'hypocrite' come to mind
there are some who have posted on here who ride far quicker than I do, and spout on about slow down, obey the law, bla bla bla

Hypocrites

I speed, i have a radar detector, aint been caught since i've had it ! Wanna race ?

No - not strange
He gave me the ticket for no WOF $200 regardless of the fact it was only two weeks out and I had it booked in, it just so happens I know about the 14 days you have to get it done. It's actually part of the law.The police have tried to change it, (under John Banks) but failed to get political support for it.
It's the same as if you get caught for not having your license on you, they may fine you but you actually have 7 days (I think it's 7 days) in which to present at your local police station with it. Cops don't tell you that though do they

Quotas and revenue gathering behavior has been exposed several times now in the media, and the police have had to own up to it

Think you will find it is a discretionary thing where you have to write in within 14 days and ask for the fine to be dropped ! The 7 day thing for ya licence i think you will find has changed too, it was for a transition period for bringing in that law ! But i imagine the cop you met would have booked ya for it (might have been the scowle ya had on ya face perhaps)
Know what i'd do if i worked in that office and read a letter from you after having read this thread hahaha

Another one who can't be bothered reading
Or is such a shallow thinker they can't get past stating the obvious and think they are brilliant

Well - I'm off to church to see if god will forgive me, such an evil person I am

I just read this whole thread YES every post ! And my opinion of you has not changed from the first post ! Suck it up sad sack !!!

[short-circuit]

And you are being as blind to the point of others, because you believe yourself to be right.

At what point does the discretion stop? 200 meters you say, so is 250 not ok? If so, is 225?

If only there was a way to do away with such questions, like putting a sign up at the point, where it IS ok to speed up to the new limit.

Do you not think it would be easier to know what the cops would do, if they all worked to the same standard? Like, the law.

I'm out anyway, gotten enough red rep for one thread.

0800 NEW COPS - you're just what they're looking for

oh and on the red - waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

[Drew]

0800 NEW COPS - you're just what they're looking for

oh and on the red - waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Dragged back in by my need to argue, well played.

Have I once advocated the cops brain washed state, with their belief that all speed kills? For that matter, has anything I've said even been pro cops?

I only submit you cannot bitch, about a cop not showing you discretion when you are breaking the law. It's an argument you cannot win, because you signed a contract when you got your licence that you would obey the road code when driving.

I guess we know who not to do business with aye, people are on here flat out telling us their word means nothing.

[Jizah]

If it's OK to have the 200m or whatever discretionary distance for slowing down then why isn't it similar for speeding up? I mean it's the exact same section of road, the only difference as far as I can see is the direction you're traveling.

Apart from road works, I've never seen roads have different speed limits depending on which way you're facing. I don't see why discretion shouldn't work both ways.

[boomer]

Every couple of pages you have to keep making the same point - because I presume people cant be bothered reading thru the thread.

Again - I am not saying I wasn't breaking the law, am not crying about it
I am not trying to get off the speeding ticket, I am going to pay it.
I am not even talking about no WOF - fair enough
I was not in a residential zone

And the issue is not just about 14 ks over the speed limit - it's about being 14k's over the limit 200 meters from the open road sign
I know the law is the law, and I was breaking it

So I don't know why you all keep pointing it out - how about thinking honestly about the following;

It's asking the questions; is police enforcement of minor infringements that are of very little consequence - of any value to reducing the road toll, of any benefit to the community they serve, is it an acceptable use of Police resources
The only value in this kind of enforcement is revenue gathering or a cop who needs to fill his quota

Should red-heads ever be allowed to become police?

My question is; due to the fact I have exceeded the speed limit at times and not been caught, should I just accept this kind of wanky behavior and not let it annoy me ?
What on earth does the cop think he's achieving? Policing people 200 meters away from an open road sign and a piece of road with no real dangers or hazards?

Are you sure..??! Looks like you and your followers are moaning like bitchs cos you got nicked.... and ya wof was out too.. u happy u got discretion on that


suck it up and stop ya moaning...

[Drew]

If it's OK to have the 200m or whatever discretionary distance for slowing down then why isn't it similar for speeding up? I mean it's the exact same section of road, the only difference as far as I can see is the direction you're traveling.

Read the road code have ya?

50mtrs either side of the posted speed sign, for transition of one to the other speed limit.

[Spyke]

The thing i don't get is we pay OUR police a resonable wage to use discretion and common sense to decide between a ticket worthy of been given out, but when they don't do their job they are just as bad as any speeding camera except they are getting paid how much more than the camera?

if OUR people of OUR country wanted computer like decisions we could cut costs and "lives" by using a speed camera that would do a better job.

[Jizah]

Read the road code have ya?

50mtrs either side of the posted speed sign, for transition of one to the other speed limit.

Thought we were talking about discretion. Please forgive me.

[avgas]

boo hooo hooo, i bwoke the law and got caught.....i want to cry to mummy helen about this.
grow up - if you cant do the time don't do the crime.
You were over 10kph the legal limit....and they can ticket you when your over 5kph. Get it through your thick skull.
Or red-flag me for pointing out the flaws in your argument.

[sinfull]

If it's OK to have the 200m or whatever discretionary distance for slowing down then why isn't it similar for speeding up? I mean it's the exact same section of road, the only difference as far as I can see is the direction you're traveling.

Apart from road works, I've never seen roads have different speed limits depending on which way you're facing. I don't see why discretion shouldn't work both ways.

