Speeding tickets. Why the angst?

[BigAl]

For me it's because speeding is unavoidable. There isn't a person on this planet who hasn't sped at some point, or in fact speeds on a regular basis. etc...

Wholly agree with Jay, unintentional exceeding of speed limit is now adays always penalised.

In the old days the coppers used some discretion and 110 kph on a straight, low populated road in good conditions didn't always warrant a fine.

That is why people get pissed off with the "revenue generation" these days.

On an aside an acquaintance recently got done for 92ks just coming into a rural 50k area early on a fine Sunday morning, very little traffic, copper under a tree. 28 days loss of license, $500 and 50 points. Copper wouldn't drop it to 89k as he was not allowed but he thought he was very generous in not taking license straight away, bloody pricks!

[scumdog]

NOW see what you've done r.c.?????

[Edbear]

Its easy to ticket people for speeding, you aim a machine at them & it immediatly tells if they are breaking the law or not. A no brainer really.
Surely a machine that can gauge the stupidity of a motorist rather than the speed simply by pointing it at them would be a better gadget wouldnt it??

They simply wouldn't be able to keep pace with the tickets! There isn't enough paper in the world to be able to write that number!

[FJRider]

They simply wouldn't be able to keep pace with the tickets! There isn't enough paper in the world to be able to write that number!

Think of the revenue they would gather then though ...

[Ocean1]

I point a gun at someone and tell them that if they move I'll shoot. They move, I shoot. Whose fault is that?

Yours. Disturbing that a law enforcement officer should interpret it any other way.

I'd support seatbelts being a personal choice thing BUT ONLY IF the ambulance that picks you up was paid for only by you, the plastic surgeon was paid for only by you, blah blah blah. You get the drift.

But we don't have the choice to not pay ACC, do we? In fact demanding people behave other than how they might otherwise choose on threat of retribution is generally called extortion.

Me? If I had the choice I'd take the deal, pay the paltry ACC costs and behave myself accordingly. On the other hand I'll do whatever I can to protect that choice, "legal" or otherwise.

[scumdog]

Surely a machine that can gauge the stupidity of a motorist rather than the speed simply by pointing it at them would be a better gadget wouldnt it??

Ah, the 'Stupidometer' - I use to mention it often on the Lou Girardin days...

[Edbear]

Ah, the 'Stupidometer' - I use to mention it often on the Lou Girardin days...

Haven't heard from Lou for ages, know how he is these days?

[FJRider]

Yours. Disturbing that a law enforcement officer should interpret it any other way.

He put it in a way ... even an idiot would understand. If you have ever looked down a barrel ... you may understand even better. And even idiots would remember ...

But we don't have the choice to not pay ACC, do we? In fact demanding people behave other than how they might otherwise choose on threat of retribution is generally called extortion.

Choosing to be living in a society has a cost ... and it's the rules ...

Don't like the rules ??? ... go somewhere else ...

Me? If I had the choice I'd take the deal, pay the paltry ACC costs and behave myself accordingly. On the other hand I'll do whatever I can to protect that choice, "legal" or otherwise.

No, it's not a choice, merely a decision. ... To just obey the rules that suit ... at the time ... in the "pursuit of freedom" no doubt ...

And when you break the rules .. and get the penalties ... you shout UNFAIR ...

[Kickaha]

On an aside an acquaintance recently got done for 92ks just coming into a rural 50k area early on a fine Sunday morning, very little traffic, copper under a tree. 28 days loss of license, $500 and 50 points. Copper wouldn't drop it to 89k as he was not allowed but he thought he was very generous in not taking license straight away, bloody pricks!

So the cops are pricks because your acquaintance is to fucking stupid to lower his speed before he hits the 50kmh zone?

[onearmedbandit]

I speeded today I did and I got no ticket. Time and place 'n'all that.

[Berries]

Well here’s my take on the ‘big four’.

Alcohol. If you are over the limit when you start your trip you are more than likely going to be over the limit when you end the trip. Therefore you are impaired for the full length of your trip and thus a risk.

Seatbelts. If you don’t bother you don’t bother, but as said so eloquently by Jay, you don’t take them off part way through your journey. Like alcohol then, whatever the risk, it is the same for the full length of your trip.

Failing to give way. Fairly bloody obvious really.

Now speed. Unlike the first two, this can vary throughout your journey based on a multitude of reasons, only one of which is the posted speed limit. Give me a ticket for 180km/h and fair enough, you’ve got me exceeding the speed limit at a speed that means I know I was exceeding the speed limit. I’ll be pissed at myself for getting caught but I’ll take the medicine and start walking. Get me for 108 however and I’ll be pissed at the Police. It is inappropriate speed that kills, not non-compliance with whatever the current speed limit is. By placing speed cameras on downhill straights or passing lanes, or on motorways with design speeds greater than the speed limit you aren’t doing much to improve road safety. That is why it is seen as revenue gathering, fishing holes are fishing holes for a reason, good for contacts but unlikely to have any link with safety other than the grand plan of reducing average speeds and getting persistent low level speeders off the road. All it actually does is impact on our view of the Police.

A vehicle that crashes on a 55km/h bend while doing 90 isn’t speeding, but it is a true speed related crash, too fast for the conditions. You don’t do anything about them because they aren’t breaking the law. And that is where the whole speeding mantra falls over. You are enforcing the limit that is currently in favour with no regard for location or actual risk. Here’s a question for you. What proportion of speed related crashes are crashes where the vehicle was going over the posted speed limit? Nobody knows because the information isn’t collected to any degree of accuracy unless it is a proper big smash.

Lets face it. You focus on speed because it is easy to measure and compare to a sign at the side of the road, unlike fatigue for example which in my opinion is a far greater issue. Plain old bad driving is an issue. Sitting on an overbridge with a speed gun does fuck all to stop that. Your main problem is that we all know it.

I speeded today I did and I got no ticket. Time and place 'n'all that.

Me too. And I didn't kill anyone.

[Brian d marge]

Help, master, help! here's a fish hangs in the net,
like a poor man's right in the law.

and from Evermondes own lips "Repression is the only lasting philosophy. The dark deference of fear and slavery, my friend, will keep the dogs obedient to the whip, as long as this roof shuts out the sky,"



Stop justifying it , just hand out those tickets .......

Stephen

[rastuscat]

One local officer has been known in the past to stop a vehicle early in the day and lock a speed of around 116 kmh or thereabouts. Then he would stop motorcycles, sports cars or anyone who looked like they may be able to speed and ask them how fast they were going. if they admitted to being over the speed limit and name a speed then he would accept their stated speed and write the ticket. If they disputed speeding he would show the speed locked on the radar and write out the ticket for that speed (or close to it). There is nothing on the radar that shows the time or location that the speed was locked........................................Does that explain the grief?

If what you say is true, that's really sad. It degrades the work of people I work with and me.

Thing is, enough people speed..............why would he have to make it up?

If I spend the day on the highways genuinely looking for speed offences and find none, isn't that a good thing?

I expect, once again, that you and I have a lot of beliefs in common.

[rastuscat]

In the old days the coppers used some discretion and 110 kph on a straight, low populated road in good conditions didn't always warrant a fine.

That is why people get pissed off with the "revenue generation" these days.

Funny, have been doing this job for 23 years, and the carping has never changed. Every day or so for that period I've been told it's been revenue collecting.

There's been no change. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Harumph.

[rastuscat]

A vehicle that crashes on a 55km/h bend while doing 90 isn’t speeding, but it is a true speed related crash, too fast for the conditions. You can't do anything about them because they aren’t breaking the law. .

Fixed it for you.

They get charged with Careless, instead of a speed related offence.

You're right tho.