Think about it Jizah, line of traffic doing 100kph front guy hits the piks and scrubs 30 or 50 kph off as soon as he hits the new limit ! Ya only need one driver/rider checking the scenery out and ya got a nose to tail !
A lot of ppl do hit the piks right on the new limit, where as ya should be backing off the gas when ya first see the sign (should you not?) and doing the speed limit right up untill you reach the higher limit (should you not?)

[Biggles08]

No, just making the point that 'Everyone' feels their particular event justifies discretion.

And too many still have a school-days mentality/expectation regarding whatever problem they bump into - "s'not fair, ya can't do that"

Real life ain't freakin' 'fair'.


(And yes, I too have felt the 'unfairness' of law way back in my past)

Your right scumdog...its a natural feeling of injustice when something like this happens to us....HOWEVER...the point that he is so very articulately trying to raise here is a valid one worth discussing that keeps being misinterpreted...200mtrs from a change in speed limit is a bit on the 'off' side in my opinion. Especially considering the piece of road he is referring to (which I am very familiar with) which must have massive amounts of tolerance built into it as far as the set limit goes. It is not apparent why he insisted on proceeding with this ticket going on the presumption smoky was polite and explained his situation to the officer (ie he was travelling at 70-75kph all the way through the 70kph zone and was just accelerating to the 100kph zone when he was clocked). I understand the argument for and against set speeds/tollerances etc but this is not what smoky is questioning....why is it unable to be looked at in a plain, logical format at the time on the side of the road and have all the situational merits weighed up and a correct decision come to without the need to contest it (if you believe you have had an injustice done) later in court? It seems some police have had all their power of descresion magically removed at wellington in training.

Where smoky got ticketed is not a dangerous piece of road due to the speed he was doing. I'm pretty sure the officer who gave him the ticket knows this perfectly well too....yet ignored this and gave him the ticket regardless. This type of policing we can do without and as smokys original point is "NZ Police, why do they do it?"

Funny enough, I also received a ticket in pretty much the same spot about 3-4 years ago but I was a little further south already in the two lanes section...I was on the road by myself in the left lane (in a car) with no cars either travelling in the same direction as me or coming the other way. This was apart from a police car of course. I was given a ticket for 112kph in a 100kph zone. I was surprised that he gave it to me as I saw him and never thought twice about what speed I was doing as I was cruising safely. What really fucked me off was the completely unprovoked lecture he gave me about how my type of 'speeding kills' people. What sort of fuckwit does he think I am???? totally unprovoked, he started trying to justify his decision to give me this ticket because I was a menace to society thinking my driving was safe at this speed! This was while he was already writing my ticket. Needless to say I became very vocal on how my driving was no more dangerous to society than his Magnum PI moustache (didn't help really but he was a wanker and not because he was a cop...Because I bet he was a wanker before he became an officer). This is the point smoky is trying to raise I believe...why behave like this? Who's really there to watch their attitude? in reality.....no one.

[pritch]

It's interesting how many people think they are 'experts' on this subject - when they know nothing about it

Have you ever heard that old thing about when you point the finger at someone there's three fingers pointing back at you?

On the occasion of my last (detected)indiscretion, 62kph in a 50, I do like that S bend, I told the cop I didn't want to stand around all night and asked if he could post me the ticket. He said OK.

When I got home I saw that the rego had expired the day before.

First thing the next morning I was at the Post Office and I didn't hear any more about that, but I learned my lesson. I bought a radar detector.

[Drew]

Thought we were talking about discretion. Please forgive me.

The thread was started with the basic idea, that he deserved discretion.

It aint a fuckin right. You're rights on the road are clearly spelt out in the road code, with very little room for interpretation I might add.

[Drew]

Your right scumdog...its a natural feeling of injustice when something like this happens to us....HOWEVER...the point that he is so very articulately trying to raise here is a valid one worth discussing that keeps being misinterpreted...200mtrs from a change in speed limit is a bit on the 'off' side in my opinion. Especially considering the piece of road he is referring to (which I am very familiar with) which must have massive amounts of tolerance built into it as far as the set limit goes. It is not apparent why he insisted on proceeding with this ticket going on the presumption smoky was polite and explained his situation to the officer (ie he was travelling at 70-75kph all the way through the 70kph zone and was just accelerating to the 100kph zone when he was clocked). I understand the argument for and against set speeds/tollerances etc but this is not what smoky is questioning....why is it unable to be looked at in a plain, logical format at the time on the side of the road and have all the situational merits weighed up and a correct decision come to without the need to contest it (if you believe you have had an injustice done) later in court? It seems some police have had all their power of descresion magically removed at wellington in training.

Where smoky got ticketed is not a dangerous piece of road due to the speed he was doing. I'm pretty sure the officer who gave him the ticket knows this perfectly well too....yet ignored this and gave him the ticket regardless. This type of policing we can do without and as smokys original point is "NZ Police, why do they do it?"

And everything you just said, ASSUMES the officer didn't weigh everything up, and takes Smokeys word that he was polite and gentlemanly.

The thing about the law, is it is built in a way that is meant to do away with assumption. Black and white, no room for give. To save the courts time with bollucks fuckin arguments such as this.

I wouldn't hope for a friggin second, to be let off a 14kph speed infringement, 200meters from the open road no matter where I am.

You say a discretionary buffer was built into the area in question, you saying that means you get to choose when you will adhere to the law and when not?